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Footfall signatures and volumes: Towards a classification of UK centres

Author

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  • Christine Mumford

    (Cardiff University, UK)

  • Cathy Parker
  • Nikolaos Ntounis
  • Ed Dargan

Abstract

The changing nature of retail coupled with rapid technological and social developments, are posing great challenges to the attractiveness of traditional retail areas in the UK. In this paper we argue that the definitions and classifications of town centres currently adopted by UK planners and policy makers are outdated, because of their focus on retail occupancy. Instead, we propose a more dynamic definition and classification of centres, based on their activity volumes and patterns, which we obtain from footfall data. Our expectation is that adopting this activity-based approach to defining and classifying centres will radically alter the way in which they are developed and managed.

Suggested Citation

  • Christine Mumford & Cathy Parker & Nikolaos Ntounis & Ed Dargan, 2021. "Footfall signatures and volumes: Towards a classification of UK centres," Environment and Planning B, , vol. 48(6), pages 1495-1510, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envirb:v:48:y:2021:i:6:p:1495-1510
    DOI: 10.1177/2399808320911412
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Peter Hall & Stephen Marshall & Michelle Lowe, 2001. "The Changing Urban Hierarchy in England and Wales, 1913-1998," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 35(9), pages 775-807.
    2. Paul Cheshire & Christian Hilber & Piero Montebruno & Rosa Sanchis-Guarner, 2018. "Take Me to the Centre of Your Town! Using Micro-geographical Data to Identify Town Centres," CESifo Economic Studies, CESifo Group, vol. 64(2), pages 255-291.
    3. Dolega, Les & Pavlis, Michalis & Singleton, Alex, 2016. "Estimating attractiveness, hierarchy and catchment area extents for a national set of retail centre agglomerations," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 78-90.
    4. Paul C. Cheshire & Christian A. L. Hilber & Ioannis Kaplanis, 2015. "Land use regulation and productivity—land matters: evidence from a UK supermarket chain," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 15(1), pages 43-73.
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    Cited by:

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