Urban Form and Land Use Innovations Within Existing and New Retail Areas, 2018-2022

The Real Estate Adaptation and Innovation within an integrated Retailing system (REPAIR) project, conducted at the University of Glasgow and University of Sheffield, investigated the changes experienced across the retail cores of five UK cities Edinburgh, Glasgow, Hull, Liverpool and Nottingham between 2000 and 2021. The project examined different aspects of the property market and built environment across four separate work streams. The primary data stored here relates to Work Package B and was collected via semi-structured interviews with city centre actors, including: property professionals; retailers; architects; planners; and other local authority officials. The interviews investigate the urban form and land use innovations emerging in response to the structural changes experienced in recent years in city centre retail markets. The findings explore the issues related to redundant and vacant properties and adaptive reuse, focusing on: retail unit and shopping centre design innovation; public realm regeneration; the experience economy; and city centre events. Some of the interviews - those conducted in 2021 after the pandemic started - also capture the effects of the pandemic on retailing centres.