Five-point plan proposed to fix Scotland’s high streets

A FIVE-point action plan has been proposed, to save Scotland’s high streets from collapse.

The plan – part of a wide-ranging piece of work by the Scots investigative journalism website, The Ferret (including here (the high vacancy rate on Glasgow’s Sauchiehall Street), here (who owns Scotland’s high street properties?) and here (community ownership) – has been proposed by two academics at the University of Glasgow.

The work has been featuring too in The Herald newspaper, including here.

Dr Allison Orr, senior lecturer in retail, and Dr James White, professor in planning and urban design, together propose the following possible solutions (here):

• Incentives for investment;

• Find new uses for property above shops;

• Use old retail space for city centre living;

• Create streets instead of shopping centres. But guard our public space; and

• Support community ownership.

Pictured: Glasgow’s Sauchiehall Street, Picture credit: Place Design Scotland

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