a tale of 2 centres

8/10/2019 a tale of 2 centres

1/16

Britain: Runcorn A Tale of Two CentresAuthor(s): CHRIS COUCH and STEVEN FOWLESSource: Built Environment (1978-), Vol. 32, No. 1, Neighbourhood Centres in Europe:Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow (2006), pp. 88-102Published by: Alexandrine PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/23289488.

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2/16

Britain: Runcorn

-

A Tale of Two

Centres

CHRIS COUCH and STEVEN FOWLES

The

experience

of

Runcorn

emphasizes

the

importance

of flexibility

in

planning

and

design. 'Shopping City',

built around 1970 as the centre

for

the new town

of

Runcorn,

was

facing problems by

the 1980s. Rents were

high resulting

in a narrow

range of shops,

most

of

which were leased and

managed by

national or international

chains with little

connection

with,

or

concern

for,

Runcorn

as a

specific community.

It is

argued

that centres that have

grown organically

(such

as

Runcorn Old

Toivn)

are able to support a much wider range ofuses and functions. In addition to making

organic

centres more

interesting places

to

visit,

these characteristics make them

better able

to

adapt

to

changing

economic or social circumstances than

planned

centres. Runcorn demonstrates the

failures of

the

rational

comprehensive

approach

to

planning, perhaps indicating

that the incremental

approach provides

the

variety

of

socio-economic and

physical

circumstances that enables towns and their

centres to

flourish

and

develop,

while the rational

approach provides only

sterile

environments

that

discourage

and

frustrate

initiative and

change.

The post-war 'new towns' programme is

regarded by many

as the

'jewel

in

the crown'

of

British

post-war planning.

Although

Runcorn was a relative late-comer to the new

towns

programme,

its 1966 master

plan

was

regarded

as bold and

imaginative,

with its

new town

centre,

originally

called

'Shopping

City',

hailed as an innovative

solution

to

the

problem

of

integrating

retail and

community

facilities in a new

development.

In contrast

the merits of the

existing

Runcorn 'old' town

centre were more or less ignored at the time.

Assumptions

were also made about the

nature and merits of local

neighbourhood

centre

provision.

This article examines the

fortunes of these two centres over

time,

namely

'Shopping City'

and the old town

centre,

and it considers whether the

residents

of

Runcorn new town

might

have been

as

well

served

by

an

expansion

of the

existing

town centre and a

more

organic development

of

local

shopping

facilities than

by

the

highly

planned hierarchy of new facilities that was

built

by

the

Development Corporation.

The

article is divided into

three main sections:

firstly

the

development

of Runcorn will

be

discussed

with

particular

emphasis

on the

Shopping City; secondly

we will

outline the

wider context of

national

retail,

consumer

and

policy change during

Shopping City's

life

span

which will

provide background

to the

final

section

analysing

recent

change

in both

Shopping City

and the old town centre.

Location and

Development

of Runcorn

The

regional

location of

Runcorn,

in

the

north-west of

England,

is shown in

figure

1.

The

town is situated on the south bank

of the River

Mersey approximately

16

km

down river

from

Liverpool. Although

Run

corn

shares economic and social links with

Merseyside,

and

Liverpool

in

particular,

for

administrative

purposes

it lies within the

BUILT

ENVIRONMENT

VOL

32 NO

1

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3/16

BRITAIN: RUNCORN

-

A

TALE OF TWO

CENTRES

Figure

1.

Regional

location

of

Runcorn.

Borough

of

Halton

in

the

county

of

Cheshire.

Building

on an

existing

urban

settlement

of

over

25,000

people

in

the

early

1960s,

Runcorn was

designated

a

new town

in

1964, primarily

to meet

Liverpool's need for

more

housing

land. This

section will

briefly

consider the

context

within

which Runcorn

new town was

planned

and

developed.

According

to

Ward

(2002,

p.

227)

Everywhere,

the

1960s saw the

commitment

to

self-consciously

modern

urban

planning

reach

its

zenith

...

experiencing

the

longest

economic

boom of the

century

...

advanced

capitalist

countries were

able to

concentrate on

becoming

mass-consumer

societies

based on

advanced

technology...

These

circumstances allowed urban

modernization

finally

to

become

mainstream,

implemented

on a

massive

scale.

This

approach

was

characterized

by Utopian

comprehensiveness:

that

is,

a

drive

to

build

or rebuild

whole cities

or

large parts

of them ... within

fifteen

years

of

the end

of the Second

World

War,

a

whole

ring

of

new towns had

been built

around London and in

the inner

areas of

many

cities,

huge

schemes of

comprehensive

redevelopment

had

transformed

the urban

fabric.

(Taylor,

1998,

p.

75)

The

modernist

approach

to urban

planning

spurned

the

old and the

inefficient in

favour

BUILT ENVIRONMENT VOL 32 NO 1 89



4/16

NEIGHBOURHOOD CENTRES

IN

EUROPE:

YESTERDAY,

TODAY AND TOMORROW

of

the new and functional. Those

who

planned

and

designed

Britain's

new towns

were no

exception

to this

trend. The new

towns were to

represent

an

orderly

and

tidy

solution to

the

problem

of

accommodating

the

growing population

of the conurbations

and

the households

pushed

out from

the

central

cities

through

the linked

processes

of slum-clearance

and

rebuilding

at lower

densities.

Much of the first wave of

British new town

building

was intended to accommodate

overspill

from the Greater London area.

Many

of these

towns have

become

household names

in

the

history

of

planning

and

they

attracted

some

of the

best

architect-planners

of the time

to meet the

exciting challenge

of

designing

'a new town' on

open

land

(Sir

Frederick

Gibberd

at

Harlow;

G. A.

Jellicoe

at Hemel

Hempstead;

Louis de Soissons

at

Welwyn

Garden

City; George

Parr at

Stevenage).

Most

of these new towns were intended

to become self-contained

communities of

50-100,000

people. Containing

a

balance

between

employment

and

population,

they

were to be

developed

at

moderate

densities,

with residential

development grouped

into

neighbourhoods served by appropriate pro

vision

of

schools,

shops

and other

community

facilities.

These

neighbourhoods,

and

separate

industrial

districts,

would

be

grouped

around

a new town

centre.

Thus land

use

would be

strictly

zoned whilst

traffic

would be chan

nelled

along

a

hierarchy

of

distributor,

local

and

access roads.

'They

were

important

as

planning

laboratories where new

experiments

in

building, layout

and

design,

and

in

cater

ing

for social

groups

could be made'

(Cherry,

1972, p. 169).

It was not until the 1960s

that it was felt

that the

problems

of

Liverpool

warranted

the

designation

of new towns

(Liverpool

Corporation

had built its own

overspill

town at

Kirkby

and had entered into a

number of 'town

development

schemes'

in

the

previous

decade).

In

1964 Runcorn

New Town

was

designated

to accommodate

overspill population

from

Liverpool

and

North

Merseyside

at a time when

a

high

rate

of

population growth

was

being predicted.

Economic

growth

was also

continuing,

albeit at

a

less

impressive

rate than some

of its

European neighbours,

whilst

regional

policy

was

encouraging

investment outside

of the South East.

Furthermore,

massive

slum clearance

programmes

were

changing

the face of inner cities

and

creating pressure

for

overspill

accommodation and the issue of

coping

with

'traffic

in

towns'

had

moved

to

the centre of the

political stage.

It was

in

this context that the Runcorn

New Town

Master Plan was

prepared.

The

author of the

plan

was Professor Arthur

Ling.

Ling

was an architect and

planner

who

had

previously

been a member of Abercrombie's

planning

team

in

London

and

Chief

Planning

Officer

of

Coventry

in the

early post-war

years.

He was

by

this time

a

consultant

and

holder of a Chair of

Planning

at

Nottingham

University.

Professor

Ling's plan

embraced

the

modernist

agenda. Although

there was

already

an

existing

town of Runcorn

with

a

population

of

28,000,

the new town

would

turn

its back on this older 'inefficient'

settlement and be provided with efficient

new

shopping

and

community

facilities on

a

greenfield

site to the east of the

existing

town

(see

figure

2).

The

target

for the new

town was a

relatively

modest rate of

growth

to

70,000

people by

1981 and

90-95,000

by

the millennium. But the actual

population

of Runcorn

in

year

2000

(62,730)

was

only

around

two-thirds

of the

target figure.

The

theory

behind this

plan

envisaged

a

linear

arrangement

of new residential areas

on either side of a spinal public transport

route so that most

people

would be within

five minutes

walking

distance of a bus

stop.

The

application

of this linear

principle

to the

topography

of the

designated

area

led

to the

'figure

of

eight' layout.

The new town centre

would be at the intersection of the

'figure

of

eight';

the residential areas would be on

either side of the

public transport

route and

the

industrial areas were to

be

located

at

90 BUILT ENVIRONMENT VOL 32 NO 1



5/16

BRITAIN:

RUNCORN

-

A TALE OF TWO CENTRES

the

edges

of the town as shown

in

figure

2

(Runcorn

Development Corporation,

1964,

pp.

18-20).

Figure

2

also shows the

relatively

peripheral

location of the

existing

or 'old'

town centre

compared

to the

centrally

located

new town centre.

Shopping City: Planning

a

New Town Centre for Runcorn

Shopping

and

community

facilities were to be

provided

in a

hierarchy

of centres.

In

the new

town centre

(to

be known as

'Shopping City')

would be the

major

shopping

and leisure

facilities. The

adjoining

office blocks would

accommodate

council

offices,

and the town

hospital

would be located

nearby.

The old

town centre was

given

its own

designation

as

a 'district centre' but offered little new

investment.

This centre

already

contained

about

6,000

m2 of retail

space together

with the

array

of

community

and

leisure

facilities

that

would

be

expected

in a small

Cheshire town

in the 1960s. Within each of

the new residential

neighbourhoods

(average

population

about

8,000),

a

local

centre would

provide

for

daily shopping

needs

together

with local health and

community

facilities.

More remote

parts

of these

neighbourhoods

would also benefit

from a small number of

individual 'corner

shops'.

Schaffer

(1970,

p.

117)

has

suggested

that the new

shopping

centres became the

best known

features of British new

towns,

as

exemplified

by

Runcorn.

He

explains

that

the decision

regarding

size of the new

centre was

normally

informed

by 'highly

complicated'

techniques,

to

some

extent

based on

a model

commonly

used at the

time,

Reilly's

Law of Retail Gravitation: this

measures the

pull

of

rival

shopping

centres

and

calculates

the amount of

shopping space

a

given population

can

support.

However,

normally

the model assumes the

population

is an

existing

one,

subject

to

relatively

small

and often

pre-dictable

change

over a forecast

Shopping

City

^

Halton

Lea

Residential

Industry

Figure

2. Runcorn New Town master

plan.




6/16

NEIGHBOURHOOD

CENTRES

IN

EUROPE:

YESTERDAY,

TODAY AND TOMORROW

period,

but

for a new town

the

calculations

must

be made before the

population

arrives,

based

on

predictions

of what the situation

will be

many years

ahead.

Furthermore,

it was

usually

assumed

that the new

shopping

centres would be used

by people

living

well outside

the

town,

theoretically

extending

the catchment

area

beyond

the

new town

boundaries.

There was therefore

a

high degree

of

uncertainty

and

guess

work

involved

in

determining floorspace

for the

shopping

centres

in new towns. Schaffer

(1970,

p.

118)

rather

drily

observes

that,

'a

major [forecasting]

error could lead to serious

losses'. Runcorn

Development

Corporation

was no

exception

to this

approach.

The size of retail

provision

in the new

town centre had been decided

through

a

series of calculations about

predicted

retail

turnover

in

1991

and

dependent upon

various

assumptions

about

population

and

economic

growth

rates,

competition

from

other towns

and

the allocation

of

shopping

between the town centre and local centres.

The

final

proposal

was for

46,000

m2

floor

space

devoted to retail and

ancillary

uses.

It

is

clear,

especially

with

hindsight,

that the

margin

for error in these calculations and

the absence of

any

'qualitative'

discussion

could lead to

huge

variations

in

the actual

retail

space

needed

in 1991 and thereafter. At

the

very

least this would

suggest

the need

for a

very

flexible

building design

that could

accommodate

change.

If this was the

case,

why

was

the decision

taken to

build a

new,

relatively

inflexible,

high-cost,

purpose

built town centre on

a

greenfield

site,

rather than

develop

the

existing

Runcorn town centre on a

piece

meal basis? The answer lies

partly

in the

philosophical underpinning

to new town

planning

mentioned above and

partly

in

an

analysis

carried out in

preparing

the master

plan.

That

analysis

is

paraphrased

in table 1

opposite.

Looking

back

it

is

possible

to criticize this

analysis

on

a

number

of

grounds.

Perhaps

the most

striking

is that

in

drawing up

the

Master

Plan,

land

use was

clearly expected

to fit in with a

pre-determined pattern

of

transport

infrastructure.

Thus,

it is

argued

that the

existing

town centre is

badly

located,

and the alternative

new

location well

located,

in relation to the

proposed highway

and

rapid

transport systems.

Nowhere

is it

suggested

that the

transport system might

be

designed

to serve the

optimum pattern

of land use.

Some

thinking

around the commercial

de

velopment process

seems

confused;

it

is

difficult to understand

how

property

can be

'ripe'

for

redevelopment

whilst at

the

same

time

arguing

that site

values,

demolition and

disturbance costs would result

in

excessive

costs and that clearance

and

phasing

would

be a

problem.

On the

question

of location,

it could be

argued

that excessive

weight

was

given

to the benefits of the town centre

being

at

the

physical

centre

of the

town,

given

the

relatively

short distances involved.

Furthermore the

analysis

took little account

of the

variety

(of

building

forms,

ages,

uses,

rent

levels)

available in

the

old

town centre

that

planners today

would

perceive

as ad

vantages.

With

hindsight

it

is

easy

to

question

and

challenge the planning analysis supporting

the decision

to

build a

new town centre.

However,

the true reason for the decision

was

possibly

that,

working

in the modernist

planning hegemony

of the

time,

Ling

and his

associates

simply

wanted to build a new

town

centre.

Guy

(1980,

p.

97),

for

example,

noted

that the

special

status of new towns

generally

resulted in

a

different and radical

approach

to

the

planning

and

development

of retail

centres. He

suggests

that

the

planners

were

able to choose locations for shopping centres

without direct

responsibility

to local

political

and commercial

interests:

consequently

the

main

shopping

centre

of a new

town such as

Runcorn has almost

always

been an

entirely

new

development,

rather than an extension

of

an

existing

centre.

According

to the master

plan:

'the

(new)

Town

Centre

will

be the

natural

meeting

place

for the town's social and cultural life as




7/16

BRITAIN:

RUNCORN

-


Table 1.

Analysis

of

the

advantages

and

disadvantages

of the

existing

and alternative

greenfield

locations

for Runcorn

new

town

centre

Existing

town centre Nezv location

(Shopping

City)

Advantages Advantages

Existing

trade would attract new businesses

Position

in

relation to the

Mersey,

the canals

and

bridge

affords an

exciting setting

Topography provides

an

opportunity

for

multi-level

development

on the

deck

principle

Much

existing property

is

'ripe'

for

redevelopment

Take

advantage

of the

existing railway

station

Site is

large enough

to accommodate the

required

development

and

allow

for

expansion

Lack of

existing development

on the site means a

saving

in

land,

demolition and disturbance costs

Freedom from

existing development

allows for

flexibility

in

phasing

Site is

large enough

to accommodate the

necessary

large

scale roadworks

without

compromising

other elements

In this

position

the town centre would be

in

the centre of

the town

Site is at the best possible location on the rapid transit

system

No

other

major

traffic

generator

in the

vicinity

Halton Rock

(a

nearby

landscape

feature)

would

provide

visual

identity

Disadvantages Disadvantages

Site is restricted

by

the

Bridgewater

and

Manchester

Ship

canals

Site is

badly

located

in

relation to the

population

of the new town

Site is badly located in relation to the

proposed rapid

transit

system

Lack of

space

would make

costly

multi-storey

car

parks

necessary

Site is

badly

located

in relation to the

primary

road

system

Site is

inadequately

served

by

the

primary

road

system

Site

values,

demolition and disturbance costs

would result

in

excessive

site

costs

The restricted area would have to

be almost

completely

cleared,

including

recently

re-developed shops

Difficult to

phase

the

development

in

relation

to

the

availability

of land and

property

Requires

a

change

in status of

the

existing

town

centre

and the removal of some businesses

It

is

away

from

the

railway

station

Requires a change in the shopping habits of the existing

population

Source: Runcorn

Development Corporation

(1964),

pp.

82-83.

well as for

shopping,

offices

and

specialized

amenities such as a

theatre,

library,

central

sports

hall,

etc'

(Runcorn

Development

Corporation,

1964,

p.

85).

Clearly

this was

to be

more than a

shopping

centre: it was

intended to be a

genuine

town centre. The

need for

'vitality'

was understood:




8/16

NEIGHBOURHOOD CENTRES IN EUROPE:

YESTERDAY,

TODAY AND TOMORROW

It is desirable that

as

many people

as

possible

should live

in

and around the

Centre,

and have

easy

access to it. This will

ensure

that ... there

is

maximum

local

support

from

people living

within

walking

distance ...

late

night

shopping

(and

entertainment)

facilities will assist

substantially

in the

objective

of

making

the centre a

lively place

at

night.

(Runcorn

Development Corporation,

1964,

pp.

87-89)

The

proposal

was

for

an

enclosed centre

built

on

a

number of levels with

servicing

from below and

multi-storey

car

parking

around the

edges.

At

ground

level the centre

would be linked

into

the

distributor road

system,

whilst the main retail level would

be

directly

accessible from the

busway

and

pedestrian

walkways

from

adjoining

residential

neighbourhoods.

At the heart of

the enclosed centre would be a central

square,

from this

square

four 'arms'

were to extend

in each

direction

of

the

compass.

The

arm

extending

northwards

would contain

mainly

offices

and

civic

buildings;

the arm to the

east would link

to the

town-park,

technical

college

and indoor

sports

building;

to the

west the main residential area of

the

town;

and to the

south,

cultural

buildings

such as

the

library

and theatre.

Figure

3

provides

an

aerial view of the centre:

clearly

visible are

the two

raised

busways

running

east-west

and the

multi-storey

car

parks

in

each

corner;

together

these

help

to enclose the main retail

centre. In the

foreground,

and to the south

of

one

of the

busways

are the council offices

and

related

community

services such as the

library,

as

envisaged

in

the master

plan,

while

to the

north and

east of the centre are new

retail

developments.

It is also

apparent

from

the aerial view

that

the

design

of the centre

serves to

discourage

casual visits and the

centre would be

unlikely

to attract the sort

of

passing

trade common to traditional

high

streets.

In

1972,

on the

opening

of

'Shopping City',

The Times

commented that:

Shopping City

is

possibly

the nearest

planners

have come to the sort of

building imagined by

science fiction writers. In

appearance

it

resembles

a

supersonic mosque,

with

gleaming

white bricks

even on the dullest

day.

(Skidmore, 1972)

It

was noted that all the retail units were

fully

Figure

3.

Runcorn,

Shopping City

aerial view.




9/16

BRITAIN:

RUNCORN

-

A

TALE

OF TWO CENTRES

let

and in the

first five

months of

trading

some

shopkeepers

had

already

reached

the

turnover

targets

that

they

had

hoped

to

attain in

five

years. According

to The

Times

the

explanation

for this success

lay

in the

'cleverly

sited car parks with space for more

than

2,000

cars';

the

superb busway 'carrying

passengers

at

more

than four times the

speed

of London

buses';

the

'clarity

of the

design

of

shops,

malls and

public squares

-

carpeted

and furnished and

bright

with flowers and

shrubs';

and the

'spacious, beautifully lighted

shops

themselves. Boots

for

example,

was 10

times as

big

as the

old

shop

in Runcorn

...

while Tesco had 20 times more

space'.

The

Times

correspondent

admired the scale of the

centre, noting that this had only been possible

because the

development

corporation

had

planned Shopping City

'not

only

as a local

town centre

but as a

regional shopping

centre which would be a

magnet

to

shoppers

from

Wigan,

St

Helens, Widnes,

Warrington

and other

parts

of the vast

Merseyside

conurbation'

(Hutchin, 1972).

However,

whilst it was not

appreciated

at the

time,

this

high

level of success

was

to be short-lived due to

changes

in con

sumer behaviour, retailing methods and

government policies.

Even as

early

as 1975

it

was

becoming

clear

that:

all

was

far

from well

with

'Shopping City'.

A

number of

tenants were

running

into

financing

difficulties,

the car

park usage dropped by

about

40/) compared with the previous year, pedestrian

counts showed

the same trend.

(Shakespeare,

1977)

Bui: worse was

still to come.

The Wider

Context:

Consumers,

Retailers

and Government

Policy

Since

Runcorn

Shopping City opened

in

1972 there have been dramatic

changes

in

shopping

patterns,

retail

development

and

policy towards town centres and retailing

in

the UK.

It has

already

been noted that

Shopping

City

was

planned

in

the

1960s,

when

retailing

and retail

consumption

tended to be

based on a hierarchical

system

of

shopping

centres,

each

fulfilling

different

functions.

Shopping trips

for convenience

goods

were

typically

short

in

length

and

would

be carried out

locally

several

times

each

week,

if not

daily,

on foot or

perhaps

by

bus,

whilst

shopping

for

comparison

or

specialist goods necessitated a visit to the

Table 2.

Descriptions

of

types

of retail

development

Convenience

Shopping

Convenience

retailing

is the

provision

of

everyday

essential

items,

including

food, drinks,

newspapers/

magazines

and

confectionery.

Superstores:

self-service stores

selling mainly

food,

or

food and non-food

goods,

usually

with more than

2,500

m2

trading

floorspace,

with

supporting

car

parking.

Comparison Shopping

Comparison

retailing

is the

provision

of items

not obtained on a

frequent

basis.

These include

clothing,

footwear,

household and recreational

goods.

Retail

warehouses:

large

stores

specializing

in

the sale of household

goods

(such

as

carpets,

furniture and

electrical

goods),

DIY items and other

ranges

of

goods, catering mainly

for

car-borne customers.

Retail

parks:

an

agglomeration

of at least

3 retail warehouses.

Regional

and

sub-regional

shopping

centres: out-of-centre

shopping

centres

which

are

generally

over

50,000

m2

gross

retail

area,

typically

comprising

a wide

variety

of

comparison goods

stores.

(Source:

ODPM

(2005),

PPS6,

Annex

A:

Typologies)




10/16


YESTERDAY,

TODAY AND TOMORROW

nearest town or

regional shopping

centre. The

planners envisaged

that

Runcorn

Shopping

City

would be the focus for a wide

range

of

food

and,

critically,

non-food or

comparison

shopping

whilst a

network

of smaller local

centres would

provide

for localized

shopping

and service needs.

As will be discussed later it was the

inability

to attract a

range

of

comparison

retail

outlets that undermined

Shopping City's

theoretical

position

in a

hierarchy

of centres.

Furthermore the centre

opened during

a time

of

rapid

social and

demographic change;

nothing

less than a 'consumer revolution'

according

to

DOE

(1994a,

p.

3),

with

changes

in residential

location,

the

growth

of female

employment,

increases in

purchasing

power

and increased

mobility

(Davies,

1984,

p.

40).

Of these factors it was

arguably

increased

mobility

which most undermined

Shopping

City:

as car

ownership

increased,

the new

town residents were better able to visit

free-standing superstores

with

convenient

car-parking

for convenience

shopping,

and

other

nearby

centres with a better

range

of retailers for

comparison shopping.

Added to this

list

of

quantifiable

trends

are

more

subjective

but nevertheless

equally

significant

changes

in

consumer attitudes

and

expectations. Shopping

is

increasingly

referred to as a leisure

activity,

and the

traditional ties between residents and their

local

shopping

centre have been loosened

with

increasingly

mobile consumers

willing,

and

able,

to travel

considerable

distances

to visit new

shopping

centres. Indeed new

major

retail

developments

are

generally

a

mix

of retail and leisure

uses,

combining

a

range of comparison goods retailers with

leisure facilities such as a multi-screen

cinema

complex

and indoor

bowling

arena

(Guy,

1994,

p.

191).

The

pace

of

retail

development

per

se

accelerated

during

the 1980s as

the

change

of

government

in

1979 marked a watershed

in recent

British town

planning history

(Thornley,

1991).

The new Conservative

government

was a

pro-free

market

admini

stration with a

laissez-faire

philosophy.

It

generally sought

to relax

planning

controls

in order to

promote

a national economic

renaissance and the

development

of an en

terprise

culture. What followed for town

centres was later described as 'the virtual

abandonment of

any

retail

planning

in

the UK'

(Davies,

1995,

p.

xvii),

whilst

the

process

of retail

change during

this

period

was

famously

described

by

Schiller

(1986)

as 'three waves of retail

decentralization'

comprehensively undermining

traditional

town,

district and

neighbourhood

centres. The

first wave was the

development

of

large

stores

mainly

for

food

retailing

from the

early

1970s

onwards;

the

second

wave,

also

beginning

in

the 1970s in Britain, was associated with the

development

of

retail

warehouses,

mainly

for

bulky

household

goods

such as furniture

and

carpets

and

electrical

goods.

The third wave

began

in

the

mid-1980s

and

was associated

with

comparison goods

such

as

clothing,

footwear and

toys (Guy,

1994,

p.

143)

and the

development

of

regional shopping

centres,

or as in the case of 'Marks and

Spencer'

for

example,

the

development

of

large,

free

standing,

single-level

stores

with

adjacent

car

parking,

in locations convenient for car

borne

shoppers.

The combination of

rapid

retail

develop

ment and

changes

in

consumer

behaviour,

coupled

with

periods

of

economic recession

during

the 1980s and

early

1990s,

resulted in

serious

problems

for

many

shopping

centres.

In

1994 the

government duly reported

on a

range

of

run-down

and

neglected shopping

centres

including

those

in

market

towns,

industrial

towns,

suburban centres and even

major city centres which were all struggling

to survive

in

the new

trading

environment,

with a view

to

improving planning practice

and

policy

(DOE,

1994a).

It is no

surprise

therefore that Runcorn

Shopping

City

experienced

decline

during

this

period.

Before this

is

analysed

in the next section it

is worth

briefly noting

the

significant

changes

to

government

policy

for retail and town

centres over the last decade.




11/16

BRITAIN: RUNCORN

-


The Conservative

government's

laissez-faire

approach applied

until the

early

1990s when

a combination of events

began

to

persuade

it to take a

more interventionist stance

in

which local authorities were

eventually

to

be encouraged to plan positively for retail

change

and

give explicit protection

to town

centres.

First,

concern

was

growing

that

much

of the off-centre

development

of the 1980s

was

harming

traditional

shopping

areas

with evidence of the

undesirable

impact

of

some out-of-town

retailing

emerging

from

government-sponsored

studies

(DOE

1992,

1994a).

A

second reason for

change

was

the new

policy

of

attempting

to

restrict

the

growth

in

private

vehicle use. Off-centre

retail

developments

reliant

upon

car-borne

customers were an obvious

target

for

a

government attempting

to establish its

green

credentials with an international

audience.

These factors

led

to the

publication

of

two

new

planning

policy guidance

notes:

in

1993,

PPG6:

Town Centres and Retail

Development,

and in

1994,

PPG13:

Transport.

These two

guidance

notes reflected

a

shift

in

thinking

towards

promoting

town centres as the

preferred

locations for new retail investment

(DOE, 1994a, p. 41), although the revised

PPG6 still maintained that 'the Government

believes

that both

town centre

and out-of

centre locations have distinctive roles

to

play

in

providing

for

new retail

developments'

(DOE,

1993,

para

21).

In

1994 the House of

Commons Environment Select Committee

reported

to

government

(DOE, 1994b).

They

were

highly

critical of the

laissez-faire

approach

to retail

development

that had

dominated the

preceding

decade,

noting

that

many giving evidence had been concerned

that the

damage

to town centres

had

already

been done and

that

the revised

and new

planning policy guidance

was

'closing

stable

and

garage

doors after horse and Volvos

had

long

since bolted'

(DOE,

1994>,

Vol.

1,

para

4).

The

government's

response

to

the Committee's

report

was

published

in

February

1995

(DOE,

1995)

when

they agreed

that

PPG6 should

be revised to

recognize

further the

importance

of town

centres,

and

to

highlight

the

protection

and

promotion

of town centres as

key government

policy

aims.

Accordingly

in

June

1996,

a revised

PPG6 was issued. This clearly set out the

government's

new

primary

aim of

promoting

town centres

and

encouraging

new retail

development

to be either

in,

or on the

edge

of,

established centres. To

help

achieve

this,

the

guidance

advised local

planning

authorities

to

'adopt

a

sequential approach

to

selecting

sites

for new retail

development'

(DOE,

1996,

para

1.10).

This

approach

requires

local authorities

and

developers

to

seek,

as

first

preference,

a town centre site for new

development, with all options to be assessed

before less central sites are considered. In

the absence of

a suitable town centre

site

the

second

preference

is for

edge-of-centre

sites

in

the

expectation

that such

developments

will

support

'linked

shopping trips'

with

benefits for the wider town centre.

Only

when these sites have been assessed should

accessible,

out-of-centre sites be considered.

However,

with

several

million

square

metres

of

off-centre

floorspace

in the

development

'pi peline' when the new policy emerged (Guy,

1998),

out-of-town

developments

continued

apace

until

about

2000,

since when there

has been a

significant

reduction in off-centre

retail

developments

and a

renewed

emphasis

on

town centre

development.

PPG6

has now been

replaced by Planning

Policy

Statement

6,

Planning for

Town Centres

(ODPM,

2005),

which not

only

reaffirms the

government's

'town centre first'

approach,

but also

complements

the wider urban re

naissance strategy and agenda in promoting

'vital and viable' town centres. Within this

policy

context initiatives such as town centre

management

and

marketing,

and substantial

investment

in new

residential,

cultural and

retail

developments

over the last few

years

have

helped

to reverse the decline of some

town

centres,

and in

particular

larger city

centres.




12/16


YESTERDAY,

TODAY AND TOMORROW

Runcorn

Shopping City:

From Plaudits to Problems

These trends

in

consumer

behaviour,

retailing

supply

and

government policy, particularly

during the 1980s, collectively caused major

problems

for

the continued success of

Run

corn's

new town

centre,

Shopping City.

With around

100

shops,

it falls

below

the

scale of a traditional first tier

shopping

centre

attracting

customers from

a

large

hinterland. Furthermore

the

composition

of

the

shops,

with a

heavy emphasis

on food

and

convenience

outlets,

failed to

provide

a

suitable destination for non-food

shopping

as

a 'leisure

activity'

and

served to reinforce

its

lack of attraction to shoppers from beyond

the local

area. No

departmental

store

(e.g.

Debenhams or

John Lewis)

nor

any major

chain store

(e.g.

Marks and

Spencer

or

BHS)

was ever attracted to the

centre. The other

proposed

town

centre

land

uses,

offices

and

leisure

activities,

were never

developed

to

the extent

envisaged

in

the

master

plan.

The

enclosed

design

and

physical separation

from

adjoining

residential areas

discouraged

casual

visits or

passing

trade.

On

the other

hand,

the centre was on the

large

size for a district

centre and was in direct

competition

with

Runcorn Old Town

Centre,

with

its

traditional

catchment of

'old

town'

residents.

Competition

has

always

been a

problem

for

Shopping City,

not

only

in terms of

retail

competition

but also in terms of the

status

accorded to

it

as

a

centre

by policy

makers. From the first

days

of the Runcorn

New Town


it

was

necessary

for the

planners

to consider the

development of Shopping City within the

context of its

impact

and the need to

avoid

detrimental

impacts

on the

existing

Runcorn

Old Town Centre. In 1974

Runcorn

was

joined

with

Widnes,

an

adjacent

town on the north

bank

of

the

Mersey

to

form the

Borough

of

Halton. The new local

authority

now had

responsibility

for

three

town

centres:

Widnes,

Runcorn Old Town

centre

and

Shopping

City.

With

relatively

low consumer

spending

power

in the

Borough

and no centre

large

enough

to

attract consumers from

beyond

the local area

there

was

clearly

excess retail

capacity

The

position

of

Shopping City

was

not

helped

as the

Borough began

to invest

in new retail

premises

and environmental

improvements

to both Widnes and Runcorn

Old Town Centres.

Through

the 1980s both

Warrington

town

centre

(less

than

12 km

distant)

and Chester

city

centre

(about

24 km

distant)

developed

rapidly

as

major regional comparison

shop

ping

centres,

attracting many

of

the

major

comparison

and

specialist

retailers that

might

otherwise have considered

locating

in

Shopping City.

Furthermore,

as

was

discussed

in the

previous

section, the more relaxed

planning regime

of that

decade enabled

large

new

free-standing supermarkets

and

non-food convenience

superstores

to

open

in

locations that were

directly competitive

with

Shopping City.

A

further,

and

critical,

problem

for

Shop

ping City

and other

planned

centres

is

that

shop

rents tend to be

high

and

relatively

uniform,

resulting

in a

relatively

narrow

range

of

shops,

most

of which

were leased

and

managed

by

national or international

chains with little

connection

with,

or concern

for,

Runcorn

as

a

specific

community.

Both the

centre

management

and the

management

of

the individual

shops

see the centre

primarily

as

an

investment,

whose success can be

measured

by

its

ability

to

yield

a

good

return

on the

capital

invested.

In

contrast,

centres

that

have

grown

organically

(such

as Runcorn

Old

Town)

comprise

a

hetrogenerous

range

of

building ages,

sizes, uses,

tenures and

rents. As such, these

organic

centres are able

to

support

a much wider

range

of

building

uses and

functions,

including

a much

wider

range

of

shops.

In

addition to

making

organic

centres more

interesting places

to

visit,

these characteristics make them

much

more robust

centres,

being

able to

adapt

to

changing

economic or social

circumstances

more

easily

than

planned

centres.

Being

a

planned

centre of

fixed

size,

it could never be

BUILT ENVIRONMENT VOL 32 NO 1



13/16

BRITAIN:

RUNCORN

-

A TALE OF

TWO CENTRES

the case that

Shopping City

would

precisely

meet the needs of Runcorn in

the

long

run. It

was

always going

to

be

inevitable that there

would be a mismatch

between

the needs

of

the residents for

shopping

and town centre

facilities and those that Shopping City could

provide.

Although

the

growth

of retail

parks

and

out-of-town

retailing

posed

a

threat to ex

isting shopping

centres

nationally,

there was

little of this

type

of retail

investment

in

the

Runcorn

area

and

little direct

competition

with

Shopping City

from these sources.

Nevertheless,

around

a

decade

ago,

Asda

(part

of the Wal-Mart

'family'

[szc])

were

given permission

to build a

large superstore

on an adjoining site. However anecdotal

evidence

suggests

that

despite

its

edge-of

centre location the store does not contribute

much

in

the

way

of 'linked

shopping trips'

often associated with

superstores adjacent

to other

shopping

centres.

Furthermore,

the

current owners of

Shopping City, Fordgate,

decided

in

the late

1990s,

that it would

be

commercially prudent

to

diversify

the

attractions of the centre

by developing

a retail

park

on an

adjoining

site

(known

as Trident

Park). This had the advantage of providing

sites for

'big

box'

retailers

that could not be

accommodated within the restricted confines

of the

existing

centre. Whilst both devel

opments

are

popular

with

shoppers,

and

in

turn have

probably

been

financially

beneficial

to

Fordgate,

it

is unclear whether

they

have

helped

or hindered retail turnover within the

enclosed

centre.

According

to

an

analysis

of

retailing

in

Halton carried out

in

1996

by

consultants

Herring-Baker-Harris, Runcorn Shopping

City

had

originally

been intended to

function

as a

major

comparison

shopping

centre but

'over the

years

its

image

has

moved out of

step

with

the evolution

of retail formats' and

in

terms of

shopping

centre

design

it was an

anachronism.

Its

general

environment was

considered to be

poor

and

it faced

a

unique

set of issues

very

different

from those

facing

centres

with a more traditional

high

street

form.

However,

this was not to

say

that the

centre was not well used

by

local

people,

many

were

economically disadvantaged

arid

relied

on it

as their main

shopping

facility

Indeed,

the catchment area of the

centre was

very

localized with 79

per

cent of

non-food

trade

coming

from the south

and

south-eastern

parts

of Runcorn alone. With

regard

to the future the

study

concluded

that

Shopping

City

did have a future role

in

providing high-order retailing

for the

people

of Runcorn and that the

existing

enclosed centre should be refurbished and

complemented by

the

development

of retail

warehousing

on the

adjoining

'southern

loop

site'

(Halton

Borough

Council,

1996).

A further problem with the new town

centre as a whole has been that whereas the

original 'shopping city'

was

planned

and

built

to an

integrated design,

later

additions

have not

been

so well co-ordinated:

M;my

of the later

developments

at the town centre

(in

the

1980s

and

1990s)

have been

constructed

independently

of the

original

structure,

and

have not been

integrated

at mall level as was

originally

intended,

nor have

they

been

linked

at

ground

level for

pedestrians. Examples

of

freestanding

developments

which are

part

of

the town centre are the Asda store to the west,

the

Department

of

Employment

offices to the

north

and

east,

the TAVC

barracks,

the Post Office

sorting

office,

Halton

Hospital

and the Hallwood

Health Centre. The town centre

is

therefore

made

up

of

many

unconnected

parts

which need to be

drawn

together

to form a

corporate identity

and to

function as one.

(Halton

Borough

Council,

1997a,

p.

3)

The

report

called for

integration

of the

activities of the various

agencies

involved

with

the new town

centre,

enhancement of

its physical environment and a promotional

campaign

(Halton

Borough

Council, 1997a,

p.

4).

Later that

year

the

Borough

Council

approved

a

strategic policy

for its town

centres

that

accepted

these

proposals,

so that

Shopping City:

fulfils the role as the main centre of attraction

for Runcorn

and

surrounding villages,

without

becoming unduly

dominant

to the

detriment

of




14/16


YESTERDAY,

TODAY AND TOMORROW

Runcorn Old Town Centre or Widnes Town Centre.

(Halton

Borough

Council,

1997b,

para

7.7)

In an

attempt

to

change

and

improve

its

image, Shopping City

was also renamed

'Halton Lea'.

With

regard

to Runcorn Old Town Centre

the same

strategy

concluded

that it

should be

revitalized

'by major

investment

in

retailing,

leisure and education and the arts so that

it

performs

the

dual

function as a small

market town with

specialist

attractions and

as a district centre for the

nearby

residential

areas'

(Halton

Borough

Council,

1997b,

para

7.8).

The old town centre had not

stood

still

in the

intervening years.

The 1970s saw

investment in the

busway,

new road

accesses,

housing

and environmental

improvements.

In

more recent times the centre benefited from

improvements

to

the

esplanade

along

the

Manchester

Ship

Canal,

new

landscaping,

new social

housing

and traffic

calming

measures.

Part

of Runcorn Old Town Centre

is shown in

figure

4, with the outline of the

Runcorn-Widnes

bridge

in the

background.

In

addition to

providing

local convenience

shopping,

the old town centre contains a

number

of

specialist

retailers

(e.g. shops

selling

books,

musical

instruments,

angling

equipment),

a

range

of financial and

prop

erty

services,

pubs,

restaurants,

library,

health

and

community

centre,

swimming

pool,

churches and other

civic

amenities. In

1996/97,

supported by

an award from the

government's Single Regeneration Budget

(SRB),

Halton

Borough

Council led a 50

Figure

4.

Runcorn Old Town Centre

today.




15/16

BRITAIN: RUNCORN

-


million investment

programme

for the re

generation

of the old town centre. One of the

landmark

results of this

programme

has been

the new

'Brindley'

theatre and art

gallery

on

the banks of the

Bridgewater

Canal.

In

consequence,

whereas 'Halton Lea'

provides

a

functional

and efficient location

for

convenience

shopping

with some

ancillary

uses,

it is not

today

the 'natural

meeting place

for the

town's social

and cultural life' that

the

planners

intended. On the other

hand,

the

Borough

Council's

ambition for Runcorn

Old

Town Centre

to

perform

as

'a small

market town

with

specialist

attractions

and

as a

district centre

for the

nearby

residential

areas' seems much closer to

being

achieved.

Conclusions

At the time of the

drawing

up

of the Runcorn

master

plan

there was little

appetite

from

architects and

planners

for the refurbishment

of

existing shopping

centres. The

advantages

attributed to Runcorn Old Town Centre were

modest.

It

was

suggested

that

existing

trade

might

attract new businesses but without

any significant comparison shopping

sector,

other than estate agency. And although much

existing property

was

thought

to be

'ripe'

for

development,

until the

impetus given by

the SRB investment

in

the

1990s,

there was

little demand from

developers

to take

up

the

opportunities

offered. Even the

'exciting

setting'

afforded

by

the canals and

bridge

have remained

substantially unexploited

apart

from the construction of the

esplanade

along

a

short

length

of

the Manchester

Ship

Canal

and

the recent

development

of

the 'Brindley' theatre on the banks of the

Bridgewater

Canal.

On the other hand the

development

of

Shopping City

with such a

rigid

and inflexible

design

on the basis

of

long-term

forecasts of

retail

spending

patterns

was

always going

to be a

risky

business.

Whilst the

planners

could not know the

precise

nature of

the

changes

in

demography,

spending patterns,

retail demand

and

supply

that were

going

to

occur over the next 30

years,

the

history

of

urban

development

and

retailing

should have

told

them that

there would be some

changes.

For this reason

if

for no

other,

the

design

of

Shopping City

was

insufficiently

flexible

and should have made more allowance for

organic change.

Nevertheless,

even

if

it is

accepted

that

at around

60,000

m2

(gross)

Shopping

City

was an over-ambitious

development,

it was

inevitable

that

substantial

new

shopping

facilities would have had to be built to serve

the:

needs of the new town. To accommodate

development

on the scale

required

within

Runcorn

Old Town Centre would have

been a

complex

operation requiring

a

great

deal of sensitive planning and design skill.

Managing

traffic access and

parking

would

have been

particularly challenging.

But it

might

have been a task worth

undertaking:

if

developed

successfully,

such

a centre could

have

provided

the combination of an efficient

retail centre

(at

present

found in Halton

Lea);

the:

flexibility

of a

variety

of

building types,

ages

and rent

levels,

specialist retailing

and

commercial services

(at

present

found in

Runcorn

Old Town

Centre)

and the 'natural

meeting place for the town's social and

cultural life'

(which

neither

existing

centre

manages

to

achieve).

The

experience

of Runcorn

emphasizes

the

importance

of

flexibility

in

planning

and

design.

Whilst it is

possible

to

design

a

major shopping

centre

that functions tech

nically

in an

efficient

manner,

it

is

quite

a

different and more difficult

matter

to

plan

a town centre. The modernist

design

may

be functional

at

one level

but

(certainly

in

this instance) it lacked the 'requisite variety'

necessary

to

accommodate the

complexity

of socio-economic activities

and trends that

constitute an urban area. Runcorn demon

strates

the

comparative

failures of the rational

comprehensive approach

to

planning

and

forces us to

accept

that

we have little choice

but to

rely

on more

gradual

or incremental

approaches.

It

may

even be the case that the

incremental

approach

provides

the

variety

of




16/16

NEIGHBOURHOOD CENTRES

IN EUROPE:

YESTERDAY,

TODAY AND TOMORROW

socio-economic and

physical

circumstances

that enables towns and their centres to

flourish

and

develop,

while the rational

approach

provides only

sterile environments

that

discourage

and frustrate initiative and

change.

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G.E.

(1972)

Urban

Change

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R.L.

(1984)

Retail and Commercial

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R.L.

(1995)

Retail

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The

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Revised

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(1994a)

Vital and Viable Town Centres:

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The Fourth

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the House

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Centres and their Future: The

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the House

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Commons Select Committee on the

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R

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C.M.

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Borough

Council

(1996)

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Halton

Borough

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Hutchin,

K.

(1972)

Courageous

10m

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City

confounds critics.

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Times,

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Town,

4

May, p.

II.

ODPM

(2005)

Planning Policy

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(1964)

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New Town Master

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Schaffer, F. (1970) New Town Story. London:

MacGibbon Kee.

Schiller,

R.

(1986)

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Shakespeare,

R.W.

(1977)

10m

city

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is

an

act of faith.

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Supplement

on

Runcorn,

16

February, p.

III.

Skidmore,

I.

(1972)

Planners take

up challenge

with

homes,

work and a

lively

environment.

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May.

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N.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The authors

would like to thank

Halton

Borough

Council for

permission

to use

the

aerial view

of

Runcorn,

shown in

figure

3.


a tale of 2 centres

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