The question of how to reimagine high streets is a major priority for local places and is attracting renewed national attention. The challenges are not new. Out-of-town shopping, e-commerce, changing consumer habits and more recent cost of living pressures have all contributed to a fall in demand for traditional retail, leaving large units vacant long after once-thriving occupiers have closed. This has left many high streets looking for new reasons to bring people back into town centres. That means moving beyond retail to attract a broader mix of uses that can support footfall, community life and local economic resilience.
At GC Insight, we support places across the UK to understand, plan and deliver regeneration activity through evidence-led strategies, funding programmes and local growth planning. This article explores how places are diversifying their high streets through culture-led regeneration, community support hubs, events and pop-ups, and more flexible approaches to town centre space.
Culture-led regeneration offers opportunities for town centres to build a stronger purpose beyond retail by using heritage, creative industries, public events and cultural venues to draw people in.
Towns such as Cockermouth have used heritage, independent retail and events such as Taste Cumbria to animate their town centre and pull in more visitors. The UK City of Culture awarded to Hull, Coventry and Bradford has helped raise profile, build confidence and has used culture to drive wider regeneration efforts. In Scotland, Perth has purposefully linked its cultural assets with public realm, leisure, residential and hospitality development opportunities. The city has invested in major cultural assets such as Perth Museum as part of a strategy to grow visitor numbers, increase footfall, attract inward investment and enhance quality of life in the area.
When part of a wider place-making approach, culture-led regeneration can help unlock increased footfall, extend dwell times, attract new visitors, strengthen civic pride and create opportunities for local businesses and communities.
More areas are looking to move community support hubs and everyday services closer to their users, often to high-street premises that may previously have been occupied by shops. More accessible locations (especially if near transport hubs) can increase access to services, boost mid-week daytime footfall and make better use of vacant space.
In Barnsley, the Alhambra Shopping Centre now hosts NHS outpatient appointments, with plans for pharmacy and gym provision to move into nearby units. Similar approaches which align with the NHS Ten Year Health Plan ambition to create a neighbourhood health services can be seen in Andover and Halton.
The Employment and Training Hub in Stockton-on-Tees is a similar example offering employment and training support. Such examples have shown success by offering services that people need regularly in locations that are easy to reach, while also supporting the surrounding high street economy. By drawing people into a central, visible location for practical support, the hub also helps position the high street as a place for advice, skills and opportunity, not just shopping.
Events and pop-ups can also help places experiment with new uses for town centre spaces. For example, Bolton’s Food and Drink Festival, showcases the town and local businesses to an audience of 500,000 visitors. This has led to other events such as Bolton’s Put Big Light On, Light Up Bolton, Early Doors and pop-ups in spaces such as Elizabeth Park which are extending the window for town centre activity into the evening and making public spaces feel safer and more active.
Short-term pop-up and meanwhile uses for things like classes, co-working and community activity delivered by social enterprises can help keep premises in use and support early-stage starts ups avoid the high and fixed costs of traditional leases. Recent announcements on business rates changes may also provide some relief for high street pubs and fiscal devolution to mayors could create another tool to unlock regeneration. Local places need to work with landlords, investors, the public sector and community partners to explore creative ways to open up routes for successful temporary uses in order to safeguard longer-term assets.
Tough decisions are needed in some places that will see the physical shape of the town centre change. Repurposing retail units and commercial sites for town centre living can ensure space is better used and create new local audiences for leisure and retail activities. Town centres are often better connected to transport than edge of town sites and can provide an ideal setting for high density, good quality new housing, which appeals to a new, younger community of residents.
Realising these opportunities will require local authorities to take a strategic and proactive approach. By making effective use of planning powers, public assets and investment mechanisms, they can help unlock regeneration opportunities, encourage investment and support the long-term vitality of town centres.
There are numerous examples where local authorities have taken a proactive approach. In the London Borough of Southwark for example, the local authority has worked closely with development partners to reshape Elephant & Castle Town Centre, replacing an ageing shopping centre with a residential led mixed-use development. Similarly, the London Borough of Newham has facilitated the regeneration of Canning Town and Custom House through long-term master-planning, resident ballots, partnership frameworks, and direct land assembly.
More diverse activities in our high street spaces can create early momentum, but are unlikely to guarantee success on their own. They will need to be accompanied by good public transport links, a clear consideration of the impact of out-of-town developments, and steps such as better lighting, wayfinding and more visible security presences to address safety concerns and anti-social behaviour. The Government has just announced plans for new vape shops to require planning permission, as well as broader reforms focused on betting shops. Regeneration approaches need to respond to a number of requirements including creating reasons to visit, stay longer and spend more.
The strongest success stories of regeneration combine multiple interventions and have a clear focus on residents, visitors and businesses. Places need to understand their local assets, community needs and interests, and build partnerships that can deliver lasting positive impact through regenerating the UK’s high streets.
At GC Insight, we work with local places to build the evidence base, strategy and delivery plans needed to reshape high streets and town centres, including through programmes such as the Towns Fund and Pride in Place. We help authorities understand local demand, assess opportunities, prioritise investment, evaluate interventions and make the case for funding across regeneration, visitor economy, business support and inclusive growth programmes. Get in touch with our team to find out more.
Published: 11 August 2026 - Authors: Nathan Shoesmith, with Simon Hooton and Margaret Collins
