A poll of 300 industry experts from across the built environment industry – taken from our recent High Streets Development Conference – looked to discover how the property and construction sectors can play a pivotal role in easing pressures facing UK High Streets. [emaillocker id=”71749″]

The overwhelming answer was to increase the residential offering across town and city centres – helping to increase footfall which could act as the catalyst to boost retail and leisure whilst providing a newfound sense of vibrancy and life to the high street.

A plurality (47%) said that residential was the key to revitalising high streets, compared to just 19% which thought that retail, typically a stalwart of the high street, would be most crucial to their revival. A quarter believed that commercial space instead would be the solution, and just 8% suggested that hotels and hospitality would be the form that would restore vitality to High Streets.

Moving residential back into town centers has become increasingly popular as a belief amongst urban planners since the birth of New Urbanism, the increasing pressure of e-commerce has only accelerated the desire to do this. The deindustrialisation of major cities has removed the raison d’etre for mass suburbanisation, with green and pollution-mitigating technologies further diminishing the rationale for the dominance of the suburbs.

The UKs space use restrictions and strident green belt legislation also makes city centre residential development an increasing need, particularly with a growing population. The cities of the future seem likely to be ever more integrated.

A majority of delegates polled still claimed to prefer high street shopping, with a 56% majority favouring city centre retail. The relative enduring popularity of high streets makes it likely that whilst retail space will face a decrease, ultimately it will still play a role in the future composition of our high streets. Just 12% said they favoured either out-of-town or retail parks, which speaks to the perception of such areas lacking the character of high streets.

32% percent claimed to prefer online shopping, a particularly notable figure as many of those polled were themselves involved in high street development schemes. High street retail faces undoubtedly strong competition from this sector, and whether online retailers will form an equilibrium with their more traditional competitors or grow to be the sole dominant force in retail, is still an unknown. [/emaillocker]