News

Before we had even heard of Covid-19 our city centres in the central South - Bournemouth, Poole, Portsmouth, Southampton and Winchester - were already facing some real challenges: declining footfall, shops closing and, of course, competition from internet retailers. The ‘lockdown’ introduced to help us control the virus has made matters even more challenging. Right now our city centres seem empty of life. Before the current crisis, SPC were exploring how our city centres are changing in a project sponsored…

Our cities are facing many challenges: expensive and poor quality housing, greater social inequalities and rising crime are regular news topics. Our city centres, once the great gathering points for communities and home to markets, theatres, museums, and public services are now threatened by huge changes in how we shop and spend our leisure time. Blake Morgan wants to understand how cities in the Central South are responding to these challenges and have asked us to explore what the future…