There is no doubt about the importance of city centres. Although city centres cover less than 0.1 per cent of the land they provide accommodation for 8 per cent of businesses and crucially provide 14 per cent of jobs. It is also true that is not just about the number of workplaces, city centres attract more highly-skilled jobs, as well as significant places of finance, retail and hospitality. City centres also have advantages in terms of attracting potential employees, especially those with higher skills. They create access to a better quality of infrastructure as costs can be shared by businesses and residents across a more densely populated area.
The importance of city centres, however, goes beyond these economic considerations, they are at the heart and soul of a place: they reflect the character, pride and history, through their architecture, public spaces, environment and public facilities, of its own citizens. They are places that need to be managed so that they are fit for purpose and remain attractive to both residents and visitors alike. The changes in the habits of retail buying have already put high streets under pressure and now with the pandemic crisis of Covid-19, there is a need to rethink what the vision should be for city centres. Before the coronavirus crisis, the St Albans Council, in co-operation with the Business Improvement District (BID), Conservation 50 and the Civic Society, was already looking to develop a new vision for St Albans' city centre- the last City Centre Vision document dates back to 2009 and much has happened since then. Although devastating in so many ways, Covid-19 pandemic gives us an opportunity to look at new priorities for the city centre which should focus on the public’s health and well-being as well as economic revival. Surely, this must result in a city centre with less pollution, more space for pedestrians, one that is generally much greener and environmentally friendly and not totally dependent upon retail. Although the original schedule for preparing a new City Centre Vision for St Albans has been delayed by the restrictions of lock-down, there will be an open virtual conference organised through BID and the CivicSociety on 26th June at 2 pm (contact BID for access: vanessa.sharp@stalbansbid.com ). The conference will explore ideas on the future of city centres and following the conference, it is planned to hold a public consultation on what the future of St Albans’ city centre should look like. Rather than allowing the vagaries of the market to create arbitrary development, it is important to have a vision which will conserve and enhance what our city centre should look like in the future.
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