Exploring the attractions of city centre living: Evidence and policy implications in British cities

Bromley, Rosemary D.F.; Tallon, Andrew R.

Abstract

The British city centre has been the focus of dynamic housing development and repopulation strategies as a key dimension of the government's urban renaissance programme. Through large scale interview surveys in the provincial city centres of Bristol and Swansea, this paper explores the positive and negative features of city centre living, and how these vary amongst a range of social and physical characteristics. The findings suggest that the practical and mundane attractions of city centre living are more important than the more widely publicised lifestyle and cultural attractions of the city centre commonly emphasised in the gentrification literature. Moreover, the research points to differences in attitudes between age groups, with younger adults placing greater value on the range of social and cultural activities in the city centre, whilst older people express high levels of satisfaction with the attractiveness of the environment. A number of policy implications emerge to encourage inclusive marketing strategies within the continued urban renaissance, particularly to challenge the negative perceptions and promote the varied attractions of city centre living to a mix of social groups. © 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Jan 1, 2004
• Journal: Geoforum
• Print ISSN: 0016-7185
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Not Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 35
• Issue: 6 SPEC.ISS.
• Pages: 771-787
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2004.05.004
• Keywords: city centre living, policy, Britain, cities
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/1062765
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2004.05.004
• Additional Information: Additional Information : Developed from research funded by City and County of Swansea, Bristol City Council, Welsh Development Agency and Swansea Housing Association for Tallon's PhD, this article (written by Tallon) represents an early empirical contribution to evidence on the nature of the post mid-1990s housing and residential renaissance of UK city centres.