Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
likely to add to the demand for local stores and greater night-time activity. Another
trend, usually seen as emanating from New York, has seen the conversion of exist-
ing warehouse buildings into residences. Many are traditionally found near railways
on the edge of main shopping streets, buildings that stored goods brought in by
rail, before road transport became dominant by delivering goods, especially bulky
ones, from edge-of-city locations. Elsewhere, the addition or re-establishment of
residences above commercial premises to improve the vitality of shopping streets,
to increase housing stocks and to re-use vacant space above stores, has been encour-
aged by national grants for renovation, such as the U.K. scheme called L.O.T.S.
(Living Over The Shop) that started in 1989, or the similar one in the larger Irish
cities between 2001-2004. Both the projects were short-lived and usually restricted
to areas that were undergoing regeneration. Such schemes usually involve govern-
ments subsidizing parts of the costs of renovation and conversion of older buildings
into residences, in order to encourage private development.
From the 1970s the increase in vandalism and break-ins led shopkeepers in
many British town centres to use steel shutters to cover their windows at night,
giving downtown areas an abandoned look and destroying their attractiveness in
the evenings, which in turn reduced pedestrian flows. This has led some cities to
create local bye-laws to prevent such shutter developments, while many have added
barriers on the edge of pedestrianized shopping streets to prevent car access and
ram-raiders. Another trend has been to install CCTV cameras in many parts of the
downtown areas to deter crime or to make detection easier, while a greater police
presence in the area has also aided security.
Additional efforts have been made to re-invigorate formerly unutilized spaces
in city centres, such as the back lanes or alleys that lie behind the main streets and
acted primarily as service lanes in the past, although many had been abandoned in
recent years. Melbourne in Australia provides one of the best examples of the trend
to revitalize these areas which cut between the large east-west blocks of the central
area (MLaA 2012 ). Surveys of the Melbourne laneways in the early 1990s showed
that only 8% were actively used spaces, other than acting as delivery areas for
area's offices and stores. So the city created new regulations and added incentives to
encourage not only the upgrading of the often dilapidated surfaces of the lanes but
the development of new or refurbished buildings along them, also allowing setbacks
for large buildings to create more space. These changes dramatically opened up the
former decayed and unused spaces to commercial activity, attracting small bars,
clubs, cafes, restaurants and specialist shops, such as boutiques and art galleries,
activities which now cover over ninety per cent of the old lanes. Over thirty of these
lanes now serve the surrounding offices at lunchtime and for after-work activities,
and have become a centre of attraction for night-time entertainment and socializa-
tion, making the city centre a lively area at night instead of its old deserted night
time character. Other cities, such as Cardiff, are known for their covered arcades
that developed during its period of Edwardian age prosperity. They cut between
blocks and run from one street to another, providing extra commercial space that
often attracts the smaller and local retailers that cannot afford the high rents on the
main streets. However, since these are private spaces many are closed at night, re-
ducing their effectiveness as people attractors.
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