Retailing and Place Management

In this chapter, we analyze the relationship between the role of retailing in urban economies and the concomitant interaction with place management structures (e.g. Town centre management initiatives, Business Improvement Districts, and other informal arrangements). In doing so, we draw on evidence from the United Kingdom, which arguably has been at the forefront of trends, such as the decentralization of retail from traditional town and city centres to edge-of-town and out-of-town locations, high rates of internet shopping, and more recently the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has had a significant negative impact on traditional retail destinations. These trends have helped catalyze policy and managerial responses from those responsible for place governance at both local and national levels, which have impacted on the structure and processes of place management, notably, the development of partnership working, the transition from an operational to a more strategically oriented modus operandi, and the increased acceptance – and professionalization – of place management. While the United Kingdom context over the last 50 years is an exemplar of the developments outlined above, we acknowledge these trends are evident to a greater or lesser degree, and are happening at a faster or slower pace in many other countries, which has implications not only for how place management is regarded as both a business practice and subject worthy of academic study. We conclude by identifying the possible economic, social, and political implications for the relationship between retailing and place management into the future.