Empty Shopping Centres - a new asset?

Geranium

There has been a lot of talk about the amount of planning permission given to build large, out of town shopping centres and retail parks during the boom times, many of which now stand empty.

I'm currently doing a degree project based on the shopping centre as a centre for community, in terms of people meeting for a chat, and also cultural activity that goes on there.

I'm looking for people's opinions on shopping centres, are they a positive or negative in their lives?

I'd also love to hear more innovative ideas about what could be done with such spaces. There is an example below of a Dutch shopping street that was turned into a cultural centre.

So, keep the centres and revive them, or go back to the old-fashioned high-street in the future??

http://www.visionarythurrock.org.uk/docs/examples/destrip/index.html

gandalf

Heres a shopping centre in the UK that is being used as a airsoft venue. That would be ideal pursuit for some of vacent sites here.

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=90770717596

Seth Brundle

The biggest problem with shopping centres is a lack of choice and what is there tends to be foreign owned multiples.
I hate shopping but would prefer going into a town centre as I can wander etc. The convenience and the parking are the only plus's to the centres.
If parking wasn't such a PITA (queues to get into rip off multi storeys or somewhat limited on street times) in towns then it would do a lot better IMO.

maninasia

Geranium wrote: »

There has been a lot of talk about the amount of planning permission given to build large, out of town shopping centres and retail parks during the boom times, many of which now stand empty.

I'm currently doing a degree project based on the shopping centre as a centre for community, in terms of people meeting for a chat, and also cultural activity that goes on there.

I'm looking for people's opinions on shopping centres, are they a positive or negative in their lives?

I'd also love to hear more innovative ideas about what could be done with such spaces. There is an example below of a Dutch shopping street that was turned into a cultural centre.

So, keep the centres and revive them, or go back to the old-fashioned high-street in the future??

http://www.visionarythurrock.org.uk/docs/examples/destrip/index.html

In many places would be best to knock 'em down.

Japer

maninasia wrote: »

In many places would be best to knock 'em down.

+1. In many places around the country they should never have been built. They are a blot on the landscape, a waste of good farming land and help destroy our tourism industry. Knock 'em down. Towns should develop from the centre out. Brown field sites should be developed, close to public transport infrastructure etc, instead of moving a mile or two outside a town and destroying land there, which can only be accessed by cars.

proon4

Sligo coporation councillors got a lot of stick for refusing to let retailers open certain stores outside the town centre...food, clothes . etc...As it turned out it was the right decesion as most of the out of town developments are dead ducks , celtic tiger stores leather sofas, useless household equipment,,, ffs bbq and decking..I dont often agree with councillors but for once they got it right

Gulliver

proon4 wrote: »

Sligo coporation councillors got a lot of stick for refusing to let retailers open certain stores outside the town centre...food, clothes . etc...As it turned out it was the right decesion as most of the out of town developments are dead ducks , celtic tiger stores leather sofas, useless household equipment,,, ffs bbq and decking..I dont often agree with councillors but for once they got it right

To be fair though, the councillors blocked certain businesses from opening in the town too using various unrealistic restrictions. Also, Sligo is one of the worst places to find parking relative to its size. As for the price:

Sligo - €1.20 p/h
Ballina - €0.30 p/h
Donegal Town €0.30 p/h

Out of town made a bit of sense in Sligo due to the parking issues, but there are centres in small towns (Bundoran, for example) with only one or two shops in them. Others are totally dead. There should be grants to startup businesses to get one of these unused units cheaply. It might generate some new employment.

proon4

Gulliver wrote: »

To be fair though, the councillors blocked certain businesses from opening in the town too using various unrealistic restrictions. Also, Sligo is one of the worst places to find parking relative to its size. As for the price:

Sligo - €1.20 p/h
Ballina - €0.30 p/h
Donegal Town €0.30 p/h

Out of town made a bit of sense in Sligo due to the parking issues, but there are centres in small towns (Bundoran, for example) with only one or two shops in them. Others are totally dead. There should be grants to startup businesses to get one of these unused units cheaply. It might generate some new employment.

Donegal town ?...only thing youd buy there is a leprachaun doll...FFS

RedXIV

There's alot that could be done with empty shopping centres.

Innovation offices for start ups,

Recreation activites such as the airsoft one above

Training purposes for emergency services,

Its kinda unbelievable that they are just sitting there....empty

Gulliver

proon4 wrote: »

Donegal town ?...only thing youd buy there is a leprachaun doll...FFS

Well Letterkenny is 60c on the street, but has free parking at loads of major retailers within the town boundaries.

There's no need for a €1.20 parking charge during a recession. They should be trying to encourage more people into the town. As I said earlier, the reason out-of-town centres were welcomed in this particular instance were because of the parking costs/difficulties. It's a pity they failed and in the case of a major chain store, never even got started. You can't just "pop into town" in Sligo unless you're walking.

donkey balls

From what I can see having been to many of these town centers throughout the country not much planning went into the building of them,There are plenty where HGV&other delivery vehicles mix with cars or use the same entrance:eek:.
The loading bays etc are way to small and you have these HGV trucks trying to get into a place that is not built for the size of the vehicle,Then again I reckon the guys designing these places probely never bothered to think of these things.

proon4

Gulliver wrote: »

Well Letterkenny is 60c on the street, but has free parking at loads of major retailers within the town boundaries.

There's no need for a €1.20 parking charge during a recession. They should be trying to encourage more people into the town. As I said earlier, the reason out-of-town centres were welcomed in this particular instance were because of the parking costs/difficulties. It's a pity they failed and in the case of a major chain store, never even got started. You can't just "pop into town" in Sligo unless you're walking.

It has kept the life and soul of Sligo town alive,and if ya got to pay a few euros for parking well thats part of life...........Most people inm Donegal shop in Derry anyway