Living in Towns: Volume 2a

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INTERREG Ilc Project

**** ** ** ****

H WNorth West Metropolitan Area

Living in TownsAn Analysis of the Processes and Policiesto Encourage Urban LivingVolume 2AStudy Objectives and Case StudyTowns

Partners in the Project South Bank University Ville d'Armentieres City of Cork Corporat ion Hampshire CountyCouncil City of Limerick Corporation Maidstone Borough Council Ville de Mons Stadt Witten NHTV and City of Breda

Funding of the Project European Regional

Development Fund (ERDF)through the Interreg IICProgramme

Matched funding fromPartners

Department of Transport,Local Government and theRegions, UK

Royal Insti tution of CharteredSurveyors, UK

This document has been written on behalf of the Partnership by the project team atSouth Bank University (lead partner). Design and production Graphics Service,Faculty of the Built Environment, South Bank University, London, UK.December 2001


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Published by South BankUniversitySouth Bank University is a chari ty and a company limited by guarantee. Registered in England No 986761.Registered Office: 103 Borough Road, London SEl OAA. Map Nos 1, 6, 7, 8, 9,10,11 and 13 reproduced withpermission from Ordanance Survey granted to Hampshire County Council and Maidstone Borough Council(project partners).


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Contents

Introduction11 Th e Objectives of the Project 51.2 Methodology 51.3 The Empirical Case Studies 10

2 The Towns and their Characteristics2./ Demography and Social Structure 212.2 Land Use Change 272.3 Amenities and the Environment 302.4 C irculation and Transpo rt 362.5 The Perception of t he Town as a Place to Live .42

AppendixI Maps of Study Areas .452 The Questionnaire of t he Hampshire Perception Survey 593 Review of Literature 69

List of BoxesI Press Releases about the i n i - 6 Service in Mons .402 Maidstone Survey Voting Form .44

List of GraphsI Population Trends inTown Centre Areas of each Study Town 22

List of FiguresI Developing the Sites:An Analytical Framework 92 Factors Influencing the Choice of Home .42

List of MapsI Hampshire's Town Centres 142 Arrnent ieres .463 Breda City .474 Co re Study Area, Breda .475 Cork Study Area .486 AlexandraWard .497 SE, NW and NEWards - Alton Study Area .49

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8 EastropWard Basingstoke Study Area 509 CentralWard Eastleigh Study Area 51lOSt Faith'sWard Havant Study Area 52I I St Bartho lomew and St Michael'sWards Winchester Study Area 5212 Limerick Study Area 5313 Maidstone Town Centre Study Areas 5414 Mons 5515 Witten 5616 Witten Urban Core 5717 Aanpak Oost-Westflank, Breda 34

List of PhotographsI The Steering Group with the Major of Arrnentieres 72 The Hotel de Ville,Armentieres 113 The Grote Kerk, Breda 114 The Tower of St Anne 's, Shandon, Cork 125 Kings Island, Limerick 156 The Grand Place, Belfry and Town Hall, Mons 177 The Heart ofWitten from the Stadhaus 188 The Town Hall and High Street, Maidstone 169 The Georgian Streets of Limerick undergoing refurbishment 3310 North Main Street, the Historic Heart of Cork 33I I Infill site, conve rsion and construction, Mons 3512 Bicycle Park, Breda Sation 3613 The Place du General de Gaulle.Arrnentieres 38

List ofTablesI Total Population Figures: Study Areas 212 Population byAge Structure 233 Population of Armentieres by Sodo-professional Category 244 Tenure Types in Five Study Towns 26

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Introduction

1.1 THE OBJECTIVES OF THE PROJECTThe project is intended to investigate the processesof residential change in a comparable series oftowns within the North West Metropolitan Area ofthe European Union and to ascer tain the extent towhich these are related to other parallel changes inthe pattern of town centre uses, particularly retailand commercial uses, and to exchange experience ofthe ways in which the relevant authorities approachthe need to encourage town centre living as part ofan overall strategy to combat decline.One of the INTERREG objectives is indeed tomaintain the viability of urban centres in theregion by using residential growth as a motor fortheir regeneration. This view is predicated uponthe knowledge that to encourage town centreliving will have certain benefits for the urbansystem as a whole: It is a contribution to sustainable developmentby reducing movement demands

It may reduce the scale of developments in thecountryside and on the urban fringe

It will increase levels of general act ivi ty andnatural surveillance over an extended period ofthe day thereby improving the security ofpeople using the town centre and of premiseslocated within it

It may contribute to the economy of the area The physical renovat ion of the buildings in thetown centre improves the attractiveness of thearea and may boost confidence in it, and hencegenerate more investment

It will provide residential accommodation forsectors of the housing market which could take

Living inTowns:Volume2A: Sudy Objectives and Case StudyTowns

section I

advantage of centrality and accessibility.

Another important aspect of this policy area is thevariety of experience and practice in each countrywithin the NWMA. In discussing the project withpotential partners it appeared that there was ashared perceived problem of the abandonment oftown cores as resident ia l areas and a variety ofpolicy and practice proposed to counter it. Thescale and rate of population change and responseto it have been different in each country.Within this general policy scope of the subject, theproject is directed to achieving certain objectives : To identi fy and compare processes affecting the

scale and type of population l iving in towncentres in urban areas within the NWMA

To identify the types of agencies engaged inpromoting greater living in Town centres, theirrole and objectives, mechanisms adopted anddegree of integration and cooperation

To identify common problems andach ievements and to seek explanations fordifferences and similarities in processes evidentin each town centre and the responses to themby the private and public agencies studied.

To evaluate the experience within the towncentres studied and highl ight innovat ivepolicies and mechanisms in the spatial planningof residential settlement that may be consideredby other member states.

1.2 METHODOLOGYUnlike all bu t one of the other INTERREG IIcprojects the University was the project co-ordinator.

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This ha d several advantages. Firstly it was apparentthat to 'normal' Local Authorities beset with thebudget constraints in running their statutory duties,the possibility of sending staff on fact finding toursof other European countries is limited. Equally theirabi li ty to keep in touch w ith the literature, bothacademic and professional , on a subject such astown centre pol icy across several countries isequally limited. The co-ordinating team did nothave these constraints and was able to move freely,both physically and intellectually over the 'terrain'and act as a conduit for information between thepartners.Furthermore the co-ordinating team had the timeand a knowledge of the intellectual structuresneeded to analyse and sift th is information andpresent it to the partner authori ties in a way thatwas of value to them.The main research work and management of theproject was undertaken by the co-ordinating team,which consisted of three people, a Project Managerwho was responsible for the management andfinancial aspects of the work, particularly within theUniversity, a Research Fellow, who as Project coordinator was responsible for the ongoing analyticalwork and links and interaction with Pa rtnerauthorities and a Research Assistant. This latter postwas filled by a temporary appointment and then bya permanent appointee. However two other staffwere funded for this task, one to liaise with the Cityof Breda and deal with material in Dutch, the otherto assist in the l ia ison with the Stadt Witten and toassist in the handling of material received inGerman.Each of the partner authorities had one member ofstaff who was responsible for the project and whowas assi sted of ten by other staff and who wasresponsible for involving and progressing thecontributions of other professionals and politicalfigures in each town.(a list of the personnel involved and the ir roles isgiven in the synopsis)The co-ordinating team were however always awarethat they were acting with, and on behalf of, thei rpartners. The working process was therefore always

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open to amendment and redirection in order toenhance the outcome for the local authoritiesconcerned as well as to provide more theoreticalinsights into the differences of policy and practice.Although there was constant interaction betweenthe co-ordinating team and the other partners, thekey forum for the discussion and advance of thework was the Steering Group. This was chaired by amember of the partner towns and the co-ordinatingteam brought their findings and recommendationsto this forum for ratification and discussion. Atevery meeting there were constructive discussionsof the progress and the articula tion of the themesand issues which should be fol lowed up anddeveloped. Thus the final report will have beenplaced before this committee and agreed before itsfinal production and will reflect the jointcontributions of the Partnership.A major objective at the outset of the project was theexamination of the literature existing on the subjectof the varie ty of methods of developing housing inurban areas, in all the member States representedand specific to the Study towns, and a LiteratureReview was included as a primary task of theproject.This proved a more difficult task than firstenvisaged, and in many ways remains anunfinished exercise. However enough was gleanedto enable all the partners to get a grasp of the rangeof practice and analysis which had already takenplace. The fact that local authority partners werebeing invited to participate in an exercise previouslyconsidered somewhat 'academic' and that it openedup a wider perspective on a problem common to allof them was perhaps the first positive result of theStudy. Reviewing and attempting to use the resul tsof existing literature from English and Irish sourceswas easier, not because of language accessibility, butthere seemed to be more interaction between theauthorities and the literature than in other countries.Extending the review away from an Anglo-Ir ishbase was a major challenge. Although general texts,which were not space specific, were reviewed, in thevarious national surveys clear spatial delimitationswere necessary at certain levels. In the UnitedKingdom only mater ial relating to England wasexamined, and in the cases of Belgium and

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Photo 1: Th e Steering Group with th e Mayor of AnnentieresGermany, both federal States, official documentsrelated to the relevant Regional authorities,Wallonie an d North Rhine Westphalia respectively.The literature review is in the Appendix of thisvolume.A central feature of the project were the Site Visitsto partner authorities. These were programmed tocoincide with Steering Group meetings which wererotated around partner authori ties as much aspractically possible. In addition the University co-ordinating teammade research an d discussion visitsto all partners throughout the project. This affordedeach h o st p ar tn er the opportunity to demonstratewhat ha d been done in their town to tackle theproblems of urban depopulation, both within theirnational policy contexts an d from their ow ninitiatives. In every case the opportunity was takento meet with key figures in the p la nn in g a ndadministrative process in each town an d very tightschedules of visits an d discussions wereundertaken. These were immensely informative aswell as affording social opportunities for the partnerrepresentatives to extend their interchange of ideasin a more informal wa y

Living inTowns:Volume 2A:Study Objectivesand Case StudyTowns

The project was constructed in a series of four WorkPackages which took the thread of th e workthrough a period of initial information gathering toa final stage of report production.The first work package stage wa s an introductoryon e an d culminated at the first steering groupmeeting in Maidstone. At this m ee ti ng e ig htresearch questions derived from the original projectobjectives statement were circulated to all partnertowns. The aim wa s to have a set of informationbases which were as consistent across the towns ascould be made possible. These were intended toprovide a basic body of information from which themain issues an d policy approaches in each could beabstracted a nd further issues which focussed moreclearly on the question of the residential componentof the core areas an d its policy context identified.The original questions covered the following areas: Populat ion Change Analysis of the Urban Environment Circulation Systems an d Transport

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Land Tenure Systems Agencies Involved Investment and Finance Planning Policies and Management Public perception of Urban LivingThe analysis of those questions, the main body ofwork in Work Package 2, led to the identification ofthree main lines of iterative analysis for Workpackage 3. The first of thesewas the identification ofthe characteristics of the Towns which were ofinterest and provided some contextual backgroundto understanding the problems faced by each. Thesecond was the outlining of the National orRegional Policy contexts which had a significantaffect on the initiatives taken by each town. The finalsection dealt with the details of the practice evidentin each location and specific initiatives taken by thetowns themselves. From both the Policy descriptionand the local practice it was intended that instancesof good practice could be identified and a summaryof the major examples of 'best practice' is given theSynopsis .In each case the topic under review was tackled in acomparative manner and the ancillary objectives ofthe project to make such cross national analyses wasbe fulfilled.An example of this approach was the process thatled to the identification of agencies involved inresidential development in town centres. Trying tomove beyond the local authorities and town centremanagers in order to map out more precisely who isinvolved in each town centre was a challengingexercise and the following section is included toillustrate the methodology used in this and otheranalytical phases of the project.It comprised five basic steps Questions to partners Analyise of mater ia l Produces a "rough picture" of the agencies

involved Uses the reactions, comments and amendments

from partners: refining the picture Adopting a site-based approach for a sharper

focus

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Questions to partnersSome of the quest ions mentioned above dealt withagencies and partnerships.Between the first meeting of the Steering Group inMaidstone (27-29 March 2000) and the secondmeeting in Witten (24-25 October 2000), eachpartner provided general information about thistopic. Because of different degrees of responsivenesson this issue among partners, the scope and thecontent of the mater ia l provided was inconsistentbetween the different towns. Additional sourceswere sought, using the press and documents thathad been provided for other purposes in order toflesh ou t the agencies involved in the various towncentres.Analyse materialPress articles that had been sent by partners orcollected by the team proved very helpful in thisexercise. Other sources included planningdocuments, policy briefs and various local strategicdocuments (housing, transport, tourism,environment. ..)This documentary research complemented theanswers received from the partners, and a list ofagencies was produced to be presented anddiscusses at the group meeting in Witten.Produce a "rough picture" of the agenciesinvolvedFor some of the organisations included in the listscirculated among partners, it was certain that theywere d irec tly invo lved and inf luential in thedevelopment of a resident ial activity in the towncentre. For o ther o rgan isat ions i t was felt bymembers of the t eam that they might be indirectlyinfluential. Comments and react ions to thoseassumptions were sought from partners .Use the reactions, comments and amendmentsfrom partners: refining th e pictureBetween the meeting in Witten and the one inArrnentieres (March 2001), partners sent commentsin order to amend the list of agencies. A morerefined picture of the involvement of agencies couldthen be drawn up. While this informationwas beingreceived and processed by the team, the next step inthe s tudy was being prepared. It was decided to

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I. InitiativeWhich agency took the initiative to develop on this particular site.Was it a public on e(like th e town council, another local authority. or th e state)? O r was it a private one? Towhat purpose was the development initiated? What are th e effects of different patternsof initiative on th e development process?

2.TenureWas th e site a single large property, o r a collection of small ones? Was it owned by apublic o r a private agency,or by an individual? What ar e the effects of these various typesof tenure.

Planning Systemand Policy

3.AcquisitionDid the agency which initiated the development have to purchase th e land/site? Ho w wasit done (simple purchase, compulsory purchase, preemption .. . ).Was it then sold to adifferent agency (e.g.the developer)?Was an ad hoc organisation created to own th e site?

4. Funding: directly involved actors4a. How isthe project funded?What kind of relationship was se t up between the fundingpartners? Ho w are their respective interests/strategies coordinated?4b. Is there a private/public partnership involved in the project? To what extent is itformalised (mere agreement, contract, separate organisation likea Societe d'EconomleMixte in France .. . ).

5. Control: indirectly involved actorsIsthe project subject to scrutiny by players outside the development process (the stateif no t involved, t he C ou rt s, t he b ro ad er public.. .)?

Figure 1: Developing th e Sites: An Analytical Frameworkadopt a more empirical approach to th e analysis ofthe development process, based on a few sitesidentified in each town.Adopt a site-based approach for a sharper focusA general model of the development process wa sdevised an d circulated amon g p art n er s in order toseek consistent information. The questions aboutagencies were integrated in this model. But th efinancial mechanisms an d tenure issues were alsoincorporated . It wa s hoped that more specific an dfocused elements could be gathered by using this

Living inTowns:Volume 2A: Study Objectives and Case Study Towns

method. This a pp ro ac h a im e d to collect empiricalevidence of th e actual involvement of agencies inth e development of si tes for resident ia l uses in thetown centres.At this stage, the material gathered within thisframework is only us ed from th e perspective ofagencies. However the same model will be referredto in the section about Financial Resources (section10.0 Vol 2b) an d more specific details for each siteare explored in the final section of Volume 2b(section 11.0).

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The output of the study consists of three distinctvolumes.Synopsis of the Living in Towns Study (volume I) ,This is the main document produced for this study.It sets out to analyse the patterns of change in suchmedium sized centres and to discernwhat problemsare now manifesting themselves. This is followed bythe examination of the policy responses of thegovernments, national, regional and local to theproblem. From this examples of 'good practice' andinnovative ideas can be demonstrated and morewidely publicised within the urban community.Study Objectives and Case Study Towns (volume2a). This gives a general presentation of the project,including methodology and a presentation of thecase studies. It then provides a descr ipt ion of thetowns , focus ing on demographic and land usechanges, amenities and the environment, trends incirculation and transport, as well as the perceptionof each town as a place to live. A number of commonissues arise from these aspects and are presented atthe end of the volume.Change, Housing Opportunities and theDevelopment Process (volume 2b). This deals withthe contexts for the provision of housing in eachstudy area, following both a theoretical and anempirical approach. Thus it inc ludes a summary ofna tional housing systems, stressing how these viewurban housing, as well as structures of tenancy,financial subsidies and rental policies. An importantaspect of this volume is also the way planningsystems cater for the provision of housing andinteract with the housing management system.Planning systems as such are not extensivelydescribed since they are comprehensively coveredby the recent EU Compendium series. Thesesystems and mechanisms are then analysed inpractice for each town, with an emphasis on thedemand and supply of housing. Availableopportunities for residential developments in eachstudy area are of particular importance to this partof the research. It proceeds to an analysis of theprocess of developing for residential or mixed uses,examining in par ti cu la r l and tenure patterns ,agencies and financial mechanisms that impingeupon the development decision. It concludes with a

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discussion of these aspects in the context of towncentre site that have been selected in each town toillustrate opportunities for residential development.This process is demonstrated in figure 1.1.3 THE EMPIRICAL CASE STUDIESIn this section, a br ief description of the towns isgiven, followed by a def in ition of a study area foreach of them.DESCRIPTION OF THE TOWNSThis is a br ief descr ip tion of the character istics ofeach town that has been chosen for the study.Armentieres, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, FranceArmentieres is located in the Northern region ofNord-Pas-de-Calais in France, near the Belgianborder. It is the smallest of the towns of this study(25,000 inhabitants), bu t it is the centre town of a60,000 inhabitants urban area, and it is part of theLille conurbation (1.1 million inhabitants, the fourthlargest in France). The town council of Arrnentieresis therefore a member of the Communauie Urbain e deLille, the corporation responsible for planning overthe metropolitan area. Armentieres is in a northerlyposition which is peripheral to the main economicsites of the area. It is however located on the mainaccess routes connecting the more central parts ofthe metropolitan area to the French Northern coast,the Benelux countries and to Britain. Armentieres isdefined as a strategic site in the metropolitanstrategic plan (Schema Directeur de Deoeloppemeni etd'Urbanisme). It is also considered by the localelected officials to be an equilibrium hub betweenFlanders and the main Lille metropolitan area.Offices for most public services can be found inArmentieres, as well as a good selection ofrecreational or cultural amenities.The history of Armentieres has been influenced byits location on the Belgian border, and by thepresence of a river (the Lys). Because of its location,Arrnentieres has been affected by all the wars in theregion. Between the 15th and the 17th centur ies,Armentieres was the subject of disputes between theFrench and the Flemish, but being integra ted toFrance in 1667. The 1914-1918 War destroyed about90% of the town .

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Photo 2: The Hotel de Ville, Armentieres Photo 3: The Grote Kerk, BredaHistorically, the River Lys has been very influentialon the development of the local economydominated by the two main sectors of textileindustry (production of thread, fabric etc) and thebreweries , Armentieres becoming known as the'capi ta l of linen' . The town itself has been shapedby these industries, with a lot of big companiesestablishing in the centre. With the closure of manyindustrial premises, Arrnentieres has a lot of vacant ,brownfield sites. The influence of the river can stillbe noticed today, especially with the Pres du Hemleisure centre.

The name Breda comes from a corruption of "bredeAa" (broad Aa) and refers to the riversMark and Aawhich meet there.A lord from Brabant built a castle there, and morepeople started to settle there. Breda received itscharter in 1252, thus becoming one of the first citiesto be founded in North Brabant. To protect the city,a wall was built at the beginning of the 14th century.The city is also surrounded by a network of canals.Despite the wall, the city was affected by the wars inthe region, especially those between the NorthernDutch Provinces and the Spaniards .

Breda, NetherlandsBreda is located in the Province of North Brabant,which is in the south of the Netherlands. It is one ofthe four middle-sized cities of the region. It issituated between the Randstad conurbation (whichstretches from Amsterdam to the Hague, Rotterdamand Utrecht), and the urban region of Antwerp,Ghent and Brussels. This prominent corridorposition has made it a very attractive location forpeople and industries. At the moment a round160,000 people live in Breda. Most of them work orstudy there.

During the second half of the 19th century, tradeand industry began to flourish. The newly bui ltrailway link opened Breda to new indus tr ia lopportunities. This economic growth caused aphysical expansion of the city beyond its originallimits as defined by the walls, both in order to locateindustries and housing for the workers .From then on, Breda has been renowned for itshorticulture, construction, food and drink industries(beer, sugar. .. ).

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Over the last hundred years, Breda has undergone afew major changes. The first inhabitants lived andworked within the area surrounded by the canals.When the inner city reached its full capacity,residential settlements began to locate outside thecanals.In 1942, the small towns of Ginneken andPrincenhague were annexed to the city. And afterthe war, Breda continued to grow during the periodof reconstruction.But in the 1960s the centre could meet the demandfor new housing. The consequence was aprogressive drift from the city to the suburbs, thesurround ing smaller towns and villages, and thecountryside.Cork, IrelandCork City is located in the south west of Ireland. Itis the second largest city in the Republic, with apopulation of 127,000 (250,000 for the Greater Corkconurbation). There is very little undeveloped landwithin the city, with most new developmentoccuring on land outside the municipal boundary.

The city is located at the inner end of a naturalharbour, and developed from settlements onmarshy islands in the estuary of the River Lee. Corkexpanded as the swamps were reclaimed, the riverchannels culverted, churches and grand publicbuildings erected and the wealthy merchants builtfine terrace houses, many of which still survivetoday.The commercial core of the city shifted eastwards inthe 18th and 19th centuries, while residential areaswere constructed to the west of the medieval area .Today the north and south channels of the River Leeform a central island which is the focus ofcommercial life in the city.As a port the city wa s at its height in the 19thcentury, serving the prov is ioning tr ade for theAmericas and Europe. This trade declined, as didthe industries associated with it (the butter market,a tanneries , breweries and distilleries) and in theearl y 20th century, ship building, car assembly andtextile industries developed. When these industries

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Photo 4: The Tower of St Anne's, Shandon, Corkstarted to decline as well, with many of them closingcompletely in the 1980s, unemployment reachedhigh levels . New indus tria l sectors such aspharmaceuticals and electronics developed in the1980s and 1990s. More recently, strong economicgrowth nationally has been reflected in Cork withconsiderable expansion in employment ininternational services and in the per sona l andprofessional services sectors.As traditional industries closed or relocated in themid to late 20th century, the amount of vacant andunder-utlised land in the city centre increased. Citycentre retail and office uses were no t expanding fastenough to fill the vacated space. As a result vacancyand dereliction developed at the edge of thecommercial core. The core itself continued to bequite vibrant although vacant upper floors wereconsidered as a wasting asset.The population of the city centre declined also aspeople moved to new houses in the suburbs. In1971,13,866 people l ived in the city centre, while by1991 this had declined to 8,748, a drop of 37%. Thecomposition of the population also differed from the



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city average, with more old people and fewerchildren.There are some oustanding issues to be addressed.The overall population of the city has increased,however the under ly ing populat ion in thetraditional housing areas may still be declining. Thenew scheme of financial incentives may addressthis. Upper floor vacancy is still a problem in manyparts of the city. The environment and amenities ofthe centre need to be upgraded if it is to cont inue tobe an attractive place to live and work. A roadtunnel under the river to the east of the city openedin 1999.The Hampshire Towns, EnglandHampshire is a shire county in south-east England,which contains many different types of townsincluding a sub-regional centre, large towns,military towns, market and historic towns (see map1). These towns demonstrate a range of differentcharacteristics, functions and roles. For the purposeof this study six towns have been selected torepresent the range of towns and urbancharacteristics of Hampshire. These are Aldershot, amilitary town in north-east Hampshire, Alton, amarket town in EastHampshire, Basingstoke, a subregional centre in North Hampshire, Eastleigh, alarge town in south-west Hampshire,Havant a largetown in south-east Hampshire and Winchester, anhistoric town in central Hampshire . For each townthe inner wards containing or adjacent to its centralcore has been selected. All of the areas selectedcontain examples of regeneration andredevelopment.AldershotAldershot developed as a result of the establishmentof a military camp in 1865 and is often referred to asthe 'Home of the British Army'. The Ministry ofDefence owns a large proportion of sites within thet own and in the near vicinity. The military campwas virtually rebuilt in the 1960s. It covers the areanorth of the town centre with light industry to theeast and suburban housing to the south . Aldershottown centre is compact and easy to walk around. Ithas indoor shopping centres and a pedestrianisedhigh street. There is also good access to the railstation and bus stops. The town centre contains a

Living inTowns:Volume 2A: Study O bjectives and Case StudyTow ns

number of parks and gardens which are wellmaintained. The secondary retail area is suffer ingfrom high vacancy rates. Alexander ward, thedefined study area for this project, has an interestingurban character containing part of the shopping andcommercial core of the town and the surroundingresidential areas containing a population of 33,000.AltonAlton developed as a market town famous for itsbrewing industry. Today, it is the largest town inEast Hampshire District and acts as the main focusfor services, shopping and employment in thenorthern part of the distric t.The town centre ismainly located in a Conservation Area with listedbuildings, a park and open space which results in anattractive environment. The centre is partlypedestrianised with excellent access to the busservices. The three wards chosen for study in Altoncomprise the retail core with a mix of commercialand residential uses. This is surrounded on all sidesby areas of residential development. The currentpopulation in these wards is 17,000.BasingstokeBasingstoke is the largest town in Hampshire, whichhas a large h in te rland extending beyond itsadministrat ive boundaries. The town has grownconsiderably since t he ear ly 1960's as a result ofbeing des igna ted a New Town in 1961 toaccommodate London overspill under theBasingstoke Town Development Agreement. Thisscheme resulted in the building of new homes,mainly for people from London, new factories andother commercial enterprises in the town. Between1961 and 1991, the population increased from 26,000to about 85,000.The Basingstoke Town Development Agreementended in 1977, however the town continued toexpand as a result of the impetus provided by towndevelopment, its communication links to Londonand the attractive surrounding countryside. Today,Basingstoke is a sub-regional shopping centre with aconcentration of national multiple shops and twoindoor shopping centres. The whole centre ispedestrianised, some of which is a ConservationArea. It is compact bu t provides a good range andvariety of uses. Basingstoke is also a major centre for

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I Town Centres~ District B o u n d a r i e

Hampshire's Town Centres;-,;--I,J )J

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Map 1: Hampshire's Town Centres

education, administration, culture, leisure andentertainment with a leisure centre and two theatreswithin the town centre.The railway and bus stationsare located within close walking distance of theretail core.The Eastrop ward chosen for study includes an areaof older housing to the west of the town core whichpredates the town expansion, the southern oldershopping and res idential core of the town and thenew commercial centre which is the new shoppingcore at Basingstoke.East/eighEastleigh's growth is closely linked to thedevelopment of the railway which encouragedsubstantial growth in the town from the late 1880's.Eastleigh has traditionally been a focus for officeand retail investment and public transportinfrastructure provision. Eastleigh t own centrecontains the indoor 'Swan' shopping centre with anumber of national multiple shops, which is thefocus point for the town centre. The town centre also

contains a library, and a va riety of leisure andentertainment facilities. The town centre is compactwith the bus and rail st ati on s within walkingdistance. Most of the traffic within the town centrehas been eaimed or excluded,making it 2asy to walkaround. Thpre is a recreation ground adjacent to thetown centre. The town, itself se rves a relativelysmall population of 54,000. Its location in southernHampshire results in it fallin g within the catchmentof Southamp ton City Centre and also competes without of town stores at Hedge-End, off the M27. Thestudy area comprises Central Ward , the core of thecentre which contains the indoor shopping centre,le isure, commercial and enterta inment us es ,sur rounded by older, high density residential areas.HavantHavant has developed from its role as a traditionalmarket town . It is located in south-east Hampshire,close to the city of Portsmouth and other majorurban centres in southern Hampshire, which hasresulted in substantial development in the Boroughsince the post-war years. The current population

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within the town is 45,000. The town centre containsan historic core with a number of attractive listedbuildings. There is also an indoor 'Meridian'shopping centre within the town centre. Havantpark provides public open space, including sportspitches and tennis courts, close to the town centre.The bus and rail sta tions are eas ily accessible byfoot. The study area, St Faith Ward covers the towncentre and surrounding residential areas.WinchesterWinchester was an I ron Age and Roman settlementlocated at an important crossing point on the RiverItchen. Its role as a county town became establishedin the 17th century and remains the locat ion forHampshire County Council 's Headquarters today.The city's heritage and environment are of nationalimportance and attract visitors from across theworld. This has resulted in the development of atrade in hostelry and tourism. Winchester is also animportant centre for administration, offices,education and culture. Most of the city centre iswithin a Conservation Area with a wealth ofattractive listed buildings. It is sur rounded by theRiver Itchen, Winchester Cathedral and the open

space of Winchester College.The current populationis 98,000. The town centre contains a number ofnational multiple shops as well as specialist shops .There is also an indoor shopping centre close to thehistoric town core. Most of the city centre ispedestrianised with a centrally located bus station.The study area contains the historic town centrewhich comprises re tail, commercial, civic andresidential development.Limerick. IrelandLimerick is located at the highes t tidal reach on theriver Shannon, some 100 km from the Atlantic in theMid-West region of Ireland. It is a focus of all themajor road and ra il links of the region, and a portwith declining trade. Bridging points within the cityconfers access advantages and problems on the citycentre.The city population is 52,000, whi le the city plussuburbs total is 80,000. Within the city, more than7,000 houses have been provided by Limerickcorporation s ince 1932, of which 3,000 remainavailable to rent and 4,000 have been sold.

Photo 5: Kings Island, Limerick

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The Medieval city of Limerick was based on King'sIsland. King John's Castle, built in 1197 guards thecrossing of the Shannon.After the sieges of 1690, thewalls of the medieval city were demolished and anew town built to a grid pattern to the West. The19th and 20th centuries have seen an expansion ofthe grid central area along the main lines oftransport. The extensive suburban developmentsthat occurred in the 1960s continue today.From 1920 to 1950, urban renewal efforts wereprimarily based on clearing "insanitary areas". Inthe process, the Corporation acquired large areas ofproperty outside the centre, which were developedmainly for council housing .Unfortunately, this policy gave rise to the virtualabandonment of the cen tre, on the assumption thatmarket forces would bring about re-development ofthe centre . But the level of fragmentation ofownership of the land in the centre preventedeffective private-led renewal. The abandonment ofbuildings and land gave r ise to almost 40 acres ofdereliction in the centre, presenting a poor image ofthe city.

In the context of a major national review of planningand housing legislation, the Corporation began toimplement its own urban renewal schemes.The Corporation is hoping to lead the processlaunched by tax incentives at national level bypromoting it s own ' flagship' projects on theremainder of its land bank in the inner city and bycreating an experimental city centre managementoffice .Maidstone, Kent, EnglandMaidstone, County Town and Regional Capital ofKent, is the commercial and administrative centrehousing the County Council offices, the offices forMaidstone Borough Council, and the regionalheadquarters for many private sector companies.Ranked in the top 10% of retai l centres in the SouthEast of England for shopping yield, the town offersover one million square feet of retail floorspace. It isone of the most important shopping centres in Kent,being ranked third top retail destination in Kent inthe 2001 Experian Retail Centre Ranking survey.

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Photo 8: The Town Hall and High StreetMaidstone

Maidstone has much more to offer in addition to itsthriving retail experience. Museums, art galleries,churches, the Archbishop 's Palace, banks, buildingsocieties, libraries, pubs, clubs and restaurantscombine to provide a healthy, balanced andsustainable town centre.Economically, the role of Maidstone as the premiershopping centre in Kent is challenged by other towncentres such as Tunbridge Wells and Canterbury,and by new large scale developments such asBluewater regional shopping centre near Dartfordand the MacArthur Glen factory outlet shoppingcentre in Ashford. Maidstone Town CentreManagement Initiative (MTCMI) is a limitedpa rtne rsh ip company which is dedicated tomaximising the potential of the town centre. Thepartnership is actively supported by the BoroughCouncil and private sector companies and has apositive impact on many issues relating to the town .The Council works very closely with the TCMI totackle the problems facing the town centre and areactively involved in improving access to the town,reducing crime, promoting the town and generally

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Photo 6: The Grand Place, Belfry and Town Hall,Mons

enhancing levels of communications amongagencies.However, the Borough Council and the TCMIrecognise that work to improve the town centremust be ongoing if the town centre is to remaincompetitive . In recent years, the Council hasintroduced a park and ride scheme to alleviate theproblems of town centre parking, introduced acomprehensive CCTV system to reduce crime; andan extensive programme of town centreenvironmental improvements including improvedstreet signage and the 'historic town trail'. This is aseries of information plaques on historic buildingsand at historic sites within the town centre.Mons,Wallonia, BelgiumMons is located in the Province ofHainaut, near theFrench border.The centre of Mons is defined by a ring ofboulevards that surround the histor ic core of thecity. The local population consists mainly of smallerhouseholds, including one person households (eg.

Living inTowns:Volume 2A: Study Objectives and CaseSudyTowns

single parents, students) . Many administrative,cultural, social, educative and spor t facilities arelocated inMons centre. There is a dense and diversenetwork of retailers, including a wide selection ofcafe, restaurants and entertainment facilities.Mons however has been affected by economicdifficulties in the recent years, and more specificallyhas had to face problems in the housing sector,including vacant buildings and empty upper floorsof commercial units.Mons was founded by the Romans as a militarycamp si tuated on top of a hill. But the realfoundation of the city dates from the 7th centurywhen a monastery was created there. During theMiddle-Ages, Mons became the main military,administrative and commercial centre of theHainaut Province. Because of its strategic location,Mons was involved in most of the European warsbetween the 17th and the 19th centur ies, as wel l asduring the two 20th century wars (1914-18 and1939-45).Trade of var ious goods has been the main resourceof the city (wine, coal, bricks, tobacco and sugar).The coal mining industry also had a great impact onthe local economy, and the physical expansion of thecity.In the 1970s, the spatial expansion of the cityresulted in the fus ion of Mons with some of thesurrounding smaller towns, creating in effect aGreater Mons area.Witten, North RhineWestphalia,GermanyWitten is a town of 104,000 inhabitants, located inthe Ruhr region, in the west of Germany. I t is closeto bigger cities like Dortmund and Bochum.Witten's history is very closely linked to theindustrial Ruhr region with a strong miningtradition. But it is also surrounded by an attractivenatural environment of the river and green hills.Wi th excel len t road networks and good railconnect ions, Witten is an attractive place forcommerce and industry.Witten has always been affected by major industrial

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changes. During the past two decades such changehas caused some difficulties with job losses (-25.3%in manufacture between 1980 and 1998). The localeconomy has been experiencing structuraltransition. But it still has industr ial strengths inmechanical engineering, vehicle product ion andelectro-technology.A new University (Witten-Herdecke) was recentlyopened, with a very strong focus on technologicalinnovation .The retail sector in the centre has to face fiercecompetition from major cities in the region likeDortmund and Bochum.Very little of the historical centre remains, as 80% ofWitten's half-timbered houses were destroyed in thefinal days of the 1939-1945 War. However a fewindividual classical buildings survived, and standalongside Art Nouveau villas, the plain facades ofthe 1950s houses and modern purpose built edifices.DEFINITION OF THE STUDY AREASBefore presenting the area that has been defined forthe purpose of the study, this section provides abrief discussion of the criteria that can be used forthe definition of town centres.Town Centres and Definition CriteriaAt the SteeringGroupMeeting in Maidstone (March2000) each partner was asked to give a presentationon their 'Town' and to outline its characteristics. Asexpected the towns under study had both commonfeatures and distinguishing characteristics.However one common problem and question whichemerged was tha t of defining what was meant by'Town' in the Project Title, 'Living in Towns'. Eachpartner had slightly differing views as to what areaof their authority should be studied and a primarytask is to define those areas both theoretically toensure similarity of study focus and in practicalterms in order to facilitate the collection andcomparison of Data.The clear exception to thi s process is that ofHampshire, which as a County Council in England,has several centres of different size and type with

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Photo 7:The heart of Witten from the Stadthausdiffereing issues and problems. The study areaswithin each were preselected wards which theCounty Council considered illustrated the processesand problems of change which it faced.In general the following criteria were considered.Firstly, the area to be studied in each case is focusedon the historic core of each town. However decidingwhen in working out from that central position oneis no longer in ' town' but in the 'suburbs', is lesseasy to define.The cri terion of age of buildings, can be used incertain cases, certainly in England, where the coreareas are surrounded by clearly def ined housingareas of pre 1914-18 War vintage. However, in allcases, there has been much alteration to this ring bythe introduction of other uses and newer housing.This is particularly true of Witten, where much ofthe central area had to be rebuilt, albeit in traditionalstyle, after the 1939-45 War. The condition ofproperty is also important, but although poorproperty is normally d ispropor tionatelyconcentrated in the core areas, these areas are not

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synonymous with poor condition. Indeed some'suburban' areas ar e now in physical decline.Similarly there is no correlation with the defining ofa 'study area' and factors such as tenuretype, or socialclass or ethnic origin . Whilst each of these factorstended to have specific manifestations in the coreareas none was dominant.A more pragmatic set of definitions relate to thetransport and accessibility factors which definetown centres. One applicat ion of these is to def inethe area encompassed by a ten minute walkingdistance from the Town centre, or by a 4 bus stopdistance.In certain cases, Mons and Breda for example, therewere clear precise physical boundar ies whichdefined a historic town area. In the case of Mons theBoulevards which ring the town in the place of theold walls, and in Breda, the canals perform a similarfunction. However in both cases, the partners wereunhappy with drawing such a tight boundary, sinceareas outside of them were clearly considered to bepart of the core Town.Each authority was therefore asked to work out itsown definition consistent with the idea of definingwhere in public perception one was passing fromtown to suburb. However it was necessary to drawthe line giving cogniscence to achieving congruitywith statistical boundaries so that meaningfulcomparison could be made.The definition of Town Centres in this study istherefore a relative one. As well as some 'objective'criteria (10 minutes walk distance, 4 bus stops), itrelies on the perception by the partner of where thetown/suburb boundary lies .Based on these criteria each authority def ined astudy area for the purposes of analysis as follows.These are given in Appendix 1.ArmentieresArmentieres is the smalles t of the Study cases andthe def ined area encompasses much of the town.The Commune boundary has been fixed since 1920at the limits of the then town, when the rural areasadjacent and now the location of much


development, suburban to both Armentieres andLille, was formed into the new Commune of LaChappelle d 'Arrnentieres (Map 2).BredaAs can be seen from Maps 3 and 4 the ring of canalswhich surround the Centre form the basis for thedefinit ion of the Study area. These define theoriginal city. In the area there are 6 neighbourhoodswith numbers for statistical purposes. These are:0000 - City, 0001 - Valkenberg, 0002 - Chasse, 0003- Fellenoord, 0004 - Schorsmolen, 0005 - Station.The City district or Centrum is special in that itforms the office, retail, tourist and recreationalcentre and also encompasses the historica l core ofBreda. It has a sizeable population inaccommodation above commercial premises and insolely residential premises.The Valkenberg is a mainly residential area with alo t of historic buildings and a park of around 10hectares.Large parts of Chasse used to be military ground asBreda has a tradition as a milit ary cent re. Some ofthis is now being redeveloped for houses, amuseum, a theatre and cafes etc.Fellenoord and Schorsmolen are mo stly residentialareas, bu t with a mix of offices as well. Some of theneighbourhoods are considered as deprived areasand conta in a large low income population. In the1960.s Schorsmolen was largely redeveloped forflats and apartments.The station area goes outside the canal boundarybu t it is considered an integral part of the city core,and is being replanned to reinforce this link.CorkThe City of Cork grew historically on the south sideof the River Lee, but spread on to the higher groundto the north of the river. The City Corporation haspreviously defined a study area for its populationchange study undertaken in 1996 and it was feltthat the boundaries chosen for this would besuitable for the 'Living in Towns' analysis. This areais made up of ten inner wards, shown on Map 5:

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Centre A, Centre B, Gil labey A, Southgate A,Southgate B, City Hal l A, City Hall B, St Patrick's,ShandonA, Shandon BThe two central wards comprise the commercial andretail centre of the City, but with a mixing in ofresidential accommodation. This area is clearlydefined to the east by the port and industr ial area ofKnockrea and to the west by the parkland andUniversity areas of Mardyke and Gillabey B. Thewards to north and south are the older inner areas ofthe city beyond which one enters suburban areas. Ofspecial note is the area of Shandon an older historiccore area on the north bank of the Lee.

HampshireHampshire contains a number of different urbanareas including a former expanded town, militarytowns, historic and market towns (Map 1).These towns demonstrate a range of differentcharacteristics, functions and roles . For the purposeof this study six towns have been selected torepresent the types of town and urbancharacteristics found in the County.

The study area for each town is identified below andshown on the set of maps 6-11. St Faith's ward in Havant Central ward in Eastleigh Eastrop ward in Basingstoke Alexandra ward in Aldershot, and SE, NW, and NE wards in Alton St Bartholomew and St Michael's wards inWinchester

All are inner wards, either containing or adjacent tothe central core of the towns and experiencingconflicts between residential and other uses. Theyeach contain examples of regeneration andrehabilitation.LimerickThe centre of the City of Limerick is focussed on themedieva l core of the city in King 's Island, EnglishTown, and in Irish Town the mainly Georgianextension to this to the south along the RiverShannon. In all this comprises ten wards of the citycore. Defining a study area based on ward

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boundaries is however difficult as several wardsstretch from the central area to the suburbs. Thestudy area will therefore be loosely defined aroundthe central core area (Map 12).The ward numbers are : 620,003; 620,013; 620,014;620,015; 620,021; 620,025; 620,026; 620,029; 620,034;620,035.MaidstoneThe Borough of Maidstone has defined a restrictedarea for population study purposes and a slightlywider town centre area for more general study.However since both cover all the elements requiredto meet the criteria listed above it will be reasonablyeasy to discuss different topics for different areas ofthe town centre.The area comprises the commercial and historic coreof Maidstone and a surrounding t ract of core areahousing which is attached to it. Population changestudies will relate to the High Street ward, an areawhich containing a variety of residential premises,including those shared with commercial properties(Map 13).

MonsMons is an ancient town with a clear historic core, atone time surrounded by walls and now encircled bya ring of Boulevards which have taken their place.This inner core contains a mix of commercial,cultural and residential areas. It however does notencompass the entirety of the town centre and forthe purposes of the project certain areas outside thisring (la Premiere Couronne) will be included in thestudy, as they form part of the main centre of the city(Map 14).WittenWitten is an extensive urban area with clearlydefined subsidiary villages and centres the largestand nearest to Witten centre being Annen (Map 15).Examples to demonstrate the aspects under s tudywill be drawn mainly from these two central areas ofthe Municipality. However the Witten team havedefined an area around the town centre and borderedby several tangential main streets as the main core oftheir study area. This comprises the 2 areas ofInnenstadt and Oberdorf-Helenenberg (Map 16).

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section 2TheTowns and their Characteristics

In this part, the situation of each town is consideredwith a focus on a number of factors tha t may beuseful to take into account for this study: theevolution of the population in the core area of eachtown (2.1), patterns of land use changes (2.2),amenities and the urban environment (2.3),transport systems and policies (2.4), and theperception by the public of town centre living (2.5).

2.1 DEMOGRAPHYAND SOCIALSTRUCTURE

TOTAL POPULATIONOur analysis of population change in the mainstudy areas was done over as long a period as wecould be statistically accurate. It was intended tosketch populat ion change over 30 to 40 years inorder to demonstrate both the quantity and qualityof population decline in most Town centres. This hasproved statistically difficult and in the final analysisno t particularly useful in understandingcontemporary shifts in such populations. The tableand graph (Table 1 and Graph 1) illustrate the

1945 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 1995 2000Armentieres 22667 24940 25279 24846 25220Breda 11002 7697 10405 10119Cork 14448 11 260 8748 10657Limerick 7467 5846 5884Maidstone 7453 6774 5537 5709 5609 5895Mons 30808 28296 27548Witten 9623 9390 9125 8697Witten (town) 107624 106347 105390 103826Hampshire 39294 4060 1 41834 46566Tab le] : Total Population Figu res: Study Areas

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........ WittenTown

- Arrnentieres

- Hampshire

BredaCorkLimerickMaidstoneMonSA

111111111111111

_.-. I' I '-.----

..,.----, .....-" .. I" .. ,"" ". ., . ......," ....... ~ ' 1,; .#.. 1_,_"'" .. .... . t W . ' ' ' ' ' ' ' '"'11111 t 1 t t ' I I l , , ' U I I I ' - "'"'',1"""UI''' .. .. ............

.. .. .. ~ . ' _ ' I - ' . . . .#1 . ' *. ."...., I' "

1301201101009080706050

1950 1960-70 1980 1990 1995 2000Graph 1: Population Trends in Town Centre Areas of Each Study Town 1general trend in each town.One of the diff icul ties encountered was that thedates on which each national example is surveyedfor census purposes differs. In addition thequestions posed in each context vary slightly. This ismost impor tant in relation to recent populationcounts. Some agencies have figures up to 1999/2000or 1995 at least ie Breda, Mons, whilst 1990 is thelast date on which reliable figures can be producedfor Armentieres and 1991 for Maidstone. This makescomparison in recent years difficult. Added to thisthere is the situation in the UK where the nature ofthe questions posed changed drastically between1980 and 1990, making comparisons between eventhese dates in one country difficult. Most importantof all is the likelihood that in the next round ofcensus 2000/2002 virtually all will show growths intown centre populations due to the effect of policiesof rebuilding in these areas and not to any 'natural'demographic change. This is most marked in theHampshi re towns where several decades of strictcontrol of out of town development and commutergenerated population growth have produced quiteremarkable growth in the population of the studyareas over the last 30 years. Their figures for 2000are estimates, bu t they are on track to be realised.Nevertheless , a few other conclusions can be drawn.

Generally until the early 1990's decline, slow bu tmeasurable, was the hallmark of most of the studytowns. This was most dramatic in the Irish towns:slow bu t continuing in Mons and Witten: slowingand slowly reversing in Armentieres, Breda, andMaidstone.GENDER STRUCTUREThis aspect was studied as a matter of course bu tthere is no significant difference between the sexesin population distribution.AGE STRUCTUREThe objective was to try to discern whether therewere changes in four significant population groups,pre-school and school age children, the adolescentand young adult population, the population ofworking age, and the retired populationAgain some difficulties were encountered in makingcomparisons between towns as the groups given incensus returns were different, and the definition ofschool age, and ret ired differs from country tocountry. However it was possible to produce somecomparable statistics, with the following caveats. Inthe case of Armentieres the adolescent populationcould be compared for 1960 and 1970 bu t not formore recent dates. Again the lack of recent figureswas unhelpful.

1. Base 100 is a different year for each town (Armentieres: 1950; Breda: 1960; Cork: 1960; Hampshire: 1950;Limerick: 1980;Maidstone: 1950; Mons: 1990; Witten: 1980).

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1960 1970 1980 1990 1995 2000

Arrnentleres a) 0-15 23.00* 20.10* 19.80 20.00 *cf withothers

b) 16-25 14.00 17.00 7.80 6.70 1519c) 26-65 51.00 48.30 52.60 50.00 20-60d) 65+ 12.00 14.60 19.80 28.30 60+

Breda a) 015 18.34 11 .26 7.70 6.62b) 16-25 20.72 27.49 25.47 20.45c) 2665 45.03 44.48 51.70 59.13d) 65+ 15.91 16.67 15.14 13.81

Corlc a) 0-15 16.67 11.74 12.22

b) 16-25 23.37 23.50 27.89

c) 26-65 43.00 46.77 46.00d) 65+ 16.97 17.98 13.89

Limericlc a) 0-15 18.40 14.80 13.00

b) 16-25 23.60 24.90 29.00c) 26-65 42.30 43.80 42.50d) 65+ 15.70 16.70 15.50

Maidstone a) 015 25.80b) 16-25 14.40

c) 26 65 44.40

d) 65+ 16.40Table 2: Population by Age Structure (%)

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1962 1975 1982 1990Agricultural Workers 40 24 4 24Artisans I Shopkeepers I Small Businessines 1208 1052 720 636High Level Professionals 402 428 432 596Academics I Intellectual ProfessionalsLower Level Professionsals 815 1164 1780 1744Employees 1307 1716 2596 2944Workers 5719 5600 4076 3908Retired Population 3377 3052 3584 4472Other non-working population 12411 10908 11480 10912ofwhich: - students and school pupils over 15 939 1664 2152

Table 3: Population cl'Arrnentieres by Socio-professional CategoryIn all examples except Armentieres there appearedto be a decline in the very young and elderlypopulations. The young adult population was themost significant growth area . Working agepopulations did not vary much between towns orover time, bu t this is a large age groupHOUSEHOLD AND SOCIAL STRUCTUREProgress ing from the basic demographic statistics,an attempt has been made to ascertain how thesocial and economic background to each town hasaltered over time and whether the discernibledemographic changes mask more fundamentalchanges in the type of people and their social status.Here Clgoin lock of comparable statistical materialmade the exercise difficult. However two sets ofstatistics were of particular value as indicators ofthis. The first were the local indicators of socioeconomic status and the second the tenure categoryand occupancy ratios of housing .Sodo-Economic StatusInformation on this aspect has been patchy. Theclearest statement has come from Armentieres(Table 3) It shows major shifts in the 'socio-

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professionel' status of the town's population since1962. There have been clear dec lines in thecategories of small businessmen and workers butstrong rises in the number of Cadres Professions,'Professions Intermediaires' and "GeneralEmployee" as well as in retired people and students.In other words there has been a shift to a moremiddle class population.In Breda there is no similar table which shows majorshif ts in the status of the town population, bu t thegeneral impression is also of a shift to the middleclasses. Couples without children and with a goodjob (managers, people working in technique) andhigh educational levels are attracted to the centre ofBreda. The student population also tends to increasein the centre . But the neighbourhoods locatedaround the heart of town continue to contain lowincome unskilled households.In Cork, over the three Census periods the statisticsdemonstrate that there has been a marked increasein the number of professionals residing in the citycentre . This is illustrated by the fact that thecategory 'managers/employers' has been increasing

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steadily to 4.79% and 'professionals' to 12.91% of thepopulation.This trend may reflect the greater numbersattending third level education, and so entering theworkforce at higher grades than before. Also theshift away from manual work, which would haveprovided the bulk of jobs within Cork City up untilthe early 1980s, has resulted in a greater need for amore educated and skilled workforce.Examining the workforce composition one can seethat while the number of those at work in the citycentre dropped significantly from 48.57% in 1981 to39.2% in 1986, the 1996 figures indicate that thiscategory is increasing once again. This welcomeupturn may be attributed to the renewal of the olderparts of the city centre, a process that has provideda more varied supply of residential accommodation.Urban renewal has created a more congenial livingenvironment, which encourages people to reside inthe city.One of the more worrying trends is the continuingincrease in the number of unemployed people livingin the city centre. This fact may be explained by theconvenience of city centre living particularly forthose without private transportat ion. All kinds ofservices (such as schools, shops, recreationalfacilities, and hospitals) are located in the citycentre. Consequently, it is more advantageous forthe unemployed to live in the centre of the city thanin the suburbs.There is an increase in the number of students livingin the city.Higher educational facilities in Cork haveimproved and expanded considerably over the pasttwenty years and the student population has grownaccordingly. This is reflective of the fact that greateremphasis is placed on third level education inIreland now than ever before. The studentpopulation of most Irish cities, including Cork, hasrisen steadily in recent times.A similar picture emerges from figures for Limerick.There is a decline in the total population bu t adifferential and more rapid decrease in the manualworker category and small increases in 'managers'and 'technical' staff.


Figures from Mons indicate a relatively stable socioeconomic structure, although unemployment is onthe increase in the town.In Maidstone the Ward which is the focus of ourstudy, High Street ward, has been identified in aNation wide survey of Urban Depriva tionIndicators as one of the worst in Kent and in theworst 25% in England as a whole. The indicessurveyed were factors such as Educational Levels,Housing quality and condition and employmentlevels.Household SizeAgain there are variable returns in this area , but thatreceived indicates a decline in household size . InMons for instance the number of single personhouseholds increased between 1981 and 1991 from24.0% to 34.9%, while all other categories andespecially large households declined. InArmentieres there are clear changes. Again aconsiderable increase in the number of 1 personhouseholds and a great decline in households of sixor more people. Other household sizes wererelatively stable. The residential survey of Corkconcludes that the size of households has beendeclining with those of 2/3 people now inpredominance. It is sometimes difficult to spot theincrease in single persom households as many ofthese are single people or students renting rooms inlarge houses rather than small apartments.In Witten a proxy for this factor is the size of theunits being constructed. Between 1990 and 1998 of825 units constucted in the core area, 745 were flatsand small apartments, the rest being 1 and 2 unithouses. These are described as 'low cost townhousing' .Figures for the Hampshire study areas also showvery low average family sizes which are generallybelow the county average.TenureA summary of the number of units available in eachof the principal tenure categories for the period1980-1991 is given in Table 4. The terms 'owneroccupation', 'social housing' and 'private rented' arediscussed in Volume 2b. The 'other' category is

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Breda

Cork

Hampshire

Limerick

Maidstone

Owner Social Private OtherOccupation Housing Rented1980 1249 4380 10601981 1536 289 17121991 1575 288 1275 1211981 9837 3280 1567 4661991 12543 3139 1628 4721981 639 425 1053 871991 630 317 995 871981 1567 560 322 65

Table 4: Tenure Types in Five Study Townsaccommodation mostly related to work and isnormally owned by employing organisations.These ba sic figu res make more sense when seen inthe l ight of changes over t ime.In Limerick there have been considerable increasesin owner occupation in all wards, but especially inthose which had a large percentage of 'councilhousing' in 1981, and have experienced transfers toowner occupation . Equally there has been decline inthe percentage of housing in the pri vate furnishedrental m arket. A significant change is in thecommercial core wards of the city where there hasbeen a decline in the number of properties which arein owner occupation bu t without mortgages, iethose historically owned by older inhabitants of theTown centre. This decline cancels ou t the increase inowner occupation in the wards sur rounding the citycentre so aggregate numbers for the study areashow little net change. There has been an increasein unfurnished renting.In the Hampshire towns the number of owneroccupied houses has increased significantly. Thereha s been a decline in the number of social housingunits, and an absolute increase in private renting bu tnot in proportional terms.

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Vacancy rates are reported by some authorities asbeing a major problem. Limerick cites high vacancyon 'sink' estates but not elsewhere although there isconsiderable vacant sp ace over shops and in formerresidential p remises. Equally, refurbishmentschemes are reported for former council est ates bu tno t for the empty premises in the City centre. Corkby comparison has surveyed vacancy although noclear figures are available for the Study area. Thecouncil ha s a policy of refurbishment which ha sbeen applied in the Shandon area and in the awardwinning North Main street schemes. This has beentied to its 'LOTS', Living Over the Shop schemewhich has tried to encourage the reoccupation ofsuch vacant space. Cork however also reports greatincreases in the quality of the residentialaccommodation with much refurbishment takingplace.As demonstrated in the study of the changes inspace use generally, as part of the 'Environment'chapter, there are a considerable number of vacantshops in Mons, and with i t a concomitant vacancy ofresidential accommodation above these units.This theme will be taken up in more detail in theanalyses of land use and space change which havecome ou t of the 'Urban Environment' Study'.

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2.2 LAND USE CHANGEThe basic pattern of use in the study areas can beseen from the maps and information set out in thepreceding paragraphs. However from the point ofview of the project, it is more important to obtain afeel for the way in which this pattern is changing.Once upon a time the operators of shops lived'above the shop', and towns were places with aresident working population. However the changesin retail to more non local or national chain shopsallied to the movement of shopowners to morecomfortable suburban homes has left most townswith a considerable problem of vacant space in theseupper floors of the retail areas. This phenomenonhas been noted in Cork and Limerick, in all theHampshire towns and in Maidstone, in Armentieresand in Mons. However there did not appear to sucha problem in Breda or in Witten.At least four of the Towns under study have majorbodies of water or rivers which have p roved adynamic influence on the development policies ofboth public and private agents. Most significant isBreda, where canalised rivers have formed the maindefensive bastion of the Town since medieval times.Also in Cork, the River Lee, Limerick, the RiverShannon, and Maidstone, the River Medway, allform major influences on developmentopportunities and policies for regeneration.In Breda the enhancement of the existing canalsystem and the restoration of parts of ancientwaterways are a significant part of the Developmentplan for the Town.Therefore the changes are of two types. The first andmost obvious is where major land uses either closedown or relocate out of the town centre area therebyproviding major redevelopment opportunit ies.Every study area has had such examples. Thesecond is the less obvious and more subtle shiftingof emphasis in certain aspects of the core area whichover time lead to a significant change in thecharacter of the place and which do not presentdecision makers with such clear cut opportunities toreverse decline. Such sites can come from bothpublic, ie mili tary ,railway land, and private iebreweries, sources. They can also be unpredictable

Living inTowns:Volum e 2A: Study O bjectives and Case Study Town s

due to changes in economic situations or the peacedividend. The following is a summary of the majordevelopment opportunities in each town, located onmaps of the study areas.ArmentieresThere has been considerable vacation of industrialpremises in the town and these sites have been usedfor conversion tomainly residential purposes.BredaBreda has always been a military town and much ofthe central core has been devoted to barracks andother related military uses. For a variety of reasonsthe Dutch Army no longer requires much of thisterritory and some have already been released intothe development process. The most signif icant ofthese has been the 'Chasse Park'area, a 13 hectare sitein the south-east of the city centre.The site was a long standing military centre whichbecame superfluous to Dutch army needs and wassold at a nominal fee to the City council forredevelopment.The plan is for a variety of uses within the site bu tno particular mixed use buildings. Thus there are inthe course of construction a series of linkedcomplexes. There is an extension to an existinghotel, an extension and restructuring of formermilitary bui ldings into a museum of Breda's richhistory, a theatre complex and a mix of houses andapartments . Other such sites are being proposed inthe 'Seeligkazerne' area and around the castleA second major area of redevelopment will bearound the station where a considerable amount ofland is being freed for development. This is adjacentto a major private site of the former sugar workswhich is also now redundant. Part of the proposedredevelopment of the localitywill be a new station,which will introduce a high speed t ra in link to thecity and vastly improve accessibility to Rotterdam,Den Haag and Antwerp.In Breda, there is also a general decline in thenumber of shops in the centre, as well as in the spaceused for retail activities. There were 582 shops in thecentre in 1994. This number dropped to 556 in 1999.

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This change has not just been quantitative, bu t alsoqualitative . In the areas around the main shoppingstreets, a lot of retail outlets have been replaced byservice providers (like banks, insurance companies,real estate agencies . .. ). But it is a policy of themunicipality to encourage the location of retail inthe centre.It is also a local pol icy to give incent ives to the useof the space located above these shops. A lot ofbuildings already have separate access to the upperfloors above shops, in those cases where there is stillno access, the municipal ity provides funding toundertake the required work.CorkA general migration outwards of industrial andwarehouse use from the 1960s onwards left a ring ofvacant and derelict sites and premises around thecommercial core of the city, in effect the outer partsof the study area. In order to combat theconsequences of this type of migration, common toseveral Irish cities, the Government introduced anurban renewal policy and associated a scheme of taxincentives to encourage the reintroduction ofresidential uses in such areas. Seve ral newresidential blocks have been built or conve rted inthe city (discussed in more detai l in Volume 2b,Finance section). Most of these were on thequaysides of the central island, around UniversityCollege, in Shandon and in the Southgate districts.At present changes in the port based industriesmean that the relocat ion of much of this isimminent. This will release considerable landsupply in the eas te rn edge of the City centre.However there is increasing pressure for theexpansion of the retailing and to a lesser extent thebus iness core of the city as such new uses are beingdiverted to suburban locations as there is aconstraint on their expansion in the current citycentre plan.HampshireSeveral of the Hampshire towns have beenpresented w it h r edevelopmen t opportuni tiesthrough closure or relocation of businesses andconsequential vacation of major sites.

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In Basingstoke there will be a major redevelopmentof part of the own centre to increase retail floorspaceand provide more leisure and cultural facilitiesincluding a public square, a 20 screen multiplexcinema, cafes and restaurants . This newdevelopment, 'Festival Place' is due for completionin 2002 bu t does no t contain any residentialpremises. The Crown Office bui ld ing near thestation has however been given planningpermission to change to a mix of uses, hotel, le isureand 60 flats some of which will be in the'affordable'category.In Aldershot a former transport depot adjacent tothe station has been redeveloped for 238 newdwellings including affordable flats. Opposite thissite a print ing works was converted during the1980's to provide 110 residential dwellings.The development of sites in Alton has been achievedby the bringing into use of underused backland inthe town centre and the redevelopment of industrialand retail uses.Winchester has three large sites which have beenrecycled, all to mainly or exclusively residential use.A former 2 hectare ex-army barracks has beenredeveloped to provide 135 dwellings and a 2 screencinema. A former hospital site of 1.62 ha willprovide 40 open market dwellings and 13 affordableunits. A brewery depot near the town centre has alsorecently been redeveloped to provide 53 dwellingsincluding affordable units.In Eastleigh, a major redevelopment opportunityhas arisen due to the decision of Pirelli Cables torelocate their operations to other premises in thetown rendering this site surplus to the ir needs. Thecompany requires the proceeds from the sale of theland for development to finance their consolidationon the other premises and retention of employmentin the town. The 20.4 hectare site will be released inphases over a period of up to ten years from 2001.LimerickThe ci ty core has been examined in detail fordevelopment potential.Several sites have been identified which have been

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redeveloped or are available for redevelopment .These comprise six former factories, three formerwarehouses and a former gas works. The formerfactory sites have been recycled to offices or car parkuse and none have been transferred to residentialuse. All the three warehouse sites in the Study areahave however been converted to residenti alapartment complexes using the tax incentivescheme. The former gas works is still a vacant site.MaidstoneAs with Limerick, the Town core has been thesubject of detailed study and analysis ofdevelopment potential. There is one major sitewithin the town core and another on the west bankof the Medway, which has considerabledevelopment potential. The main site in the Town isthe block encompassing the former Fremlin,sBrewery site. The site itself lies downhill of theTown centre but between the two is a considerablearea of backland much of which is vacant. TheTown council has used its compulsory purchasepowers to acquire those parts of the site whicheither are not part of the Brewery site itself or theCouncil wish to retain for their Architectural orhistoric value. Thus a large site has been assembledand sold to Centros Miller, who have planningpermission to develop a new shopping centre on thesite. The main anchor unit will be the 'Army &Navy' store, one of the House of Fraser chain. Therental take up for the development has beensatisfactory and the developers anticipate thecompletion date for the scheme to be autumn 2003.Given the current state of the retail property market,the developers are extremely optimistic about thedevelopment which is almost 80%pre-let. Althoughthe scheme has planning permission for retail andleisure uses, the potential for the incorporation ofresidential apartments is currently being exploredby the developers.The second set of sites are those along the West bankof the Medway, from the former Trebor sweetfactory to the redundant church at the end of themain bridge. Here there have been severaldevelopments which are only marginally successfulas commercial sites, and a considerable area ofvacant land. There is considerable indecision as totheir future. The Church authorities for example

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remain indifferent to the future of the redundantChurch. The Council has produced a developmentbrief for this ten hectare site which it wishes to seeredeveloped for high density apartment dwellingsoverlooking the Medway. The remaining vacantland can be redeveloped for commercial andwarehouse use although some of it remainspolluted.Other major sites surround the town. These includethe former County Council Offices at Springfieldwhich have recently been sold and will beredeveloped as HQ offices and will include aresidential element of about 80 units. Land to thenorth ofMaidstone East station has been earmarkedfor a mixed use development incorporating retailwarehousing, a hotel, offices and residentialaccommodation. The site just further north of this ,at the Stacey Street /Fairmeadow roundabout, iscurrently under construction. This development,'County Gate', will provide a total of 4,580 sq. m. ofBI floorspace.A further development site along the western bankof the Medway at Lockmeadow has been earmarkedfor residential development with a small element ofemployment generating uses (Use Class BI) . Adevelopment brief for this site is currently beingprepared.MonsMons is a commercial hub of regional importance.However, during the past few years, major retailershave left the centre to settle in the periphery. Thepedestrianised town centre is now reserved forindependent retailers. They have created variousorganisations, trusts, societies, in order to stimulatecommercial activities in Mons.Besides, a major multi-purpose project is beingdeveloped on the Crand-Pres site, very close to thetown centre. On this 8 ha site, will be developed: a multi-purpose hall (used for sport events,concerts... ),

a shopping centre, a leisure parkBesides this new development, the city council has

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been very involved in urban renovation during thepast 20 years, thus implementing its policy of"Moving bade to Town" (Revivre en Ville).With the participation of the private sector, variousneighbourhoods were renovated.A few examples include: the Grand-Place block: about a hundred

dwellings were developed along withcommercial units and offices in other to create adiverse and lively area,

the Messines neighbourhood: located at about600 metres from the Grand Place, this siteincludes many social housing units . Anunderground car park is also being developed.

The Rachot neighbourhood: located at about 400metres from the Grand-Place, this site included 7ha of derel ic t buildings and brownfield plots ofland. Old and small workers houses weresituated next to a few larger mansions. The publicauthorities developed social housing and a park.An underground car park as well as a ret irementhome have also been planned.

WittenThere are few existing sites within the town centrewhich are currently available. However an area ofpoor quality commercial development may beredeveloped soon. More important are two sitesne xt to the Study area. The first is surplus railwayland to the west of the centre and the second is theThyssen steel works land to the south. These mayafford opportunities for redevelopment in the nearfuture .2.3 AMENITIESANDTHE URBAN

ENVIRONMENTA number of 'environmental' factors have an impact011 town centres, making them more or less pleasantplaces to live. Apart from general facilities availablein the centre, safety, green spaces and design appearto be major asse ts to enhance quality of life.AMENITIESArmentieres contains a number of cafes andbrasseries. However they tend to close early, andmost of the 'evening economy' seems to be located

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in a neighbouring town, on the Belgian side of theborder. Besides, an important leisure centre islocated in the Pres du Hem area, with a lake and amarina.The study area of Breda contains a number of majorfacilities: three theatres, two cinemas, 3 clubs. Inaddition there are some 75 restaurants and 88 cafesand bars scattered throughout the area. There is alsoa major l ibrary, designed by the Dutch ArchitectHerman Hertzberger, a cent re for music and thearts, a recording studio, a dance theatre and aconcert hall. These will be grouped around a centralcourt garden and will be enhanced by thecompletion of a major concert hall and a museum inthe Chasse Park scheme. The area also contains alarge green space in the park which has recentlybeen rehabilitated. There are also green areasfol lowing the canal r ing and in isolated pocketsaround the town.The centre of Cork has a good mix of service andcommercial uses which serve the neighbouring andsuburban residential population. There are anumber of cinemas and the central library. There areplans both to increase and to upgrade the quality ofgreen spaces in and around the city centre.Cork is known as the 'city of festivals' and boasts, anOpera House and has major concert and theatrefacilities in the Town Hall , the Everyman Theatre,the Cork Arts Centre and the V.C.C Granary theatre.In all 5 major festivals are held each year.Limerick has a number of museums, art galleries,libraries, cinemas and theatres.There is a concentra tion of cul tura l uses in the citycentre ofMons. There are two cultural centres. Monsalso houses the Walloon Chamber Orchestra and theRoyal Conservatory of Music, two theatres and a 12salon cinema. In the centre there are a series of smallmuseums as well as a variety of other facilities.However of a survey of around 1100 retail units inthe central core 135 were vacant, about 12%.The central core of Witten has a number of facilities,particularly the three museums and of particularnote is the 'Haus Witten' a combination of ancient

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castle and modern steel, which has been convertedinto a music centre.SAFETYSafety is a major concern in any town, bu t the lackof it is often cited as a factor deterring people fromusing and certainly from living in the core areas oftowns -,Gauging whether central areas are inherentlymore unsafe than other area s has been one of theobjectives of the study, but not an easy one to fulfil.Demonstrating what actions have been taken by theAuthorities to make these areas safer has beeneasier.ArmentieresThe Town Council introduced a scheme 'Agentslocaux de Mediation Sociale ' where special wardenspatro l the streets to give assistance and resolveproblems among the inhabitants.BredaThe crime figures tha t have been provided showthatmost of the crime in Breda takes place in the citycentre, especially violent crime, robberies and cartheft.

However Breda has just introduced a Closed CircuitTelevision system (CCTV), mainly in the areaswhere there a greater concentration of bars andclubs. In a couple of months 22 cameras will belocated at Grote Markt, Haven, Vismarktstraat,Havermarkt. The control office will be located at thenew police station. These cameras will only be usedin the evenings.CorkStatistics on crime are not available for the City. ACCTV scheme is proposed and due forcommissioning.HampshireThe figures provided give a clear pattern with littledifference between large and small centres. Thus inall the centres studied, the most common crimes aretheft , criminal damage, burglary and violence.Crimes such as drug offences and sexual violenceare insignificant. Only Aldershot , a mil itary townshows a slightly higher level of violence.


MaidstoneMaidstone has

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Living in Towns: Volume 2a