Local centres are crucial in residential led mixed use developments, as they serve as the ‘beating heart’ of communities, offering essential services, encouraging social interaction, promoting sustainable development and supporting economic growth.

Local and neighbourhood centres are social and cultural ‘anchors’ providing convenient access to a range of amenities, fostering and promoting community and are vital in placemaking terms. They are much more than a collection of buildings; they play an important role in everyday life, helping create sustainable, vibrant and inclusive communities.

Local Centres here and now

The retail and employment market has dramatically changed following the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, with a further swing towards on-line shopping and a move to more flexible working patterns. However, the pandemic also re-established the important role local centres play in daily life. Therefore finding the right ‘offer’ and mix of uses is key in creating sustainable and accessible local centres and communities.

Where once the traditional local retail offer of the High Street butcher, baker or local pub, or church was the focus of everyday community life, now local centres are re-focused on lifestyle and supporting the functions of everyday life. Therefore local centres are much more than just retail opportunities - instead there is the need for flexible, robust and adaptable community spaces. With working away from the ‘traditional’ office based environment, such as home working becoming more popular, the need for co-working space has become an integral element of neighbourhoods, for important lifestyle, social and community reasons.

15 / 20 minute neighbourhoods

Successful neighbourhoods include a wide range of uses, amenities and facilities, supporting both new and existing facilities. Be it a ’15-minute’ or ’20-minute’ neighbourhood - it does not really matter - it is more of a case of providing an appropriate range of everyday facilities on your door step. The needs of every neighbourhood will vary dependent on a number of factors including demographics, context, new developments and so on. However there is a range of common elements and functions required as part of the neighbourhood, which need not necessarily be located in a local centre, so long as the community has 15 / 20 minute access to them:

Everyday needs - with a range of essential and convenient local shopping, community and health facilities.

Learning - opportunities for education and learning.

Space - for natural open green space and space for play, leisure, grow (food) zones and sport.

Homes - people living in houses and apartments, as part of and being fully integrated into the local centre - providing homes and communities for all ages, as well as opportunities for higher density development, enlivening and activating the centre at different times of the day.

Accessible - promoting the ‘live local’ principle that reduces the need to travel in the first place, and if you do need to travel then prioritise walking, cycling or use of public transport, promoting sustainability by reducing reliance on cars.

Jobs - promoting economic activity and growth, co-working spaces, supporting opportunities for local businesses, with local and flexible employment opportunities.Case Study

A recently completed representation for the ‘Winchester Northern Neighbourhood’ allowed us to challenge the opportunities available to the City Council, and their preparation of a new district wide new Local Plan.

Components that make up an inclusive 15/ 20-minute community neighbourhood.
Image source: https://www.planning.vic.gov.au/guides-and-resources/strategies-and-initiatives/20-minute-neighbourhoods

Creating new local centres by working with existing facilities

New centres can take a number of forms, from regenerating and repurposing existing centres, to delivering entirely new centres - all of which will develop and evolve over time. A successful local centre delivers a dynamic mix of uses which are tailored and respond to the unique local culture and context, reflecting character and identity.

Before starting to plan the future, there is the need to understand the existing place. Context led research, local knowledge and listening to local voices to fully understand how the existing place functions, helping answer the questions of - What facilities and assets exist? What works, what doesn’t work? What facilities are missing? What do local people want and need?

Therefore any new facilities should be ‘complementary with’ and ‘in addition to’, rather than in competition with. Key principles include:

Local facilities - understanding what is there. Could existing resources be upgraded to better serve the community? For example, regenerating an existing high street with modern retail spaces, or repurposing with leisure, commercial and residential, together with improving public realm can improve footfall and enhance the overall experience.

Catchment / demographic - who is the local centre going to serve? Understanding the community, the age profile, income levels and so on ensures that the centres ‘offer’ is aligned with the needs of its community. This will help identify ‘need’ in terms of size and range of facilities offered. Determining the geographical area the centre will serve and will also help optimise the size and range of facilities offered.

Urban context - a new local centre may primarily be designed to serve a new population, but it is also important to positively integrate with its surrounding context, respect heritage assets, connect with existing transport networks and onward connections to existing employment, commercial, education and leisure facilities.

Creating communities

Local centres can positively promote social interaction and inclusion by providing space for people to meet, socialise and build relationships. They can host community events, markets and gatherings, fostering a sense of belonging and inclusivity.

Reflecting the change in community / civic centres, from the ‘traditional’ High Street to a more neighbourhood focus, ‘community hub’ buildings form one of the most important elements. Community hubs include a wide range of services and facilities which need to be informed through meaningful dialogue with the local community, including involved engagement. This approach not only delivers a more considered and tailored scheme, but can also help the community buy-in to the wider development.

Physical community facilities and public realm spaces are important - but these spaces serve a much more valuable purpose of promoting and strengthening social interaction, whilst creating and developing a community within a vibrant and thriving environment.

Masterplanning design principles

The process of masterplanning is fundamental to delivering successful local centres, which must evolve and adapt over time. Design principles include:

Location - is key and should be at the confluence of movement routes, with active travel journeys passing through the local centre on the way to other wider destinations, so that visiting the local centre is both easy and convenient.

Accessibility - with an integrated, accessible and sustainable transport strategy which prioritises walking, cycling and public transport access, supported by mobility hub facilities. This helps reduce car dependency and promotes healthy, low carbon lifestyles.

Clustering - a mix of different uses together, with shops, employment, health, education, community, sports and residential spaces helps foster a well-rounded environment, whilst helping economic resilience.

Placemaking - creating a sense of place and identity that reflects local context and culture. This includes the character and design of architecture, public spaces and green infrastructure.

High quality design - not monolithic blocks, rather a mix of spaces and uses, with ground floor active frontages, residential above, supporting the key design principles of ‘live locally’ - at the heart of the community.

Sustainable - embedding green technologies and ensuring the potential future adaptability of buildings and spaces.

Example of design principles of a local centre neighbourhood focused around a civic open space.

Delivering sustainable and viable local centres

Each element of the development must be deliverable in access, placemaking and viability terms, to ensure that the masterplan can progress sustainably. As such, the first phase of delivery is critical, as it serves as the ‘anchor’ - a focal point - for the new community. This could be a community hub facility, commercial space, or high quality public realm, parkland or play area. This initial phase will help set the tone and character, acting as a potential bench mark for the quality of the wider development. This first phase will also help with the sales and promotion of the wider housing-based masterplan, highlighting the local centre as the beating heart and focus of the wider development. Key principles in delivering local centres include:

Phasing - delivering a masterplan requires a phased approach. Planning and understanding at what point in the development build programme the local centre is built, is vital to ensure it is viable and sustainable.

Commercial viability - the local centre must work from when it first opens. Initially it may not be financially successful and as such, may require economic and promotional support. For example, during the initial phase there may be a limited number of residents and therefore limited customers / users - these numbers will steadily grow as the wider masterplan is delivered - but the local centre will need added help and support until fully established.

Market analysis - understanding the local demand for retail, commercial, leisure, community and other services.

Mixed-uses - finding the right ‘offer’ and mix of uses is key in creating sustainable and accessible local centres. Combining a diverse mix of local retail, cafe / F&B, commercial, healthcare, employment and community spaces - both national and local retailers, as well as independent businesses and community groups fosters a well rounded environment, that serves a variety of needs.

Flexibility - ‘mean time uses’ and temporary uses, such as ‘incubator’ spaces should be considered from the outset to enliven local centres until fully developed and established. Spaces should be designed to be flexible and readily adaptable to other future uses, to allow for evolution and adaptability over time.

Stewardship - ensuring public spaces are well maintained and welcoming is very important, promoted with a programme of hosting focused events, markets, gatherings and activities to help keep the local centre vibrant and relevant to the community it serves.

Community engagement - listening, responding and involving existing and new residents in the decision making process fosters a sense of ownership, pride and community wellbeing. This community involvement and support is vital to the success and viability of local centres.

This article has been written by James Bavin, an Architect and Associate Director at Define, with over 25 years experience of designing and delivering a wide breadth of mixed use developments, including residential, retail and commercial schemes, as part of wider urban design masterplans.

Achieving successfully designed neighbourhood and local centres in residential developments