Fertile Ground: Planning for the Unknown Future of Town Centres
I’ve seen a number of briefs coming out recently seeking an exploration of the impact of COVID -19 on town centers/high streets, along with guidance about what to do in the future. As my colleague David Rudlin opined it’s nigh on impossible to get good data or develop robust plans for the future when we are still very much in “the eye of the storm”. There’s a phrase that’s quoted in various forms and most commonly attributed to something that Plato may have heard Socrates possibly say at one point or another. The clearest articulation is something like: “Wisest is the person who knows they do not know” It’s difficult at the moment to take anyone who claims to know what will happen or that has the perfect solution very seriously. In respect of town centres, but more generally in relation to anything at this moment in time. So, if you find yourself in a world of known unknowns, and you don’t want to just sit back and do nothing, what are you supposed to do? There are a few dif...