iPlan - a NSW Government initiative coordinated by
Department of Planning

2.1 Characteristics of Successful Town Centres

2.1.1 The Rationale for Town Centres

The town centre concept is arguably the oldest and most enduring type of community facility. Its origins date back hundreds of years to village squares, which served as the community marketplace and became a central location for services and social interaction. The town square concept has evolved but its essence as a commercial and social hub has not changed. In Australia, town centres are common to both small towns and traditional city suburbs.

It is only in the five decades since the automobile became commonplace that traditional town centres have been supplemented by new kinds of development. Private vehicles have reduced the need for facilities to be within walking distance of homes or on transit routes, which has facilitated the growth of major single-purpose developments such as shopping centres, business parks and suburban housing tracts. Further, it has allowed their development on inexpensive and plentiful land in outlying areas, far removed from other community nodes.

However, the post war low-density urban sprawl is becoming both socially undesirable and economically unsustainable, and is highlighting the advantages of town centres. Three principal factors are underpinning the re-emergence of town centres:

• Land costs and declining availability are prompting more efficient land uses. Automobile-oriented developments come at an increasing cost in terms of inefficiency and poor integration with other land uses.
• Demographic and lifestyle changes are creating a demand for more diverse residential, retail, hotel and office formats.
• Perhaps most important, there is an increasing desire amongst residents, shoppers and workers to experience the practical advantages and the sense of community embodied in a true town centre.

As a result, in recent years a growing need and opportunity for town centres has emerged.

Successful town centres share a set of key characteristics and features that contribute to their viability and appeal.

Multiple Functions

Town Centres must be multi-purpose venues. They should integrate a mix of uses including most or all of the following:

• residential,
• office,
• retail,
• recreation,
• entertainment,
• civic,
• institutional and
• cultural facilities

Together, a diverse mix of functions contributes to self-sufficiency, and creates a critical mass of people and activities that enhances competitiveness and viability.

Community Orientation and Ownership

The town centre must be an integral part of the community it serves, and as such should provide facilities that draw the local community and primarily serve the local community. In most cases, the visitor market should not be the first priority. However, a successful town centre will attract visitors in any event.

Extended Activity Periods

Single-purpose shopping centres or business districts are typically active for only part of the day. Town centres should be active for extended periods every day, through a mix of on-site residents and visitors, plus retail and entertainment facilities that operate beyond normal business hours.

Environment

A key source of a town centre's appeal is the experiences and ambience it provides. These are generated by a mix of factors including the physical environment, the mix of facilities, and the opportunity for social interaction. Together, they contribute to a sense of place, a sense of community ownership and a strong point of difference from other town centres or precincts.

Scale

The core of a town centre should have a human scale, in the following respects:

• It should be no longer than around 400 metres, which is the typical maximum distance people are willing to walk in a single trip.
• Building heights adjacent to the town centre core should not be so high that they effectively lose contact with street level. On a two lane street, an adjacent building heights of up to four storeys are considered appropriate, with taller buildings set back from the street.
• Plazas and open spaces should be small enough that they do not break the continuity of an active street front or suggest lack of use.

Accessibility and Exposure

Regional and local access is critical to success. The core of the town centre should have sufficient parking in close proximity to ensure convenient access. Location on transit routes is also important.

Integration with Surrounding Land Uses

A town centre's success lies in part on both catering to and benefiting from surrounding residents, workers and visitors. Therefore, strong physical and functional integration with surrounding land uses is a prerequisite.

Retailing

Retailing is the glue that holds a town centre together, because it is the one type of use that everyone in a town centre - residents, workers and visitors alike - will utilise. In addition to its broad appeal, retailing is a major generator of activity and therefore is essential to add vitality to the streetscape. For these reasons, the image and perceived success of the entire town centre is influenced substantially by the vitality of its retail precinct.

Retailing in a town centre precinct should have the following characteristics:

• Contain shops and services regularly required by local residents and workers, whether or not it also provides facilities appealing to a broader market.
• Include a variety of food and beverage facilities with outside seating to enhance destination appeal and animate the street.
• All shops open every day and for extended hours.
• Limited prime street frontage occupied by uses such that have specialised appeal, generate limited activity and/or are open for only limited hours. Such uses include financial institutions, niche retailers and space-consumptive civic facilities such as a library or performance space. These uses are important to the mix of facilities offered by a town centre but are better located on the edge of the town centre core.

Local Markets

Potentially the most important single factor underpinning the success of a town centre is a substantial local market. It is preferable to have a significant residential and/or worker base within or near the town centre core to generate regular demand for town centre retail, food and beverage facilities, in addition to contributing to the vitality of the precinct. Other markets within a convenient distance are also important, as it is unlikely that on-site markets are sufficient in themselves to support a wide array of shops and services in the Tweed Heads Town Centre.

Sense of Place

A sense of place or identity of a town centre is often the hardest characteristic to define, because it should be unique to each town centre. Successful places bring together most or all of the features described above, and infuse the distinct local character brought by geography, climate and the characteristics of the local market. The most successful places are those in which a variety of people meet and gather, day and night, for a variety of reasons.