UK high streets and town centres are under pressure, but the challenge is not simply one of retail decline. In many places, the deeper problem is that high streets have become hard to govern in the public interest. Ownership is fragmented, data is partial, public capacity is thin, and decisions about places are too often removed from the people who live and work there.
Power to Change’s work on community-led regeneration starts from a different premise: communities can and do renew high streets when they can access space, shape decisions and steward assets over time.
The Community-Led High Street Innovators (CLHSI) programme tests and builds the case for this approach. Working with five community businesses across England, it explores what community-led high street regeneration looks like on the ground – and what repeatedly enables or blocks it.
This report argues that the civic high street is the right organising principle for the shift toward mixed-use, community-centred high streets – places for care, learning, enterprise, culture, connection and everyday participation. ‘The new high street playbook’ moves away from the idea of a single blueprint. Instead, it surfaces practical lessons on space, governance, finance and stewardship, showing that stronger community roles in shaping, ownership and stewardship are essential for transforming our high streets and town centres.
In the coming months, we’re developing a practical toolkit for communities and local partners. Register your interest to hear about it.