RetaiLink discuss in Pécs how to adapt regulation and improve mobility to enhance shopping in medium-sized cities
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25 September 2017More than 50 representatives from 10 european cities celebrated the 4th meeting of the URBACT RetaiLink project recently in Pécs, Hungary. Their goal was to explore together how cities can use mobility and regulation to assist the revitalisation of their local shops. The event took place from 7th to 9th June and gathered urban practitioners, architects, property managers, retailers and local authorities from countries as Hungary, Italy, Spain, France, Czech Republic, Romania, United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Croatia. The 10 cities participated in the workshops and conferences and took part in the exchange of ideas, good practices and solutions.
Sharing problems and solutions
During the first part of the meeting, the different cities compared the regulation framework in their cities, identified challenges and solutions, and discussed how to maximise the potential benefits of regulation in favour of retail.
The second part focused on mobility solutions to link different areas with the city centre. Wessel Badenhorst, councillor in Dublin for 10 years and Lead Expert from an URBACT network called City Centre Doctor, was in charge of that session.
He emphasized the need to “change citizen’s attitude” and to “create a new culture if we want to change urban mobility in our city centre”. Mr. Badenhorst’s proved that cities are becoming less car-dependent and that there is an increasing negative perception to car use, particularly in big metropolis.
During the meeting, RetaiLink members also discovered Pécs’ city centre with a study visit to the retail and hospitality district, the Market Hall, and the Zolnay Arts district. Péter Merza, CEO of Pécs Urban Development Company, introduced the city in its historical and regional context.
After the visit, the participants suggested some fresh ideas to Pécs to increase the visitors’ flows to the city centre and interlink the different areas. Some propositions were to link areas were bike lanes or reallocating busy road space to fast public transport (either tram or BRT system). Other ideas shared by the partners were to convert some buildings of the renewed Zolnay ceramic factory area into housing and fill them with convenient shops.
From ideas to actions
At the end of the meeting, there was a session to assist each partner in the process of turning their project objectives into actions, and another to follow-up the development of each city’s communication strategy.
Submitted by Anna Suarez on