PROPERTY FEATURE
HOW HAVE MIXED-USE DEVELOPMENTS CHANGED UK CITIES?
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ixed-use developments are becoming prominent and increasingly iconic parts of cities across the UK – but how are they different? Are they having a positive impact and what does the future hold for them? Business Leader investigates.
Wapping Wharf - Bristol Wood Wharf - London
With ongoing issues affecting the high street, affordable housing and the environment – could mixed-use developments provide solutions to these challenges? In the UK, these developments are creating ‘destinations’, improving the local economy and repurposing abandoned or disused areas into urban, multi-purpose districts. What are mixed-use developments? The idea can be summarised as destinations predominantly found outside city centres, where retail, working and housing environments are all set within the same development. However, an increasing number of these are regenerating city centres too. With the hyper-competitive clamour for premium development spaces across the country, mixed-use has been hailed as the perfect alternative to purely retail or housing developments – and with the ongoing difficulties each industry is facing, this type of development can create an ecosystem where retail, working spaces and housing can support each other.
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March - April 2020
