allows people to stay within their local areas with everything at their fingertips.168 Moreover, it has been said ‘introducing new homes close to local transport links will create a thriving, sustainable community that encourages people to spend time here’, the core argument is the easier it is for people to travel to the high street, it will in turn perform better169, also supporting the 'build build build' law of 2020.170 By providing planning around everything being in close proximity it coincides with the suggestions and findings proposed by Shaw and the House of Commons,171 as well as the importance of community that continues to be reiterated.
Benefits of Repair Cafes In 2009, Marine Potsdam launched Repair Cafés the ‘community driven’172 initiative in Amsterdam, with its essence ‘rooted in old- style skills’.173 There is a relatively small body of literature concerned with Repair Cafes but what is available is paramount to understanding their future role. This is a refreshing movement towards community cohesions as Kannengießer expressed ‘while repairing is an old practice, what is new is that the act of repairing becomes public in repair cafes’.174 The core ideals are translated by Hickman, being ‘a place where locals can sit back, relax and enjoy a coffee or tea while they have their toaster oven fixed’, additionally, Hickman considers the initiative a hybrid between beloved European Café culture and repairing, a
‘Health on the High Street: Embedding healthy living into urban regeneration after the pandemic’, Social Market Foundation, 2021, https://www.smf.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/ 2021/01/Health-on-the-high-street-January-21.pdf (Accessed 21st June 2021) 168
‘New firm launches with vision to 'save UK high streets’’, Property Funds World, 2021, https:// www.propertyfundsworld.com/2021/05/24/300731/new-firm-launches-vision-save-uk-highstreets (Accessed 17th June 2021) 169
Build, Build, Build, GOV.UK, 2020, https://www.gov.uk/government/news/pm-build-build-build (Accessed 7th June 2021) 170
A, Shaw, ‘How to save the UK's crisis-hit High Streets’, BBC, 2020, https://www.bbc.co.uk/ news/business-51094109 (Accessed 7th June 2021) and ‘Where will the high street be in 2030?’, House of Commons, 2019, https://houseofcommons.shorthandstories.com/hclg-committee-highstreets-2030-report/index.html? utm_source=twittercard1&utm_medium=twitter&utm_content=paid (Accessed 21st June 2021) 171
T, Coggins, ‘In Amsterdam, Repair Cafés are a Thing', The Culture Trip, 2017, https:// theculturetrip.com/europe/the-netherlands/articles/in-amsterdam-repair-cafes-are-a-thing/ (Accessed 17th June 2021) 172
F, Harari, ’Serving up old-school skills’, The Australian, 2019, https:// www.theaustralian.com.au/weekend-australian-magazine/repair-cafes-serve-up-oldschool-skills/ news-story/bb0188113abb3ed3512191cf3df0dac4 (Accessed 17th June 2021) 173
S, Kannengießer ‘Repair Cafés as Communicative Figurations: Consumer-Critical Media Practices for Cultural Transformation'. In: A, Hepp A, Breiter U, Hasebrink (eds) Communicative Figurations. Transforming Communications – Studies in Cross-Media Research. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham 2018, . https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-65584-0_5 174
28