Leisure, property, and the viability of town centres

Much has been written about the positive benefits associated with the growt h in town centres of leisure enterprises, particularly those associated wit h the 'evening economy'. Coinciding as it has with concerns about the futur e viability of many of these centres, the promotion of leisure and tourism businesses-and the concomitant conversion of property-has become a core str ategy for many local authorities and town-centre managers. Informed by the work of Sharon Zukin, the authors argue that, rather than reflecting the in creasing strength of urban areas, the opposite may be the case, particularl y in smaller provincial towns. Using case-study data, the authors show that , rather than compete for space, most new leisure businesses employ opportu nist strategies, colonising areas no longer required by other occupiers-whe ther retail, commercial, or industrial. As a result, they argue, the emerge nce of concentrations of leisure-based property occupiers in town centres s ignals little more than a delay in the economic restructuring of the area.