Steve Millington

Mundane mobilities, banal travels

All of us are caught up in banal or mundane mobilities, whether it is the walk to the bus stop and catching the bus to town, the daily commute by train to work, the trip by car to the supermarket, the cycle ride to school or the holiday visit to a tourist attraction. What makes these everyday voyages mundane is their commonplace and regular occurrence, so they are not generally conceived as extraordinary or special trips through time and space but are enmeshed with the familiar worlds we inhabit, constituting part of the unreflexive, habitual practice of everyday life. We believe that this focus upon the banal or mundane dimensions of mobility is timely with regard to recent claims that have been made about the expansion of mobilities through technological and social developments and the ways in which people increasingly coordinate their activities in new and complicated ways under conditions of accelerating and expanding journeys through space and time. This ‘mobility turn’ or ‘new mobilities paradigm’ has appositely identified the flows which make up the spatial and social complexity of the expanding, variegated relationships between people and places and critiqued static, bounded conceptions of place, space and belonging. While we welcome their timely critique of geographical sedentarism, Sheller and Urry somewhat hyperbolically claim that ‘all the world seems to be on the move’ despite the fact that movement has always been endemic to social life. They exemplify their claim by identifying the large-scale travel of the likes of tourists, migrants and business people, implying that contemporary mobility is distinctive by virtue of its trans-national characteristics (Sheller and Urry 2006: 207). Yet while they warn against the hyperbolic tendencies that overstress disembedding and deterritorialization processes without acknowledging the ways in which ‘all mobilities entail specific, often highly embedded and immobile infrastructures’ (2006: 210), the examples they discuss tend to focus upon the spatially extensive movements across the planet rather Social & Cultural Geography, Vol. 8, No. 2, April 2007

Blackpool Illuminations: revaluing local cultural production, situated creativity and working-class values

This paper investigates how particular class-oriented, mediatised discourses about Blackpool Illuminations negatively stereotype the resort as ‘devoid of good taste’. Moreover, conventions of design-led regeneration reflect the dispositions of those members of the creative class who articulate abstract understandings about ‘good design’ and marginalise practices that do not conform to these aesthetics. With recent proposals to upgrade the Illuminations as part of broader regeneration strategies, the authors contend that these negative depictions ignore the situated expertise that undergirds the long-standing, overwhelmingly local production of the Illuminations and take no account of the cultural values regular visitors espouse in their positive evaluations. This paper argues that planners, designers and policy-makers need to take account of local, vernacular creativities and specific cultural practices in devising cultural policies in order to avoid homogeneous cultural provision and design.

Improving the vitality and viability of the UK High Street by 2020: Identifying priorities and a framework for action

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to document the results and the impact of the ESRC-funded High Street UK 2020 (HSUK2020), a project designed to take the existing academic knowledge relating to retail and high street change directly to UK High Streets, to improve local decision-making and, ultimately, their vitality and viability. Design/methodology/approach Through a systematic literature review, and by following the tenets of engaged scholarship, the authors identified 201 factors that influence the vitality and viability of town centres. Through the consensus-building Delphi technique, a panel of 20 retail experts identified the top 25 priorities for action. Findings Taking a place management approach led to the development of a more strategic framework for regeneration, which consisted of repositioning, reinventing, rebranding and restructuring strategies (4R’s of regeneration). Collaboration with the project towns resulted in identification of the strategy area that would add the most value, and the impact of the 4R’s and the top 25 priorities is demonstrated via numerous town examples. Originality/value Knowledge exchange projects, such as High Street UK2020, have an important contribution to make, not by developing even more theory that is unlikely to get utilised, instead their contribution is to bring existing theory into practical use.

Repositioning the high street: evidence and reflection from the UK

Purpose Drawing on evidence from ten towns (across England, Wales and Northern Ireland) participating in the High Street UK 2020 (HSUK2020) project, the purpose of this paper is to reveal how local stakeholders involved in place management respond to high street decline through a strategy of repositioning. Design/methodology/approach This paper identifies the challenges faced by the towns considering repositioning, and highlights examples of good practice of relevance to the practitioners. First, it outlines the perspectives on repositioning from the academic research and theory, before drawing on evidence from across ten UK towns that participated in the HSUK2020 project, to reveal how repositioning involves more than just taking a snapshot profile of a place. Findings The research revealed major challenges faced by local stakeholders in clearly identifying and communicating their market position, in particular, the maintenance of up-to-date information on catchments was lacking at all the locations. Despite having local knowledge and some data, stakeholders still did not possess a clear (or shared) understanding of the identity or function of their towns. This evidence reflects the complexity of analysing and understanding repositioning and developing coherent strategies. Practical implications Knowledge exchange between stakeholders involved in place management can help inform the identification of new strategic objectives, appropriate interventions and project planning and delivery. Where resources are limited, particularly in smaller towns and settlements, the research demonstrates the significance of collecting and sharing data and analysis with other stakeholders, because this can generate positive outcomes for all. Originality value By offering empirical evidence based on the experience of local practitioners, this paper provides valuable insight into how town centre stakeholders collect, interpret and analyse data, revealing the challenges, opportunities and practicalities involved in developing and implementing repositioning strategies.

Shopping districts and centres, markets, neighbourhoods, public squares, and urban gardens: Reflecting upon place management practice in Berlin

The Study Trip to Berlin was the first of its kind to be organised by the Institute of Place Management. Sixteen delegates from eight countries (Australia, Brazil, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Singapore and UK) met in Berlin to participate in an intensive programme of lectures, visits and discussions. The idea behind this format, one of the educational courses of the IPM, is to offer new insights, but also to facilitate knowledge exchange between members. It is one of the guiding principles of the Institute that we investigate challenges and provide answers in the specificity of place and support people in places. Consequently, a series of visits were arranged to explore not just the management of different areas of Berlin, but also different types and approaches to place management.

What's in a Name? Exploring the Nomenclature of Science Communication in the UK.

This study, via a consideration of the literature, and a limited survey of active science communicators, presents concise and workable definitions for science outreach, public engagement, widening participation, and knowledge exchange, in a UK context. Sixty-six per cent of participants agreed that their definitions of outreach, public engagement, and widening participation aligned with those of their colleagues, whilst 64% felt that their personal definitions matched those of their institute. However, closer inspection of the open-ended questions found the respondents often differed in the use of the nomenclature. In particular, the respondents found it difficult to define knowledge exchange in this context. It is hoped that this initial study will form the foundation of future work in this area, and that it will help to further develop the debate regarding the need for a consistent nomenclature across science communication.

Scalar tensions in urban toponymic inscription: The corporate (re)naming of football stadia

ABSTRACT This article examines issues of scale in urban toponymic inscription. The specific focus of inquiry is toponymic commodification, whereby corporate brand names of international scope are imposed on English football stadia and their locally embedded fan communities. We employ primary data relating to three football clubs in the Greater Manchester conurbation, all of which have sold their stadium naming rights to corporate entities. Drawing on fans’ perspectives, our findings initially surface the scalar tensions arising from such occurrences. We explore how football club authorities attempt to manage these tensions; first through efforts to embed corporate names into the fabric of urban communities, and second by using commemoration to valorize notions of the “local” for their fan base. The article concludes by discussing how our findings deepen understanding of critical toponymies, particularly in terms of theorizing scale and shedding light on the workings of neoliberal agendas for controlling urban space.

Learning from Blackpool Promenade: Re-enchanting sterile streets:

In this article, the authors contend that contemporary urban streets are over-regulated, preoccupied with surveillance, commercial requirements and rapid transit, aesthetically homogeneous and sensually sterile. As an exemplary site of contrast, the article focuses on the recently redesigned Blackpool Promenade. First, it argues that this redesign honours the resort’s popular traditions, its potent heritage and the importance of innovation. Second, it explores how the promenade fosters playful interactions, conviviality and lingering. Third, the article focuses on sensory attributes that enhance the experience of promenaders.