Reimagining the UK’s Failing Shopping Centres: A New Vision for Vibrant Town Centres

Across the UK, shopping centres are in decline. Changing retail habits, online shopping, and economic pressures have caused most small and mid-sized malls to struggle with vacant units and dwindling footfall. But these failing retail spaces present a great opportunity: through design innovation and community-centred placemaking, they can be repurposed into lively town centres that serve different needs and bring communities back to urban centres.

Traditional shopping centres were designed for a single purpose – shopping. Today’s town centres require a new purpose and a mix of uses to remain relevant and profitable. These spaces can, however, be reimagined by blending residential, commercial, cultural, and social amenities to create places that people want to visit, not just for shopping but for living, working, and leisure.

Housing-led regeneration can play a significant role, transforming upper storeys or vacant department stores into high-quality apartments, including affordable and co-living options. Former retail spaces are also well-suited to creative and flexible workspace, health and wellness hubs, community centres, or learning and daycare facilities, ensuring activity throughout the day and evening.

Masterplanning these spaces must focus on walkability, connectivity, community and nature – transforming inward-facing malls into outward-facing, permeable town centres that encourage movement, serendipity and a social life in real rather than ‘virtual’ space.

Adaptive reuse can see former car parks turned into mobility hubs, rooftop spaces converted into urban gardens, and underutilised corridors repurposed into cycle lanes and pedestrianised spaces. Technology plays a role: smart building systems improve energy efficiency, while mixed-reality experiences can create interactive cultural attractions, drawing new visitors to the space.

Demolition may be an option in some places, but not all the time and not everywhere. It is preferable for these failing shopping centres to be retrofit and repurposed in a way that is cost-effective, sustainable and of benefit to the local economy. By reusing existing structures, we reduce embodied carbon while speeding up regeneration. Fresh and inventive design solutions can introduce biophilic elements – green walls, rooftop gardens, and natural ventilation – turning cold, artificial environments into healthier, more inviting spaces.

We also need to make these places more distinctive and a truer reflection of their local markets and communities. The most successful regeneration projects put people at the heart of placemaking. Traditional top-down masterplanning must give way to genuine community involvement, allowing local voices to shape the vision for these new town centres. Cookie-cutter replication was great for efficiency when we were producing these places in bulk and at speed. But we can only fix them one-by-one. We need to make these places a true and distinctive reflection of their communities again.

Flexible, ground-floor spaces can be designed for pop-up markets, independent businesses, and local cultural events—fostering a sense of place and ownership. Meanwhile, public spaces should be prioritised over vast retail footprints, incorporating parks, performance areas, and social meeting points that create a lively and inclusive atmosphere.

In Stockton-on-Tees, the Castlegate Shopping Centre is being replaced by a riverside park and civic plaza at the heart of a reimagined town centre. In Runcorn, Halton Lea has become the focus of a health-led regeneration initiative, with NHS partners using vacant retail space for community diagnostics and wellbeing services. Internationally, the Galleria in Dallas, Texas – a once-struggling suburban mall – has pivoted towards a mix of co-working, residential and cultural uses, showing how even formulaic mall formats can adapt with imagination. These projects reflect a growing understanding that the future of town centres lies in diversity, local relevance and social life – not just retail.

‘Flexibility’ and ‘adaptability’ should be our watchwords from now on. We’ve always talked about mixed-use development; lately we find ourselves talking about ‘extreme mixed use’ – places that are built to change over time. For these buildings to last for 100 years, we need to accept that their purpose and use may change every 10 or 20.

Failing shopping centres should not be seen as liabilities, but as opportunities for reinvention. By embracing design innovation, mixed-use thinking, and community-centred placemaking, we can transform these struggling retail spaces into vibrant, adaptable town centres—ones that not only meet the needs of today but are resilient for the future.