Not until strangers become locals: physical and digitally savvy markers of high streets

Abstract

As our physical and abstract worlds have increasingly become entangled, their relationship in our high streets has become more unsettled. “Networks are all edges… we thought there were windows but actually they’re mirrors” (Aranda, Wood, & Vidokle, 2015). In the unfolding drama around high street sustainability we have persisted with the wrong business model; shaped by retail and clouded by the digital. High streets need room to compete, to reshape to local market forces and localized profits. Because one thing is certain. Retailers will always return. Especially to strong community-driven demand. This study will look at three complementary visually driven ideas: spatial diversity, urban markers, and spatial culture; in the context of previously documented case studies and The Preston Model. The keys we need to the top, middle, and bottom padlocks on the door to the future of our high streets are use and scale, business footprint, and visual sense.