The 2012 Scotland’s Towns conference sought to build on recent major milestones for Scotland’s national debate on our towns and town centres including the Town Centre Review led my Malcolm Fraser and a review panel which includes Diarmaid Lawlor of A+DS. The Review aims to spearhead action on the future for Scotland’s town centres.

The conference brought together a range of speakers and participants from across Scotland to embrace the diversity and enthusiasm required to bring the change needed in Scotland’s places and looked at how we might intitate a cultural change in understanding in what the high street could be – beyond just retail; how we create a ‘framework for mess’ – a model which allows different people the freedom to do things; creating the conditions for locally driven solutions.

A+DS, with Urban Policy Researcher Dr. Carol McKenzie, have produced a short report on the event. The paper is part of a series of reports on recent events which focus on the regeneration of Scotland’s towns:

Scottish Retail Consortium – Beyond Retail

Royal Town Planning Institute – Town Centres and Low Carbon Economy

Built Environment Forum Scotland – Small Town’s Futures

Centre for Local Economic Strategies, Neil McElroy – Economic Resilience