“The development of city center commerce cannot be reduced to the pursuit of a commercial objective”

CIn recent decades, commerce in city centers has been greatly weakened. In 2016, a report of the general inspection of finances highlighted this situation, prompting the State to launch, in 2018, the national urban renovation program called “Heart of the City”, intended in particular for medium-sized cities. There was all the more urgency for the State to act as, after having been confronted with competition from large supermarkets on the outskirts, city center businesses then had to face the growth of online commerce, which was accelerated by the Covid-19 crisis.

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Although the State has recently taken up the issue, many communities have implemented less publicized initiatives since the beginning of the 2000s, which aimed to revitalize their businesses in the city center. We have sometimes seen a desire to transform the city center into an “open-air shopping center”. In the United Kingdom, in the 1990s, so-called “developing” initiatives town center management » have spread, which aimed, in a word, to fight against the commercial vacancy rate in cities through policies consisting of attracting large brands there.

However, the development of city center commerce does not necessarily mean the disappearance of small businesses in favor of large brands, and is not reduced to the pursuit of a commercial objective. A study conducted as part of the opening of Reims Commerce shows the diversity of logics for revitalizing city center businesses.

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These localized strategies are sometimes accompanied by the hiring of people who are dedicated to the redevelopment of city centers: city center managers. This name actually covers a group of experts with different backgrounds and visions. We can find common points there: monitoring of the vacancy rate, commitment to traders, craftsmen and sometimes artists, detailed knowledge of the local economic and political fabric, partnerships with trader associations, concern for organization urban city center. Beyond professional practices, it is above all the meeting of traders and the interest in their city which allows these actors to succeed in the revitalization of their city center.

Renewed experience

These experts, in addition to their knowledge of the local economic fabric, are capable of working with strong budgetary constraints and adapting in changing and sometimes conflicting public environments (between the region and the municipality for example). They manage to bring together all the city’s services by sometimes making their workplace a one-stop shop dedicated to traders. It is then a question of showing commitment to traders by simplifying access to the various administrative services. The opening of a “commerce office”, located in the city center, becomes the nodal point which facilitates contact with traders as well as their customers, and makes it possible to show that the city and the region support their activities.

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