Editor’s letter
Published: 22 July, 2010
The decision by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport to impose a Grade II listing on thecentre:mk, despite intensive lobbying by the centre’s owners and the wider retail and property industries, underlines the complex and at times uneasy role malls play in our towns.
Yes thecentre:mk is a retail machine, and yes it’s an investment property - and arguably listing will have an impact on its ability to fulfil both those roles. But it’s more than that as well: it was built to be the social and commercial hub of the UK’s only new city and as such it holds a unique place in the evolution of shopping centre design in Europe.
Of course shopping centres are someone’s property - in this case ultimately the pensioners in funds managed by Hermes and the Pru. And free marketeers would argue the listing is a restriction on the owners’ property rights.
But malls also play a public role as meeting places and even as architectural flagships for towns and cities, and the listing reflects this.
Inevitably the owners and occupiers will face some cost and inconvenience. after the listing. But as the Victoria Quarter in Leeds has proved, listed status is no impediment to a successful retail environment.
Graham Parker
Editor
Shopping Centre
