Town centre living

By working together we can re-imagine our town centres to create caring places for all. 

A group of people sitting at small tables outside a cafe on a sunny day

At Architecture and Design Scotland we believe that design has the power to bring people together and make better places for everyone. We want to ensure our places are designed from the very outset to enhance lives and strengthen communities. 

Town centres are vital to our local communities in Scotland. They provide a central point for people to meet, develop economic activity, connects transportation links to neighbouring towns and offer spaces for leisure activities.  

Our town centres and housing need to address and accommodate a range of demographics and demands, allowing everyone to enjoy and make use of what is available to them. 

How we can help

If you’re involved in services, housing or planning around town centres, our case studies, blogs, and reports can help you start your journey towards:  

  • improving the quality of proposals commissioned by our public sector  
  • supporting the Scottish Government’s Housing and Town Centre Agendas 
  • promoting the ‘Town Centre First Principle’ 

We want to help you do things differently. Future-proofing our places, as best as we can, will make them better for everyone. 

An illustrative aerial view of Alva town centre. People are cycling and walking around the town centre with buildings, trees and roads.

Understanding the place-based approach for town centre living

As part of our goal of seeing the benefits of the Place Principle become an everyday reality to the way Scotland’s places are created, adapted and sustained, we’ve pulled together specific resources that focus on improving town centre living

Image credit: 3D Reid

Our work on town centre living

Town centre living requires solutions for a scope of different needs and challenges. These can include, designing for an ageing population, re-thinking opportunities for underutilised spaces and buildings, and ensuring town centre and housing plans meet government legislation.  

You can read about some of the projects we’ve been a part of to date. Work that has enabled us to inspire and support those involved in designing and shaping our places. 

An architectural drawing of a busy high street with people walking in between buildings and stalls.

Town centre living: more homes at the heart of great places report

A new report looks at the benefits and barriers to town centre living, some examples of good practice and what we can do to make more of it happen in Scotland. The report includes a number of examples of successful town centre living projects that have, or are being, delivered across Scotland, and that have broad applicability and an approach that could, at least in part, be replicated elsewhere. 

Learn more
Illustration of a park beside a road. There are people walking through the park and exercising.

A caring place: designing for the ageing population

In 2018, we held a Public Sector Client Forum event, ‘Town Centre Living: A Caring Place’, to explore issues around care and placemaking. During this event, we identified ten principles of a caring place, which can help to create more supportive and caring environments for our ageing population. These principles provide important issues to consider when thinking about our town centres, including: 

  • Support for a range of quality housing that meets older people’s needs 
  • Examples for delivery of services and environments to support older people’s health and social care needs  

Image credit: 3D Reid

Learn more

“…creating a Scotland where more people are living for longer, will require us to create an inclusive and innovative society that not only supports our older population to live healthy lives but ensures they have opportunities to participate, contribute and thrive.”

Gov.Scot

 

Why town centre living matters

This series of four spotlights examines architecture and urban design's crucial role in improving the quality of our town centres. It emphasises the significant impact and value that well-designed housing developments can bring to communities. And it explores how specialist consultants and officers can use design skills and practices to help local authorities to re-establish conditions suitable for residential communities. 

The articles feature selected projects and practitioners from the Town Centre Living and Investment Roadshows conducted in February and March 2024 and led jointly by Architecture and Design Scotland with national partner agencies Scotland’s Towns Partnership, Scottish Futures Trust and Scottish Land Commission.   

90 people from across public, private and third sector delegates were brought together for discussions around how we can adopt a place-based approach to address the challenges and opportunities for town centre living.

The event was held online following the recent Town Centre Living Investment Roadshow Event series delivered in partnership with Scotland’s Towns Partnership, Scottish Futures Trust, Architecture and Design Scotland and Scottish Land Commission.

The Place and Wellbeing Alliance focused on exploring how town centres can be revitalised through increased housing opportunities, with a positive impact on health and wellbeing, while also considering net zero goals. Here are the key takeaways.

More individuals and organisations are looking at the potential for more housing in our town centres. On 17 April 2024, we hosted a discussion about how to work together and use design to deliver liveable town centres. Guest speakers for the LinkedIn Live broadcast included Claire McArthur, Policy & Strategy Manager, Aberdeen City Council and Rory Kellett, Architect and Director of Threesixty Architecture. 

More than 200 people have taken part in a series of events to inspire and influence the drive to have more people living in Scotland’s town and city centres.

The Town Centre Living and Investment Roadshow featured five events, visiting four places with representatives of councils, community organisations, improvement districts, architects, town planners and housing associations among those taking part.

In 2023, our Principal Architects Steve Malone and Johnny Cadell featured in podcast by Scottish Housing News alongside Clackmannanshire Principle Placemaking Officer, Grant Baxter, sharing their experiences of:

  • supporting the multi-generational housing project
  • exploring the collaborative policy, design, community engagement and procurement processes
  • how the project became a catalyst for regeneration in nearby Alva and across Clackmannanshire

Midsteeple Quarter in Dumfries is a response to community-led consultation. It uncovered a consensus amongst local people, businesses, groups and agencies that a priority for a ‘future Dumfries’ is a more diverse town centre with people living in the town centre and a mix of new businesses/shops, as well as culture, leisure and services.

A row of modern terrace tenements/houses in Scotland made of multi-coloured bricks.

Housing to prioritise people

Learn about the different ways we are working with local communities and the Scottish Government to help shape what housing in the future can look and feel like.  

You can read about our support for new housing, housing to 2040, and housing typologies case studies by visiting our housing page. 

Image credit: David Butler

Learn more

Header image credit: Miss Lydia Photography

Transform your town with the whole-place collaborative approach

Gain access to supporting workshops which can create opportunities for town centre living and a range of resources of what is possible around town centre housing. 

Get in touch