Mobility and immobility: the unequal politics of transportation

Treacle Market Macclesfied
Treacle Market Macclesfield

By Prof Ares Kalandides

A version of this blog post has been submitted as written evidence to the ‘Health of the bus market’ inquiry currently being run by UK Parliament’s Transport Committee https://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/transport-committee/inquiries/parliament-2017/health-of-bus-market-17-19/

The Treacle Market takes place on the last Sunday of each month in the Cheshire town of Macclesfield, UK. Over 160 stalls sell local delicacies, vintage clothes, antiques and handicrafts. The streets of Macclesfield bustle with life, attracting people from towns and villages in the area. However, this regionally important event recently received a serious blow: in April 2018 the partly subsided bus services in Cheshire East – run by Arriva, a subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn (German Rail), the latter property of the German state[1] – were reorganized, with the result that villages were left without connecting buses on week-day evenings and all day on Sunday.

“As IPM research has shown, accessibility is the number 1 factor affecting town centre vitality and viability. For many communities, the local bus service is imperative. Especially for people with mobility issues. What may be considered as edge of town to someone who is able-bodied is not walkable for others.”

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Meet the IPM: Interview with Luke Mirfin

Luke MirfinLuke Mirfin, an Associate Member of the Institute of Place Management, has worked for local government since 2004. He started as a Caretaker before transferring to the Markets department as an Assistant Market Officer, progressing to Market Officer and becoming a member of Hyde Town Team. Some of the areas he has been involved with include the complete redevelopment of Hyde Outdoor Market, launching a new Farmers’ market at Tameside Hospital, which has just won a 2016 national NABMA award for “Market Innovation Of The Year”, alongside the daily running and management of 2 indoor markets, 2 outdoor markets, 3 farmers’ markets and new speciality markets including Artisan and events. Continue reading “Meet the IPM: Interview with Luke Mirfin”

Markets Matter: Reviewing the evidence & detecting the market effect

 

Berwick_street_market_1

Executive Summary

At the request of the National Association of British Market Authorities and, as part of the High Street UK2020 project, we have conducted a comprehensive review of the published evidence demonstrating, unequivocally, that markets contribute to the economic, social and political health of towns and cities. We have also conducted analyses of large footfall datasets, provided by Springboard, to show that markets add to the vitality of specific centres. Finally, we show how markets act as important catalysts for change in town and city centres. These are the 25 most important reasons why markets matter, identified in this report.

[You can download the full report from the IPM site]

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