Research Programme
The NRPF research programme is mostly generated from conclusions of the Forum's seminar and plenary sessions or recommendations set out in earlier research reports.
Research proposals that fit the Forum's objectives and capabilities are examined by specially convened steering groups drawn from NRPF members, academia, key firms involved in retail planning, and associated organisations such as RICS. Many proposals are better suited to bodies such as the ESRC, universities or consultancies, to whose attention they are drawn.
Each steering group commissions scoping papers to identify and specify what research should be undertaken. The scoping papers are subjected to review and consultation before research proposals are drawn up, funding is raised and research commissions placed. Once a piece of research has been completed, the cycle starts over again.
Current Projects
Before & after studies
A group has been formed to look at how Retail Impact Assessments can be made more accurate and reliable, given the likely removal of the needs test. The group is currently working to identify available case studies and to highlight good practice.
As part of this, IKEA have kindly agreed to make available 'before and after' studies commissioned for their stores which update the surveys carried out when permission was initially applied to find out what the actual impacts of opening have been and so giving an indication of the accuracy of the initial studies:
Forecasting sales trends and retail floorspace needs
There are important changes taking place in how and where people shop. It is clear that the right kinds of floorspace are not currently in the right places but the relationship between floorspace and sales trends appears to be complex. Work will attempt to better understand this.
Regional and local scale planning for retail
The new system of Regional Spatial Strategies and Local Development Frameworks is now established. How well do the different RSSs address retail planning and do they bridge the gap between national policy and the detailed policies of Local Development Documents?
Consistency in retail data
Since URPI in the mid-1990s there has been no accepted central source for retail planning information, with differences in the definitions used by different data suppliers, and inconsistencies within data sets even from the same supplier.
There would be significant advantages for retail planning, benefiting local planning authorities and the private sector, if a new set of definitions was prepared and widely adopted by data suppliers and users. The NRPF is ideally placed to publish and maintain such definitions on behalf of its members and data users generally.
A working group has been formed to develop and promulgate such a set of consistent definitions.
Independent, secondary and local retailing
The independent retail sector is both highly disparate and little understood. More information is needed about the sector, but also suggested policy strategies to ensure it continues to thrive. Earlier work by the NRPF on Secondary Shopping will help to inform this work, which is also relevant to planning for retail in new sustainable housing developments or eco-towns, where old models e.g. from the New Towns programme will not work.
The dynamics of town centre retailing
This ESRC Collaborative (CASE) Studentship in collaboration with the Centre for Adavanced Spatial Analysis at Universtity College London commenced in 2005. Read the project brief here.
Previous work
Recent work has included studies of linked trips and sales density definitions. Published reports are available.
Scoping Papers
Each scoping paper is the sole responsibility of its authors, but the commissioning statement prepared by the Steering Group is included in an appendix.
Contact us for more information.
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