2024 Centres Study

Southampton’s centres play a vital role in providing goods and services to meet the needs of the local community whether that be day-to-day, week-to-week, city-wide or regional needs. Given their importance to the health and wellbeing of the community and general function of the city, we need to ensure their vitality and vibrancy is maintained or improved, where possible.

The Centres Study is an important evidence study which assists the Council in formulating and monitoring planning policies relating to the City, Town, District and Local Centres and is a primary data source to be used in other decisions which may impact the centres.

The Centres Study includes data and analysis related to the mix of uses in each centre, vacancy rates and footfall data, where available. It also includes recommendations on improving the mix of uses in centres and identifies areas with high vacancy rates which may require intervention.

Consideration is also given to levels of ‘unhealthy’ uses present, such as hot food takeaways and gambling outlets, that do not support healthy behaviours, the aim being to monitor current levels and change over time which can also then feed into policy, projects and decisions.