A new report reveals that shoppers that walk and wheel spend more than those arriving by car, offering a transformative lifeline for Scotland’s struggling high streets.
The findings, recently published by Living Streets, the UK charity for everyday walking, come at a critical juncture for British high streets, with a record number of retail failures in 2022 and a vacancy rate of nearly one in seven by the end of 2023.
This third edition of The Pedestrian Pound Report demonstrates the significant economic and social benefits of investing in walkable town centres, challenging traditional views on urban accessibility.
The launch of the report is backed by Scotland’s national walking charity, Paths for All, underscoring the need to make walking a central feature of Scotland’s high streets.
However, the research presents compelling evidence that investing in walkable spaces can reverse this trend.
“Making high streets and town centres more walkable increases time – and money – spent in those businesses,” says Catherine Woodhead, Chief Executive of Living Streets. “It’s slowly being recognised – the majority (95%) of London’s Business Improvement Districts identify a good walking environment as important to business performance.”
The report highlights encouraging data from Scottish towns, such as Nairn, where public space improvements and community events have significantly bolstered foot traffic.
In 2022, a Christmas event in the town drew 7,800 attendees, including 600 new visitors, while a classic car show in 2023 attracted over 10,000, with 80 per cent saying they would return even outside of events.
Kevin Lafferty, Chief Executive of Paths for All, emphasised the broader benefits: “These findings show that when we put people first and make walking and wheeling the easiest, most natural choices, we don’t just get an economic boost – we build communities that are happier, healthier, and more sustainable for everyone.”
The report highlights that 85 per cent of Scottish adults walk or wheel regularly, contributing to both economic and health benefits.
In Scotland alone, the health benefits from walking to work are valued at over £600 million annually in prevented deaths. Community-focused initiatives, such as the Alloa Hub, are proving successful in encouraging residents to travel into town centres, with research showing that 56p of every £1 spent in community businesses stays in the local economy.
The report is timely, with investment in active and sustainable transport cut by £23.7 million by the Scottish Government this September. The Pedestrian Pound provides an excellent case for these vital funds to be restored.
Over 3,000 deaths are attributable to physical inactivity in Scotland[1], and significant health disparities persist between affluent and deprived areas. The report stresses that continued investment in walkable spaces is essential to bridge these divides.
As Scotland pursues bold initiatives like 20-minute neighbourhoods and enhanced town centre regeneration, the report offers evidence that accessible, vibrant community spaces serve as hubs for retail, culture, and wellbeing.
Scottish Case Studies
- Nairn
Nairn, a small market town on the Moray Firth, is the second largest settlement in the highlands. This former fishing community has seen an influx of new visitors following the development of a business improvement district (BID) – which aimed to attract people to the town and improve the public realm.
The BID ran annual events such as a Christmas switch-on and a classic car rally, alongside delivering improvements including traffic controls, installing 30 benches and creating an accessible path around the harbour.
Of the 7,800 people at the 2022 Countdown to Christmas, 600 were new visitors. More than 10,000 people were attracted by the 2023 car show, with more than 80% of those surveyed saying they would return to Nairn even without an event to attend.
- Campbeltown
Campbeltown, a small rural town on Scotland’s west coast, faced significant economic challenges by the 1990s following the closure of major employers including its RAF base, shipyard, and clothing factory. The resulting unemployment, depopulation, and lack of investment led to widespread building deterioration and community despondency. However, in 2005, a public-sector consortium led by Argyll and Bute Council initiated a comprehensive regeneration strategy that would transform the town’s fortunes.
The cornerstone of the regeneration was a £13m investment programme, combining £3.4m in public grants with £9.5m in private, public, and third-sector match funding. This funded over 230 grants for property improvements, benefiting approximately 30 commercial and 60 residential premises, including 75 shopfront upgrades. This included the conversion of derelict buildings into community assets, such as transforming the former town hall into a community hub, converting an old schoolhouse into a backpackers’ hostel, and renovating the Picture House cinema. The programme was complemented by community training events that equipped nearly 300 local trades people with traditional building maintenance skills.
The results have been transformative. Vacant units in the town centre dropped from 20 in 2010 to just 3 in 2021, while 20 new businesses opened between 2018 and 2022. An economic impact evaluation in 2020 revealed that the renovated spaces created 51 new permanent jobs and 114 temporary construction positions, generating £2.4 million in annual gross GVA. The community’s response has been overwhelmingly positive, with 90% of surveyed residents saying the regeneration had improved Campbeltown, and 90% of businesses reporting transformative effects on their operations.
- Alloa
When Clackmannanshire Council acquired a former department store site in Alloa town centre, they took an innovative approach by partnering with Kingdom Housing Association to develop Primrose Place, a multi-generational housing complex for older, physically disabled, and learning-disabled residents. Rather than adding to the existing vacant retail units, the council engaged in extensive community consultation using the Place Standard Tool, gathering input from over 300 people including residents, businesses, and stakeholders from various sectors to ensure the development would meet community needs.
The consultation process identified five key priorities for improving the town’s accessibility and safety: creating the Alloa Hub from a former public toilet, improving pedestrian navigation to the High Street, remodelling Bank Street’s public space, ensuring safe access across King Street, and enhancing the pedestrian route to Forth Valley College.
The resulting Primrose Place development features 60 purpose-built flats designed with dementia-friendly features, including generous corridors for mobility aids, color-coded floors, and mobility scooter charging facilities. Additionally, local shops participated in dementia-friendly training to better serve the new residents.
The Alloa Hub has become a vibrant community centre hosting various activities and local crafts, while the development has boosted local businesses, with only one retail unit remaining empty on Primrose Street. The success has encouraged the council to expand town centre living initiatives and continue using the Place Standard Tool for future community development projects.
- Dundee, Stobswell
In Dundee’s Stobswell neighbourhood, Albert Street serves as a local centre characterised by independent retailers and high-density tenement housing, with a significant population of ethnic minorities and older residents. The street, while a major transport corridor, faced challenges with heavy traffic and parking demands. Several side streets had previously been closed to traffic at their Albert Street end, creating continuous footways but resulting in spaces mostly occupied by parked cars.
In response, Dundee City Council partnered with Stobswell Forum, a local community charity, to transform five neighbourhood locations through permanent streetscape changes. The improvements included adding colourful elements like trees, murals, and light projectors; installing seating and cycle parking; implementing traffic-calming measures; and creating rain gardens for flood prevention. A highlight was the conversion of Craigie Street’s dead end into a pocket park with a sophisticated drainage system capable of handling extreme weather events.
The project has yielded significant positive outcomes in terms of community empowerment and participation. The absence of vandalism suggests strong community pride in the new spaces, and local students are now using these areas for socialising. The success has sparked further community-led initiatives, including additional murals and plans for another pocket park.
