convenience goods and services, and fashion, with brands in their own units rather than part of a major store, as well as local basket food shopping, local products and a properly rounded offer. This offer will likely require smaller retail units. St. Patrick’s Street in particular could stand to benefit from this with a predominance of historic buildings containing smaller units. While retail sits at the core, there are many other uses that will complement it, including food and beverage, leisure, cafés from which people can work, gyms, community uses, health and wellbeing amenities. There will potentially be an increase in the amount of residential and employment space, bringing people back into the heart of our centres. 7.98 The development of the public realm is a key factor in creating and supporting a vibrant City Centre. Cork City Council’s investment in pedestrianisation in the City Centre and the trend towards outdoor dining, brought to the fore during the pandemic, is a welcome development. Centres will need to offer a truly rounded social and cultural experience which include pop-up events, market stalls, retail promotions and street entertainment, making sure there is always something new to see when people visit. Careful thought needs to be given to how the public realm is activated, ensuring that cafés and restaurants can spill out with their tables and chairs. Live uses at ground floor level promote activity onto the public realm. New complementary uses need to be planned for those areas where retail used to exist, creating a sense of community. The ambition will be to create centres that are authentic, with their own strong sense of place which the public will respond to. Investing in the Night-time Economy, which encourages uses into the evening and that cater for all will also be encouraged. Further details on this are included in the City Centre section in Chapter 10.
Monitoring Retail Trends
7.94 The Retail Planning Guidelines (2012) advise the relevant planning authorities to regularly monitor trends in their area and update retail policies if appropriate. Cork City Council will monitor large retail permissions and review changes in population targets that may be carried out during the lifetime of the Plan to identify any policy adjustments required. It may also be necessary to review policy in light of the changing nature of the retail sector to ensure the vibrancy and vitality of the various centres.
Vibrant, Mixed-use Centres
7.95 Enhancing the vitality and viability of the City Centre and other centres is key to maintaining vibrancy into the future. While the decline in the requirement for physical retail space was in place prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, the many changes it has generated have served to help us understand how these centres should operate in the future. It is clear that the growth in online shopping will continue to increase, with new generations embracing this format. 7.96 Many centres have performed better than expected during the pandemic because people have stayed local. While retail will always sit at the core of these centres’ function, city and town centres are turning more towards their original functions as places where people live, work, shop and socialise in the same location. 7.97 Cork City Centre has retained a large number of independent retailers, which is a major asset considering the decline of department stores, large multiples and certain brands. In order to be successful the physical retail offer will need to differentiate itself from that on the internet and will become heavily orientated towards providing for
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Cork City Draft Development Plan 2022-2028
Volume 1 I Chapter 7
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