Fenalla Keevil - Geography
Fenella Keevil
Conclusions
Aggregating the „traffic light‟ summary of findings in table 2 (page 26) Princesshay had an
overall positive impact upon Exeter.
Princesshay succeeded in creating employment, having an immediate positive impact after
opening. Although creating circa 1,500 jobs, they cannot all be classed as additional applying
the four factors (substitution, displacement, extent of economic multiplier effect and
leakages) behind Additionality. However, measures were put in place to ensure that the jobs
created became additional jobs.
Princesshay created an expanded economic hub in and around Exeter, resulting in economic
multiplier effects and lowering the degree of leakage. Further investigation would be needed
to quantify these impacts numerically.
Investor confidence improved, leading to a positive feedback loop of investments, keeping
vacancy rates low and footfall counts high during a recession. The initial negative effect on
vacancy rates was only short term. Longer term, improvements in investor confidence will
outweigh short term negativity.
Princesshay has enhanced the central environment in Exeter. Creation of new public squares
and general aesthetic improvements, incorporating the old City, was successful, increasing
visitors longer term, counteracting the declines that would otherwise have occurred.
Although the local environment may have been impacted detrimentally by congestion,
measures to combat this have been effective. Any negative impacts of congestion are
outweighed by the positive economic impacts and the mitigating measures that have been
taken, such as the Park and Ride scheme. They have also led to improvements in public space
and the public transport infrastructure in Exeter.
It is always difficult to research the actual impacts of a project, compared to looking at
theories because it is difficult to identify how a single variable factor can affect so many other
variables in the long term. The financial crisis which took hold in 2008 affected all of the data
and so made it more difficult to assess the extent to which the faster recovery rate of Exeter in
relation to the rest of the country was purely due to Princesshay. The sources used are
reliable, as each piece of data is derived from the census or the Council. Because Land
Securities want a successful commercial project all of the statements they release could
depict Princesshay in a positive light, however the data used to corroborate their points has
also been obtained through independent sources.
To fully answer the question, “to what extent has the redevelopment of Princesshay in Exeter
had positive impacts?” more data would need to be analysed over the longer term, including
surveys of local people and shop keepers, further information on vacancy rates and footfall
counts. However, in summary, although the data used may not be completely conclusive, the
analysis allowed within the scope of this essay indicates that Princesshay did manage to
achieve the three main goals of retail-led urban regeneration, as defined by this essay,
creating largely positive impacts for Exeter.
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