Welcome to SCORE – Support for Coventry’s Regeneration

Interesting article about Jerde on Coventry Villagebuzz: http://coventry.villagebuzz.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=107

“One has to ask oneself the simple question as to whether Coventry city centre needs over quarter of a million square metres of new shops when already there are lots of empty shops and all the forcasts are for this to get worse. It is not just a matter of waiting till after the recession either because the whole shape of retail has changed, we buy ever increasing amounts over the internet and for real world shopping people prefer out of town retail parks.

The Jerde masterplan is financed by future rents and the sale of city centre housing and so is flawed. What the city centre needs is resources and facilities that give the citizens of Coventry a reason to make the journey in. One thing that Coventry is very weak on is sporting facilities, for instance. Also there is a distinct lack of exhibition space for the likes of Craft Fairs and hobbyist markets. It is these sorts of venues that would make the centre hum again. And some boutique hotels would be good.

If anyone really wants to give Coventry a leg up then the best way would for us to be an early adopter of the 100 Mbit/second broadband that is slowly being phased in. If our politicians lobbied for us getting this the effects would be massive.”