Town Centre Strategy

As part of a post-pandemic recovery response, Reading Borough Council commissioned an multi-disciplinary team led by UPL to develop a complex regeneration strategy to guide development and create a vision for Reading town centre spanning the period from the Local Plan to 2050.

Alongside specialists in retail, economics, movement and stewardship, UPL engaged the services of the University of Reading’s Participation Lab and Reading Voluntary Action to manage the stakeholder engagement element of the project from a unique grassroots perspective.

Seeking to meet a multi-faceted brief, the project identified key themes such as embracing accelerated development and significant investment in the public realm that have already resulted in next stage commissions and outputs in support of the updated Local Plan and a separate action plan with prioritised initiatives for investment.