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Proposed action

Research studies on "old town centre" have been carried out by a number of Universities for mature students. The overall conclusions indicate a general agreement on a number of proposals that are present in each research study. When we take into account a number of similarities, including the researchers' age group, those conclusions may appear obvious. However this is not so for at least two reasons. First, the original research data for "old town centres" varied from place to place, both in relation to their past history and development and to their present logistic setting. Secondly, the general agreement concerned less the type of action to be adopted than a philosophy and the reasons on which that action should be based.
The conclusions from each University study group indicate that there is a need to act on old town centres, however they focus on the reason behind that need and on how to satisfy it in order to preserve them and to allow them to play again a role in their community life.
After analysing the proposals put forward by the study groups, three main areas of action have emerged: old town centres have a role to play in the coming together of different age groups, in the quality of life and in service industry and commerce marketing.
Those areas are key points in the ongoing debate among public administrators, economic powers and citizens, that is defined by the so called new policies on urban marketing.
The researchers from the Universities for mature students have seemingly come to their conclusions on the basis of their experience, therefore without those scientific of sociologic resources available to urban marketing experts. For this very reason those conclusions are of considerable value to us.

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