Context 168 - June 2021

C O N T E X T 1 6 8 : J U N E 2 0 2 1 29 DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY DAVE CHETWYN Digital media and the post-pandemic town Historic towns, and the people who plan, manage and conserve them, are facing the impact of both the pandemic and the continuing development of the internet and digital media. A couple of years ago I was asked what technical innovation had most impact on the historic environment. I replied that the continuing devel- opment and use of the internet and digital media was having the highest impact, as it was changing live/work, shopping and recreational patterns. This would impact on historic town centres, creating a need to continually adapt. I had no idea what was going to happen in 2020, accelerating such trends to an extent that is off the scale. The implications of these changes for historic towns and cities are starting to become clear. This is not just about technical innovation, but the sudden much more widespread use of existing infrastructure. Meetings do not involve everyone being in the room. Online media are now widely used to support work meetings between geographically dispersed and increas- ingly casually dressed people. This has allowed people to get used to dif- ferent patterns of working, including working at home. The daily commute has proved to be unnecessary, at least for part of the week. There are weekly announcements from public, private and government bodies that are looking to downsize their office accommodation. There are no reliable estimates on the longer-term adjustment of demand for offices, but some of the changes will stick after the pandemic. This means less demand for office space and a need to repurpose vacant floorspace, sometimes involving conversion of historic building fabric. There are also implications in terms of the number of people travelling into, and using, historic centres. Inevitably, some office space will be converted to residential. Repopulation or population is a tried and tested approach to town centre regen- eration, and it will help to offset any potential reduction in the office working population. Permitted development rights to support such changes of use are in place and are adapting, although these will not necessarily deliver the quality of accommodation and supporting infra- structure required. Such rights do not extend to works requiring listed building consent. Some high streets were already suffering from shifts to on-line retail before the pandemic, and There may be a permanent adjustment in the demand for city- centre offices, with some changing into residential, hotel or other uses. This is Oriel Chambers, Liverpool, designed by Peter Ellis, the world’s first building with a metal-framed glass curtain wall. (All photos: Dave Chetwyn)