There is a lot we can do to stop all our high streets becoming the same, argues researcher Ruth Potts

CLONE Town Britain: the survey results on the bland state of the nation, released by the New Economics Foundation (NEF) this month, has created a bit of a stir.
In Exeter, the town with the highest ‘clone score’, we hear everybody is talking about it.
NEF coined the phrase ‘clone town’ to describe a place where the individuality of high street shops has been replaced by a monochrome strip of chains.
By contrast, a home town has a high street that retains its character and is instantly recognisable. Clone Town Britain shows how retail spaces once filled with a thriving mix of butchers, newsagents, tobacconists, pubs, bookshops, greengrocers and family-owned general stores are fast being filled with faceless supermarkets, fast-food chains, mobile phone shops and fashion shops.
The argument that big retail is good because it provides consumers with choice is ironic, because it leaves us with no choice at all.
The loss of diversity in clone towns is built into the fabric of the buildings. Architecture journalist Jonathan Glancey has complained that, “Tesco branches are breeding like shrink-wrapped rabbits. Where once we had a church in every village, town and city, now we have Tescos.” But, whereas churches display considerable architectural diversity, English Heritage has been dismayed by the impact on high-street buildings as the supermarkets impose standard layouts to fit their strict business models. Walls and windows are ripped-out to accommodate identical shelving and signage.
The loss of diversity also threatens our well-being. In the USA, Dr Thomas Lyson of Cornell University has been studying the relationship between ownership and community well-being. He examined more than 200 US counties, comparing those with economies dominated by one or two large retailers with those that are made up of many locally owned businesses. He found the counties dominated by small businesses were much healthier, economically and socially. They had higher average incomes and less income inequality. They had lower crime and higher levels of educational attainment. They also had a more vibrant community life measured by membership in organisations and voter turn out.
Scoring 32.9 on the clone scale, Camden Town’s high street has enough independent stores to keep it firmly in the border town category.
But, as NEF has found elsewhere in its study of inner city enterprise, once innovative entrepreneurs have revived an area, they are often priced out as big retail moves in removing the benefits of entrepreneurs’ efforts.
The same is currently happening in Camden Lock, where a mix of vibrant independent retailers have created a bit of a buzz. Such a buzz in fact, that the likes of Gap and Starbucks are beginning to move in.
But Britain doesn’t have to become a nation of clone towns. The homogenisation of high streets is not benign or inevitable. Just as regulatory changes have allowed it, the right changes can begin to turn back the tide.
As the survey results show; there is still time for action to protect the identity of our towns, and to prevent our border towns becoming clone towns. By promoting independent shops we can enhance diversity, and increase vitality and stability. That way we can begin to reverse the trend in the towns that have already been overtaken by clones, prevent our border towns becoming clones and protect our home towns.
NEF’s Clone Town Britain report outlines a range of policy solutions, which could begin to reverse the process. The report calls planning laws to make retail developers guarantee affordable premises for locally-owned stores. There should be a moratorium on further takeovers of existing chains by multiple retailers.
There are also things that communities can do. In Louisville, in the American Mid-West, residents have mounted a vigorous campaign to ‘Keep Louisville weird’, encouraging shopping in independent stores. In Portland, Oregon, business owners urge residents to ‘Think local first’.
New York, declared a ‘new frontier’ by Wal-Mart in January, looks set to pass legislation that would require any ‘big-box retailer’ with more than 85,000 square feet to face a licensing review that would force them to specify their impact on the community. In other areas of the US there are bans on businesses that adopt standardised services, methods of operation, decor, uniforms, architecture, or other features virtually identical to businesses elsewhere.
Arcata, California, a community of about 20,000, allows only nine formula businesses in town at a time. As a result, Arcata has maintained two grocers, a furniture dealer, clothes shop, computer shop, bookstore and cinema.
And, across Britain, communities are struggling to defend themselves against being developed to death. There is much that communities can do to fight back, but to level the playing field we also need regulatory changes that would make the fight fair. Britain doesn’t have to become a nation of clones. The fight back starts here.

• Ruth Potts is a researcher for the New Economics Foundation, which published its report on Clone Town Britain last week.