Whole School Event
o Australian city centre revival project turned area into a top tourist destination. o Empty shop rates across the UK stand at 11.1 per cent An internationally-recognised regeneration expert will visit the University of Sheffield to share how he brought empty shops back to life in his Australian hometown and how that idea could be used to transform run-down city centres across the world. Marcus Westbury, who successfully led a pioneering project to bring derelict buildings back into use in Newcastle (Australia's City of Steel), will tell how his scheme turned the area into one of Lonely Planet's top ten tourist destinations in the country during a week-long visit to Sheffield from Monday 10 February 2014. The festival director's Renew Newcastle scheme, which has since been replicated in cities around the world, sees landlords offer boarded-up business units to a range of creative tenants free of charge - filling empty shops at the same time as showcasing their potential. He will meet University staff and Sheffield City Council chiefs to discuss how a similar idea, by working with partners including the University, could breathe new life into Sheffield's shopping streets. The latest figures from the British Retail Consortium show the empty shop rate across the UK stood at 11.1 per cent last October. Professor Vanessa Toulmin, the University's Head of Engagement, organised the visit as part of The Engaged University initiative.
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