The high street isn't doomed - just look at London!

Unlike some city centre's across the country London does not have an empty shops crisis, this is particularly true in its suburbs.

Its incomes - not business rates or online shopping - that explain why.

See the full report: tinyurl.com/yc8yxkp6

The geography of high streets within cities is also important.

In Stoke the presence of Festival retail park drags spending out of the city centre, increasing vacancies there.

This is not the case in Brighton which subsequently has the 5th lowest high street vacancy rate of all UK city centres.

We also found that geography is key. Mapping high street catchments revealed that smaller cities like Wakefield and Bradford struggle partly because of their proximity to Leeds city centre.

By analysing millions of card transactons we investigated why some UK high streets are succeeding while others are struggling.

Full report: tinyurl.com/msawaxz7

We found that high streets are a symptom of economic decline not a cause: there are more empty shops where incomes are lowest.

Peak time central London tube station tap out data indicates that the return-to-the-office has plateaued at 75% of pre covid levels, with the West end furthest behind.

Check out the full blog here: www.centreforcities.org/blog/tube-da...

In this year's Cities Outlook we explore what drives regional wage inequality and show how the strength of a city's tradable sectors determines economic prosperity.

To read more and explore how UK cities have fared over the last year check out the report: www.centreforcities.org/publication/...