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The death of the “High Street”? Main street closures, social disorder and urban change

Lookup NU author(s): Professor Nils BraakmannORCiD, Dr Diego Zambiasi

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).

Abstract

How do changing shopping habits shape cities? We investigate this question in the context of major shop closures. Leveraging geocoded crime and economic data at the level of small areas covering England and Wales, we examine the effects of these closures on criminal activity and urban dynamics. Our findings reveal that closures lead to significant increases in crime. These effects survive a battery of robustness checks and are highly localised. We also find evidence for wider changes to urban areas triggered by the closures. Our results highlight broader implications for declining inner-city areas and the “death of the high street”.

Publication metadata

Author(s): Braakmann N, Zambiasi D

Publication type: Article

Publication status: Published

Journal: Journal of Urban Economics

Year: 2026

Volume: 154

Online publication date: 03/06/2026

Acceptance date: 05/05/2026

Date deposited: 19/05/2026

ISSN (print): 0094-1190

ISSN (electronic): 1095-9068

Publisher: Elsevier

URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jue.2026.103884

DOI: 10.1016/j.jue.2026.103884

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