Shoppers abandon city centre - City must find an answer or die

IT is not so long ago that a milestone was passed in the rural/urban divide. In the last decade, for the first time, more people lived in cities than outside them. 

Ironically, that has brought huge challenges, and cities designed in another time are struggling to sustain a vibrant heart.

Limited access for private motorists and parking sometimes combine to make suburban shopping centres far more attractive to time-scarce shoppers than crowded city centres where expensive parking charges are the norm.