The role of stakeholders in town centre management: guidelines for identification and analysis

Abstract

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to provide insights into the identification of stakeholders involved in town centre management (TCM) projects and the main areas of intervention according to their interests and needs. Design/methodology/approach -The proposed framework is tested in the town of Benevento, Italy. On the basis of stakeholder theory, key stakeholders were interviewed according to the different kinds of linkages they had with the TCM organisation. Findings -Results from the paper support a stakeholder-based approach to the development of TCM projects. In addition, a set of categories is proposed to define and evaluate the overall town centre offer. Practical implications -The proposed framework can be used by cities or towns for the evaluation of the role of different public and private stakeholders in TCM projects, and for the assessment of their "stake" in the town centre. Originality/value -Despite the need to promote a partnership approach between the public and private sectors having been recognised as a vital ingredient for the implementation of TCM, literature is still lacking which provides clear guidance for stakeholder analysis. This is one of the first papers to propose a theoretical framework addressing this issue.

Strategic alliances in a town centre: stakeholders' perceived importance of the property owners

“…de Nisco, Riviezzo, and Napolitano 2008;Forsberg, Medway, and Warnaby 1999;Sandahl and Lindh 1995). de Nisco, Riviezzo, and Napolitano (2008) conclude that previous research views property owners as having a minor stakeholder role and that they are not as cooperative as other stakeholders. In contradiction to this, it has been found that retail siting (Forsberg 1998) and property constructions (Dawson 2001), as well as managing properties, are often closely related to retail's core business, which then connects the property owner to the retailer.…”

“…Riviezzo, de Nisco, and Napolitano 2009;Otsuka and Reeve 2007;Whyatt 2004). As a result, concerns have been raised about the vitality and viability of a town centre (de Nisco, Riviezzo, and Napolitano 2008) leading to the need for strategic and proactive cooperation from all stakeholders (Riviezzo, de Nisco, and Napolitano 2009;Phillips and Swaffin-Smith 2004;Forsberg 1998). Consequently, stakeholder management has become important in the context of managing a town centre.…”

“…The few studies conducted have mostly focused on retailers or public sector organisations as the main stakeholders (e.g. Warnaby, Bennison, and Davies 2005;de Nisco, Riviezzo, and Napolitano 2008) which is not surprising since these could be seen as having crucial resources. This has, however, according to de Nisco, Riviezzo, and Napolitano (2008), resulted in a lack of knowledge about other specific stakeholders' involvement, contribution, and importance within this context, e.g.…”

“…Stakeholders are bound to have different interests (de Nisco, Riviezzo, and Napolitano 2008;Friedman and Miles 2006) due to their different business foci, which may result in problems as every stakeholder tries to maximise its own utility (Forsberg, Medway, and Warnaby 1999). Even though this approach is not commonly used when researching the management of retail in town centres (Peel 2003) there is a growing interest in this particular approach.…”

“…The importance of a property owner's role as a stakeholder (group) in town centres has attracted a limited amount of research in Europe (e.g. de Nisco, Riviezzo, and Napolitano 2008;Forsberg, Medway, and Warnaby 1999;Sandahl and Lindh 1995). de Nisco, Riviezzo, and Napolitano (2008) conclude that previous research views property owners as having a minor stakeholder role and that they are not as cooperative as other stakeholders.…”