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

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”.