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#Oxford's city centre is dying at astonishing speed. So many boarded-up shops, you could mistake this very rich city for one of the most depressed places in Britain. Thread/
Its famous Covered Market, founded in 1774, once fully occupied by small independent businesses, is in serious trouble. 5 of its 9 fresh food sellers have closed in the past 2 years.
Why is this happening? Because, with massive council support, the focus of the city has been shifted half a mile westwards with the massive enlargement of the Westgate Centre, a shopping mall known to some residents as the Death Star.
It's a hideous, airless, car-dependent monstrosity, almost entirely occupied by large multiples. When it was reopened, one councillor told the press "Oxford has finally found its purpose".
The result has been to replace character and quirkiness with a bland, homogenised "consumer experience" of the kind you can suffer everywhere from Dubai to Sao Paolo. Who knew that Oxford's "purpose" was to become like everywhere else?
