Town centre management by co-operation

The 1990s have witnessed the rapid expansion of the concept of Town Centre Management (TCM). This article considers the extent to which urban stakeholders (particularly retailers and property owners) participate in TCM schemes, drawing on evidence from three towns in Sweden. Perceptions relating to participation, and motives for actual participation (or nonparticipation) in TCM schemes are analysed using as frameworks models of co-operative behaviour. The problem of "free-riders" is discussed and the article concludes with a typology of co-operative behaviour amongst urban stakeholders and possible strategies for overcoming problems of non-co-operation. © 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved