ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the ideological basis and context for the introduction of business improvement districts (BID) in Britain by examining the preceding and parallel practices of town center management. It seeks to contrast the nature of the interrelationships of the two approaches, and to explain the consequential receptivity to the BID model in British urban policy. The chapter addresses some definitional and conceptual issues and traces the roots of BIDs through the maturation of town center management practices. It explains the heterogeneity of the approaches in an international context, and explores whether BIDs represent a transformation in the governance of the town center public domain in Britain. The chapter demonstrates what may be described as the emergence of a new contractualism in local urban governance, urban revitalization, and economic development in the public domain in Britain. In the 1970s, many town centers continued to deteriorate in terms of relative economic performance and viability, physical quality, and social vitality.
