Market towns – victims of market forces?

The importance of the role played by market towns in the vitality of rural England has become increasingly recognised in recent years, and has attracted considerable attention from government development agencies in support of major public policy initiatives. The example of the East of England Development Agency's Market Town Initiative is used to review recent approaches to market town partnerships and their links with retailing activity within the context of town centre management. The paper concludes by suggesting possible mechanisms to support market town partnership initiatives in achieving sustainability once the public funding stream ends – as the potential basis for a future research agenda in this area.