The role of stakeholders in town centre management: guidelines for identification and analysis

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide insights into the identification of stakeholders involved in town centre management (TCM) projects and the main areas of intervention according to their interests and needs. Design/methodology/approach – The proposed framework is tested in the town of Benevento, Italy. On the basis of stakeholder theory, key stakeholders were interviewed according to the different kinds of linkages they had with the TCM organisation. Findings – Results from the paper support a stakeholder‐based approach to the development of TCM projects. In addition, a set of categories is proposed to define and evaluate the overall town centre offer. Practical implications – The proposed framework can be used by cities or towns for the evaluation of the role of different public and private stakeholders in TCM projects, and for the assessment of their “stake” in the town centre. Originality/value – Despite the need to promote a partnership approach between the public and private sectors having been recognised as a vital ingredient for the implementation of TCM, literature is still lacking which provides clear guidance for stakeholder analysis. This is one of the first papers to propose a theoretical framework addressing this issue.