Clone town

The term was coined by the New Economics Foundation (NEF), a British think tank, in the 2004 report on "Clone Town Britain".

[1] The report further elaborates the definition as follows: 'Clone towns' occur where 'the individuality of high street shops has been replaced by a monochrome strip of global and national chains' as opposed to 'Home Town' which is a 'place that retains its character and is individually recognizable and distinct to the people who live there, as well as those who visit[2]'.

[4] The NEF report argued that the spread of clone towns is highly damaging to society because of the removal of diversity:[3] The NEF report also notes that the creation of chain stores and supermarkets has been in part a response to the consolidation of retail land ownership in the UK.

[7] The 2005 survey rated Exeter as the worst example of a clone town in the UK, with only a single independent store in the city's high street and less diversity (in terms of different categories of shop) than any other town surveyed.

Other extreme clone towns in England include Stafford, Middlesbrough, Weston-super-Mare and Winchester.