Shipping containers could be converted into pop-up shops and small business units under plans to get people back into a city centre post-Covid.
Leicester has suffered more than most, spending most of last summer in special Covid measures.
And as shops in the city get ready to reopen they will face added competition from a 拢168 million extension to the out-of-town Fosse Park shopping centre.
Leicester City Council is considering possible locations for a low cost BoxPark which would include food and drink outlets as well as creative businesses or small shops.
City mayor Sir Peter Soulsby said the St Martin鈥檚 area of the city could potentially host such a development as one element of the council鈥檚 attempt to woo shoppers back after the Covid-19 pandemic.
A potential site is a car park off Cank Street which the council intends to open up by demolishing two shops to create a new pedestrian route between Green Dragon Square near Leicester Market and St Martin鈥檚 Square.
The mayor told LeicestershireLive: 鈥淐reating that new link gives us the opportunity to do something interesting with the car park space. It is one but not the only possible location for a BoxPark.鈥
Sir Peter has visited a BoxPark in Bristol and says he was impressed by what he saw.
He said: 鈥淚 am very interested in this concept as a way of bringing new life and regeneration to the city.
鈥淵ou could get a number of units in there for food and drink and other small businesses.
鈥淵ou can put these units in for a few thousand pounds and that allows you to offer lower rent that reflects that and is attractive to smaller independent businesses.
鈥淭he council could be the landlord but that is not the only model.
鈥淟eicester, in the post-Covid era, needs to offer something that a large soulless shopping park on the edge of town cannot.鈥
The Fosse Park expansion on the city鈥檚 southern edge, has attracted big-name brands including Next, H&M, TK Maxx, and Clarks.
However Sir Peter was bullish in the face of shoppers being drawn away from the city centre to a complex with the lure of free parking.
He said: 鈥淔osse Park is not going to be a direct threat to the city centre because the city centre can offer something different, a different experience.鈥
Sir Peter said the demise of Debenhams at the Highcross, which has been earmarked to be redeveloped as flats, indicated an irreversible change to retailing in the city.
He said: 鈥淭he large department store has not necessarily had its day.
鈥淚 would anticipate stores like John Lewis will continue to survive and draw people in but we have to recognise there has been a fundamental change in retail.
鈥淥ur job is to look at alternatives because our future city centre will need that mix of things that will draw people in.鈥
The BoxPark plan could proceed if the 拢2.6 million plan to flatten two empty shops on the edge of Green Dragon Square is approved by the city council.
It is part of the council鈥檚 plan to work with The Shearer Property Group, which owns the St Martin鈥檚 Precinct to improve the area.
