Councils should listen more to businesses and local people in order to revive High Streets across the country, a marketing expert has said.
A report published earlier this week showed almost one shop closed across Scotland every day last year, while the number of new stores opening also fell.
A rise in out-of-town shopping centres has hit traditional High Streets, with Paisley one of the worst affected areas in the country.
Situated near Glasgow and close to Braehead and Silverburn shopping centres the number of empty shops in the town centre is well above the national average. In 2012 25 stores closed and only 12 new shops opened.
Renfrewshire Council is now developing a plan with business groups to allow cars to return to a pedestrian-only zone on the High Street in an attempt to boost the local economy.
The centre of Paisley was pedestrianised in 1997 but the plan would see vehicles return outside the main shopping hours, providing the "best of both worlds" according to council leader Mark MacMillan.
Tom Johnstone, president of Renfrewshire Chamber of Commerce said: "It's another avenue to investigate, we don't know if it's going to be successful but it's fair to say that we're trying a new initiative hopefully to bring some life back to the night time economy in Paisley."
Last year the Scottish Government launched a National Review of Town Centres, to recognise their significance and plan regeneration.
Speaking on BBC Breakfast news, Catherine Shuttleworth, chief executive of Savvy Marketing, who work with the retail industry said: "I think it's interesting in Paisley because it's quite a busy little centre just outside Glasgow and for them they need some variation, the people who know that area better than everybody else want to change it, so for them it sounds like a great idea and good for the council for listening to local people and businesses.
"For other large cities, some are big tourist centres and people go there for the weekend to go shopping so pedestrianised areas create a more leisure feel. We need areas that are suited to the customers in terms of where they live and where businesses are based and that's where councils need to listen."
