The recent exit of football from Subiaco after the iconic oval's closure has dealt the area a harsh blow. Across town, the number of empty shops in Fremantle's city centre continues to grow.

The two communities have been struggling to draw consistent crowds for some time. But Curtin University urban planning expert Dr Shane Greive believes that "like a phoenix rising from the ashes", Subiaco and Fremantle are on the way back up.

"We have an interesting concept in the academic world: creative destruction," Dr Greive said. "The idea that something has to die first before you get the new birth coming out of it."

"So yes, things are dying, but also I think that's just the ground for things to grow again.

"Maybe we're looking at Subiaco and Fremantle in winter and maybe we've got to think about that Subiaco and Fremantle in spring emerging."

Death by gentrification

Dr Greive said while Fremantle had maintained a strong community vibe, Subiaco had in some ways lost its identity and both suburbs had been suffering from what he called "late-stage gentrification".

Curtin University urban planning expert Dr Shane Greive, new Subiaco Mayor Penny Taylor and Fremantle Mayor Brad Pettitt all believe the suburbs of Subiaco and Fremantle will return to their former glory days. ( ABC News: Briana Shepherd )

"Gentrification is actually a good thing in the first stages, it's basically new money and new people coming into the neighbourhood — fantastic," he said.

"It gets about halfway and you've got an older crowd, a younger crowd and a mixed-income crowd — also fantastic.

"Then what happens after that, the investors start to move in, the oligarchs start to move in and you end up losing people, values go up and they outprice themselves from the market and it takes them 10 or 15 years to figure out what went wrong."

Penny Taylor recently won a six-way race for Mayor of Subiaco, replacing outgoing mayor of 12 years, Heather Henderson. She said she had a plan to avoid making the same mistakes.

"In my doorknocking and campaigning I was given permission to not just listen to the people with the loudest voices," she said.

"The info that I got from that is valid for more than a week, that's valid for some time, and I think I will continue listening."

Ms Taylor said reducing red tape was a priority and that a recent change to alfresco licensing laws was a move in the right direction.

"If it takes you six months to get open that's not great," she said.

"But if you can open as quickly and efficiently as possible in a way that meets the requirements — that are there for important reasons — and also meets the owner's dreams and vision for their own business, then that's a way that the administration can be part of making Subiaco vibrant."

Locals and tourists enjoy the sunshine in the heyday of the "cappuccino strip" on Fremantle's South Terrace in 2008. ( Giulio Saggin, file photo: ABC News )

Freo's weekday problem

Brad Pettitt was recently re-elected Mayor of Fremantle for his third term and admitted the city centre in the port town had been struggling.

"It would be fair to say, over the last decade or so, the heart of Fremantle hasn't really worked as a seven-day-week economy," he said.

"It's got this great vibrancy on the weekends, but Monday to Thursday it's quiet.

"It needs more people living in it, more people working in proper jobs during the week and of course more tourists and more visitors."

While retail has not flourished in Fremantle for some time, a $270 million redevelopment of the city centre will add 6,000 square metres of retail space.

The Kings Square project by the City of Fremantle and Sirona Capital will also include a new civic chamber, library and council office spaces for more than 1,500 public servants.

Kings Square in Fremantle is undergoing redevelopment.

Mr Pettitt said the retail space would be unlike any other.

"The reason I think retail will work in Kings Square is not only do you have 2,000 new workers in the precinct, but it's also not going to be your traditional retail in some ways," he said.

"There's going to be lots of food and beverage, there's going to be lots of destination retail, where people will want to come.

"It's about actually thinking where is retail going, especially in this emerging post-Amazon kind of world of online shopping — it's about creating spaces and places that people want to come to and have a real sense of connection with."

The Kings Square project is expected the be finished in late 2019.