Here is an old question, probably as old as Christmas itself: what is the difference between need and want? Jonathan Reynolds of the Oxford Institute of Retail Management, responsible for a Government-commissioned report about the effects of the London congestion charge, said: "There is some evidence that many people feel they have everything they need. But people must spend, and spend again and again, to keep the economy going."

He added: "The replacement cycle is speeding up. Now retailers try to persuade everyone to upgrade. Electronic goods, in particular, are becoming unfit for purpose faster."

It must be working to some extent, since the great Christmas UK spend has increased 40 per cent over the past ten years. According to a Deloitte survey, each male Briton will this Christmas spend £366 on presents, £16 more than his female counterpart.

Mr Reynolds remarked: "Oxford, like everywhere else, is involved in a continual race of one-upmanship against other towns. It feels it must compete for shoppers against the likes of Reading and Milton Keynes. If it doesn't, where will it achieve its economic wherewithal?

"And if it does, it might dig the hole deeper in terms of traffic problems."

The recent Government report from former British Airways boss Sir Rod Eddington claimed that traffic-charging could cut jams by half and could also encourage trade at smaller shops by customers on foot or using bicycles.

Experts say a satellite-tracking system could be used to enforce the toll, with prices varying from 2p a mile for driving on a quiet road out of rush hour to £1.34 for motorways at peak times.

Now, even the Oxfordshire Chamber of Commerce has come out in favour of road tolls, after a survey showed 87 per cent of businesses were in favour of road pricing, as long as the money was used to improve public transport.

But Mr Reynolds is less sure. He said: "Congestion charging must be part of an integrated transport policy, otherwise it will just divert traffic to other places."

However, he added that it could also smooth out traffic flows over longer periods of the day which, of course, could itself bring problems: longer opening hours, extra staff, etc.

He said: "The London congestion charge has had less effect on Londoners than on people living outside London. People living in London have a public transport service always readily available; most of those outside don't.

"The same would apply in a smaller way were a congestion charge introduced in Oxford."

Kate Barker, former member of the Bank of England's monetary committee and author of another report out this week into planning policies, specifically mentioned Oxford's (and Cambridge's) problems.

She pointed out that the city's green belt was hampering economic growth and causing congestion because commuters were forced to travel ever greater distances.

But the overall planning dilemma she grapples with is this: more and more of us, each wanting (or needing) ever more material possessions, also demanding houses with green space around them, and shops (with easy access to them), and comfortable offices to commute to easily. It all adds up to an attempt to stick square pegs into round holes.

Little wonder that report after report demands an overall strategy. But planners have been shouting for that in Oxford for 40 years or more (during a recent foray into The Oxford Times library, I came across a 1962 edition demanding just that!). Now a group of MPs, the all-party Urban Development Group, is warning that the growth of UK cities is being held back by a lack of infrastructure and under-investment. Research shows that Britain spends ten to 20 per cent less per head of population on transport infrastructure than either France or Germany.

Oxford has developed its Castle and will shortly redevelop and extend its Westgate shopping centre, complete with new car park. But there are some who reckon that a university city should not necessarily try to compete as a retail centre.

A spokesman for the Oxford Preservation Trust, Debbie Dance, said: "There is no reason why we should be competing with Reading and Milton Keynes as a retail centre. Let's take the very best of what we've got, whether shopping or our history, and build on that."

She added that the Castle development, in which the Preservation Trust had input, was an example of how heritage and retail could be reconciled.

But Graham Jones of the business campaign group ROX said: "We were surprised that the Oxfordshire Chamber of Commerce came out so quickly in favour of road charging. We feel there is a whole stream of things that need examining. In other words, there needs to be an overall strategy.

"On the other hand, cutting into the Green Belt and joining up the Kidlingtons and Kenningtons would not work either in the absence of a better transport infrastructure."

Speaking for myself, I may soon be a reluctant shopper on the Oxford scene, buying a present for myself that I don't want: a computer which I am forced to buy because my faithful old Apple (circa 1998) wants upgrading.

And here is the unfair bit: it wants upgrading not because anything is wrong with it but simply because time has moved on, and secure sites no longer communicate with anything as venerable as my old iBook!