Decentralisation Of Retailing And Other Services Has Had A Major Impact On Urban Areas
The Decentralisation of retailing and other services has had a major impact on urban areas’ to what extent do you agree with this statement? (40marks)
Retail is the process of selling consumer goods and/or services to customers through multiple channels of distribution to earn a profit. Retail is starting to move out of the city centers into the suburbs on the edge of towns and cities.
Decentralisation is the process of redistributing or dispersing functions, powers, people or things away from a central location or authority. Central Business Districts are facing a decline in retail and services as counter-urbanisation and sub-urbanisation occurs. Although decentralisation can be negative for some cities such as Manchester, some areas are …show more content…
showing how an area can benefit from decentralisation.
The nature of retail has changed over many years in not only the UK but many developing/developed countries.
In the early 20th century all the retailers were small independent businesses, which occupied the ground floor areas of residential buildings. From the end of World War 1 (1918) and to the 1960’s there was a growth in national chains leading to shops with corporal designs. This progressed to specific pedestrianized areas and indoor shopping until the 1980’s. From then 1980’s onwards the development of out of town shopping centres has been prominent.
The progression of shops has gone from large food superstores in the outer town areas to non-food retail parks emerging such as IKEA and B&Q. By the 1990’s fully developed shopping centres had been developed such as Bluewater and the Trafford Centre. All of these areas have been constructed with easy access to main roads, with a warehouse style design. Also the centres have been built on derelict land, which means it was cheaper and easy to get planning permission although the cost of cleaning up this derelict area would be …show more content…
astronomical.
Decentralisation of retailing from the CBD causes a “Polo effect” where there is an economic, social and retailing hole in the middle of the city. Almost 15,000 shops in town centres in the UK closed between 2000 and 2009, with a further 10,000 losses in the past couple of years.
Firstly the negatives of edge of town shopping that they increase the reliance on cars, which leads to greater pollution, congestion and increased resources used. The pollution has caused major impacts on health such as in California. In the area 11.9% of the people (3.9million) have been diagnosed with asthma since out of town shopping centres were introduced due to increased car use.
This also causes issue for accessibility for under 17s that can’t drive and the elderly who struggle to travel long distances therefore they are making it difficult for the whole community to access the services. Decentralisation ultimately leads to a decline in a traditional town centre meaning there is a sterile shopping experience with a lack of character and architectural riches. This fits well with the positives of the CBD as the city centre is well connected via public transport such as buses and trains whereas out of town shopping is mainly only accessible by car. Shop units are unique in shape and are located on a high street with other essential shops.
Edge of Town shopping centres however can be positive attribute to an area. They are designed around easy access and parking so is consumer friendly and it doesn’t take too much effort to find shops meaning people can buy many different items all at once. They can improve the profile and status of a region of a town by putting the area on the map leading to an increased tourism, which may lead to a rise in employment and a increased economy. They can be a stimulus needed for central business districts to improve the area. The sizes of the units are large and there is always room for expansion meaning that there are greater shopping choices as the large retailers set up in the shopping centres creating a range of shopping opportunities such as clothes, appliances and food.
The negative of city centres consist of shops being very limited on their size and therefore not suiting large-scale retailers such as Wal-Mart and John Lewis. The Central business districts have a higher crime rate, are not pedestrianized which is dangerous and not protected from the weather. This therefore means people are even less likely to come to an area if it’s a less enjoyable experience.
The Trafford Centre is an example of the negative impacts an out of town shopping centre can have on the surrounding towns. The Trafford Centre is situated 7KM from Manchester and is located between junctions 9 and 10 on the M60. There are over 10,000 free parking spaces and 5.3 million people live within 45 minutes. The centre was completed in 1998 on a brownfield site with more than 200 shops and a cinema. The site has caused further investment. Although the Trafford centre has not affected the larger towns such as Bolton other smaller towns such as Altrincham were hit hard. In 2011, 1/3rd of the town’s shops were unoccupied which is the highest proportion in the UK. As Altrincham is only 12KM away form the Trafford centre it is seen as an attractive place to shop with greater shopping choices and free parking. This causes not only issues in the centre with a decline in services but also increased pollution and congestion on the M60.
The Metro Centre in Gateshead is a further example of the impact retail out of the CBD can have on an area. The North East of England was one of the first to experience out of town shopping centres in the UK. The location was situated in Tyneside and had a population of 1.5million people living within 30 minutes making it the perfect place in the developer’s eyes to build a shopping mall. The shopping mall finished initial construction in 1986 and has constantly been expanding since as well as the transport routes being improved in the area. There are over 340 shops and 10,000 free parking spaces along with its own junction off the A1 West. Although it aimed to make people feel safe and relaxed when shopping it has caused major impacts on local CBDs. As well as major shopping chains moving out of the CBD as the available floor space is larger it has meant that people have decided to stop shopping in the CBDs. Howard showed 12% of the trips made to the centre would have been made to Newcastle CBD as well as this in Gateshead the amount of pedestrians in the CBD fell by 34%.
This has caused Newcastle and Gateshead to both respond by forming redevelopment plans. Eldon Square was built in the 1970’s and was thriving before the metro centre was built in 1986. Following the opening, Eldon square become known for derelict buildings, vandalism and unemployment, all which have a major impact. Eldon Gardens was their response and they are now attract 25 million people a year with major department stores occupying the larger plots in the area such as John Lewis, Marks and Spencers and Fenwick. They have put various other services in place to improve the area such as not in Newcastle there are 8 multi-storey car parks and 48 surface car parks which means the shopping area has been re-pedestrianized making the area feel more like a community and a more pleasurable experience once again. There has also been a fantastic initiative “Alive after five.” This promote shops to stay open after 5 pm and restaurants reduce the prices of food between 5-7 pm as well as the area providing free parking. This has meant there have been 750,000 extra people in this extra shopping time in the last 6 months. This shows the benefits that can be brought about by the initial negative impacts of decentralisation.
Merry Hill is situated in the West Midlands, it was developed over a period of 5 years starting in the 1985’s. Merry Hill has over 250 stores as well as restaurants and a cinema. When Merry hill finally opened a large number of retail chains decided to move from the surrounding towns to the new shopping centres. This left a number of empty stores in the town centres causing abandoned towns where the population then chose to shop in the outer town shopping centres. This led to a downturn in trade for the remaining shops. Dudley was the hardest hit town with a 70% decline in retailing market share following the opening of merry hill. This then was made worse when the council changed the parking arrangements and the prices went up this meant even more shoppers were turned away from the area. This shows what can happen to local towns when decentralisation occurs.
However, by the 1990’s Solihull town centre was out dated without being able to compete with transport links, free parking and various extensive services. Touchwood was established in 2001 and was constructed on the car parks behind the main high street. This new site integrates seamlessly with the high street reflecting heritage in a contemporary style. There are 104 stores in total with the anchor store being John Lewis. Touchwood aimed to mirror its competitor, merry hill by implementing attracting features such as being located on the M42 and have a large number of parking spaces (6,000) The area has also created a large arcade as well as two internal courtyards and 4 new gardens. This makes the shopping experience more appealing and touchwood can be a retail centre as well as being for leisure.
Another major impact on urban areas is that people are starting to move out to the rural suburbs through the process of urban sprawl.
As there is a greater number of shops and services are out of the town centre and an increased wealth since the 20th century people are starting to move out of the city and create “edge of city” settlements. This leaves an area in the centre of the city with the poorer people who can’t afford to move to the suburbs and therefore creates a division of class. This is an increasingly major impact, which is a social issue, which is only going to get worse as out of town shopping centres increase and expand their services. One way this is happening is by transport services increasing meaning the out of town shopping centres are better connected to the city centre allowing more people to live away from the city and to commute to work if that is based in the
city.
In conclusion, the effect of decentralisation on retail and other services can have a major impact on urban areas. This is due to the fact the city centres have been abandoned with many remaining empty shops. This leads to high crime rates and not an aesthetically pleasing area. Ultimately this causes gentrification. Clearly from the examples we can see how decentralisation causes a major impact from increased pollution rates to a lack of accessibility to the minorities such as the elderly, under 17’s and the poor who cant get to the out of town shopping centres.
Although ultimately I agree with the statement by constructing out of town shopping centres causing decentralisation has caused CBDs to redevelop the areas leading to a greater variety of services and opportunity’s to shop both in and out of the city.
Therefore decentralisation does have a major impact however this can be both negative and positive.
Retail is the process of selling consumer goods and/or services to customers through multiple channels of distribution to earn a profit. Retail is starting to move out of the city centers into the suburbs on the edge of towns and cities.
Decentralisation is the process of redistributing or dispersing functions, powers, people or things away from a central location or authority. Central Business Districts are facing a decline in retail and services as counter-urbanisation and sub-urbanisation occurs. Although decentralisation can be negative for some cities such as Manchester, some areas are …show more content…
showing how an area can benefit from decentralisation.
The nature of retail has changed over many years in not only the UK but many developing/developed countries.
In the early 20th century all the retailers were small independent businesses, which occupied the ground floor areas of residential buildings. From the end of World War 1 (1918) and to the 1960’s there was a growth in national chains leading to shops with corporal designs. This progressed to specific pedestrianized areas and indoor shopping until the 1980’s. From then 1980’s onwards the development of out of town shopping centres has been prominent.
The progression of shops has gone from large food superstores in the outer town areas to non-food retail parks emerging such as IKEA and B&Q. By the 1990’s fully developed shopping centres had been developed such as Bluewater and the Trafford Centre. All of these areas have been constructed with easy access to main roads, with a warehouse style design. Also the centres have been built on derelict land, which means it was cheaper and easy to get planning permission although the cost of cleaning up this derelict area would be …show more content…
astronomical.
Decentralisation of retailing from the CBD causes a “Polo effect” where there is an economic, social and retailing hole in the middle of the city. Almost 15,000 shops in town centres in the UK closed between 2000 and 2009, with a further 10,000 losses in the past couple of years.
Firstly the negatives of edge of town shopping that they increase the reliance on cars, which leads to greater pollution, congestion and increased resources used. The pollution has caused major impacts on health such as in California. In the area 11.9% of the people (3.9million) have been diagnosed with asthma since out of town shopping centres were introduced due to increased car use.
This also causes issue for accessibility for under 17s that can’t drive and the elderly who struggle to travel long distances therefore they are making it difficult for the whole community to access the services. Decentralisation ultimately leads to a decline in a traditional town centre meaning there is a sterile shopping experience with a lack of character and architectural riches. This fits well with the positives of the CBD as the city centre is well connected via public transport such as buses and trains whereas out of town shopping is mainly only accessible by car. Shop units are unique in shape and are located on a high street with other essential shops.
Edge of Town shopping centres however can be positive attribute to an area. They are designed around easy access and parking so is consumer friendly and it doesn’t take too much effort to find shops meaning people can buy many different items all at once. They can improve the profile and status of a region of a town by putting the area on the map leading to an increased tourism, which may lead to a rise in employment and a increased economy. They can be a stimulus needed for central business districts to improve the area. The sizes of the units are large and there is always room for expansion meaning that there are greater shopping choices as the large retailers set up in the shopping centres creating a range of shopping opportunities such as clothes, appliances and food.
The negative of city centres consist of shops being very limited on their size and therefore not suiting large-scale retailers such as Wal-Mart and John Lewis. The Central business districts have a higher crime rate, are not pedestrianized which is dangerous and not protected from the weather. This therefore means people are even less likely to come to an area if it’s a less enjoyable experience.
The Trafford Centre is an example of the negative impacts an out of town shopping centre can have on the surrounding towns. The Trafford Centre is situated 7KM from Manchester and is located between junctions 9 and 10 on the M60. There are over 10,000 free parking spaces and 5.3 million people live within 45 minutes. The centre was completed in 1998 on a brownfield site with more than 200 shops and a cinema. The site has caused further investment. Although the Trafford centre has not affected the larger towns such as Bolton other smaller towns such as Altrincham were hit hard. In 2011, 1/3rd of the town’s shops were unoccupied which is the highest proportion in the UK. As Altrincham is only 12KM away form the Trafford centre it is seen as an attractive place to shop with greater shopping choices and free parking. This causes not only issues in the centre with a decline in services but also increased pollution and congestion on the M60.
The Metro Centre in Gateshead is a further example of the impact retail out of the CBD can have on an area. The North East of England was one of the first to experience out of town shopping centres in the UK. The location was situated in Tyneside and had a population of 1.5million people living within 30 minutes making it the perfect place in the developer’s eyes to build a shopping mall. The shopping mall finished initial construction in 1986 and has constantly been expanding since as well as the transport routes being improved in the area. There are over 340 shops and 10,000 free parking spaces along with its own junction off the A1 West. Although it aimed to make people feel safe and relaxed when shopping it has caused major impacts on local CBDs. As well as major shopping chains moving out of the CBD as the available floor space is larger it has meant that people have decided to stop shopping in the CBDs. Howard showed 12% of the trips made to the centre would have been made to Newcastle CBD as well as this in Gateshead the amount of pedestrians in the CBD fell by 34%.
This has caused Newcastle and Gateshead to both respond by forming redevelopment plans. Eldon Square was built in the 1970’s and was thriving before the metro centre was built in 1986. Following the opening, Eldon square become known for derelict buildings, vandalism and unemployment, all which have a major impact. Eldon Gardens was their response and they are now attract 25 million people a year with major department stores occupying the larger plots in the area such as John Lewis, Marks and Spencers and Fenwick. They have put various other services in place to improve the area such as not in Newcastle there are 8 multi-storey car parks and 48 surface car parks which means the shopping area has been re-pedestrianized making the area feel more like a community and a more pleasurable experience once again. There has also been a fantastic initiative “Alive after five.” This promote shops to stay open after 5 pm and restaurants reduce the prices of food between 5-7 pm as well as the area providing free parking. This has meant there have been 750,000 extra people in this extra shopping time in the last 6 months. This shows the benefits that can be brought about by the initial negative impacts of decentralisation.
Merry Hill is situated in the West Midlands, it was developed over a period of 5 years starting in the 1985’s. Merry Hill has over 250 stores as well as restaurants and a cinema. When Merry hill finally opened a large number of retail chains decided to move from the surrounding towns to the new shopping centres. This left a number of empty stores in the town centres causing abandoned towns where the population then chose to shop in the outer town shopping centres. This led to a downturn in trade for the remaining shops. Dudley was the hardest hit town with a 70% decline in retailing market share following the opening of merry hill. This then was made worse when the council changed the parking arrangements and the prices went up this meant even more shoppers were turned away from the area. This shows what can happen to local towns when decentralisation occurs.
However, by the 1990’s Solihull town centre was out dated without being able to compete with transport links, free parking and various extensive services. Touchwood was established in 2001 and was constructed on the car parks behind the main high street. This new site integrates seamlessly with the high street reflecting heritage in a contemporary style. There are 104 stores in total with the anchor store being John Lewis. Touchwood aimed to mirror its competitor, merry hill by implementing attracting features such as being located on the M42 and have a large number of parking spaces (6,000) The area has also created a large arcade as well as two internal courtyards and 4 new gardens. This makes the shopping experience more appealing and touchwood can be a retail centre as well as being for leisure.
Another major impact on urban areas is that people are starting to move out to the rural suburbs through the process of urban sprawl.
As there is a greater number of shops and services are out of the town centre and an increased wealth since the 20th century people are starting to move out of the city and create “edge of city” settlements. This leaves an area in the centre of the city with the poorer people who can’t afford to move to the suburbs and therefore creates a division of class. This is an increasingly major impact, which is a social issue, which is only going to get worse as out of town shopping centres increase and expand their services. One way this is happening is by transport services increasing meaning the out of town shopping centres are better connected to the city centre allowing more people to live away from the city and to commute to work if that is based in the
city.
In conclusion, the effect of decentralisation on retail and other services can have a major impact on urban areas. This is due to the fact the city centres have been abandoned with many remaining empty shops. This leads to high crime rates and not an aesthetically pleasing area. Ultimately this causes gentrification. Clearly from the examples we can see how decentralisation causes a major impact from increased pollution rates to a lack of accessibility to the minorities such as the elderly, under 17’s and the poor who cant get to the out of town shopping centres.
Although ultimately I agree with the statement by constructing out of town shopping centres causing decentralisation has caused CBDs to redevelop the areas leading to a greater variety of services and opportunity’s to shop both in and out of the city.
Therefore decentralisation does have a major impact however this can be both negative and positive.