Retail Change in Historic City Centres

Abstract

Regenerating the historic centres of cities has long been an important and widely used intervention for local authorities to fight urban decay and obsolescence. It also has helped administrations to increase their competitive power in attracting new businesses, increasing visitors’ footfall, and to promote rising property values. Pedestrianization is one of these intervention tools used to regenerate historic city centres, providing benefits in such areas as health, environment, transportation and accessibility, and also economic and social prospects. Pedestrianization is also one of the most important contributors to the expansion of retail activities, since it increases visitors’ footfall. On the other hand, pedestrianization might produce an unintentional commercial gentrification. Therefore, it is wise to note that feedback mechanisms should be established in the earlier phases of the regeneration plans formulated by municipalities. In this respect, the regeneration of the historic centre of the Istanbul’s Kadıköy district, which started in 2004 and still continues, is important. In Kadıköy, after the implementation of the pedestrianization scheme, the area has witnessed an unintended commercial gentrification which led to the change of retail functions to a large extent. In this paper, the reasons behind this commercial change, and the displacement of small retailers between 2004 and 2018, is discussed.