Review of Studies on the Urban Retailing System

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to review studies on the urban retailing system. The development of a systematic classification of retail systems was based to a large extent on the pioneering set of Berry's works on American cities during 1958-63. Berry (1963) identified that the urban retailing system is composed of three basic elements; nucleated centers, ribbon developments and specialized functional areas. He suggested that nucleated centers represent a hierarchy of business centers, these being either planned or unplanned. Berry (1963) also focused attention on changes in urban retailing system. An examination was undertaken of the relationship between population movements and the subsequent decline or expansion of the retail system.After Berry's works, there were many studies on the identification and description of the urban retail hierarchy. But there were few studies which attempted to distinguish between systematic variations in the three elements of the urban retailing system. Though Davies (1974) and Potter (1982) identified nucleated centers and ribbons in British cities, they pointed out clearly not to be able to distinguish them. It has long been argued that ribbon and specialized areas are not separate components of the retailing system but merely modifications of nucleated centers.In the USA since the 1960s, then in the UK since the 1970s, the organization of retailing and urban systems have been changing remarkably. Many works have been undertaken to update the Berry's framework through the incorporation of contemporary forms of shopping development, such as superstores, regional shopping centers and convenience stores. Dawson and Sparks (1980), by contrast, announced that hierarchical models are no longer adequate representations of the urban retailing system. Recently, Brown (1991) presented a non-hierarchical model of urban retail location. It is necessary to rethink urban hierarchical structures and build another model.Studies of the changes in urban retailing systems are divided into three basic categories: process studies, cross-sectional studies and stage type studies (Shaw, 1978). This study considers process studies and stage type studies.In stage type studies, the suburbanization or decentralization processes of retailing are divided into several stages. In American cities, retail decentralization involved the decline of the CBD and the development of shopping malls in the fast growing suburban areas. Now, the CBD is one of several regional shopping centers and no longer at the top of the retail hierarchy. Because Britain has experienced strong planning restrictions against urban sprawl and decentralization, there is little evidence of retail decline at the CBD.Process studies of the urban retailing system are directed to the processes of the natural dynamics of retailing-the unending sequence of shop openings, closures and relocations. Shaw (1978) and Brown (1990) examined the changes in central shopping districts in the UK, and Lord (1992) examined suburban automobile rows in the USA. Each of them examined the dynamics of retailing in one shopping districts. The changes of a shopping district are not only made by the accumulation of the change of shops within that district but also influenced by other retailing facilities within the urban area. Therefore, it is necessary to examine the dynamics of retail areas in the whole urban area.Planning restriction is closely associated with the location of retail activities. Public policy control aimed directly at retail development in the USA traditionally has been minimal. In many cities, large-scale investment in the CBD redevelopment has been undertaken to present better opportunities for the central area retailers. But, in many cases, inner-city ribbons have been left in an impoverished state. In British cities, the development of new retailing in a declining shopping district hastened the decline of remainder of that district.