Understanding the Retail Business Potential of Inner Cities

Abstract

Inner city areas are often significantly “under-stored” (Loukaitou-Sideris 2000), with inadequate opportunities for residents to shop near their homes. More residents are transit dependent in inner cities than in the general metro area, making them even more constrained to local choices. But which types of establishments are needed in which locations? Given their isolation from the economic mainstream, marginalized communities may be the least able to provide information regarding development possibilities. Yet they would also be likely to benefit substantially from such knowledge, given that inner city markets are the focus of less attention than those of economically successful communities. This paper develops methods to bridge this informational gap. Such gaps produce particularly regressive forms of market failure, where economic isolation and stagnation reinforce each other. Business opportunities are likely to exist in the inner city, but private capital’s focus needs to be reoriented to such possibilities. Public entities may help more by analyzing and providing information than by organizing and implementing top-down programs. Universities may be particularly well suited to bridging informational gaps (Weiler 2000a). In that spirit, this study represents a further effort in con