Since the late 1970s retail parks have developed in the United Kingdom to become a substantial element of the process of retail decentralisation. From an early focus on ‘bulky-goods' retailing, they have grown and evolved into a variety of unplanned and planned forms, the largest of which can be characterised as ‘hybrid regional centres’. The more recent addition of typical ‘high-street’ retailers to their functions has earned the epithet ‘fashion parks’. Intermittent concern has been expressed at the likely negative effects that these phenomena are having on the traditional system of city, town, and district shopping centres in British cities. In these circumstances it is surprising that little of the recent retail impact research has focused on the larger retail parks. Partially to redress this deficiency, the authors investigate the impact of a large unplanned retail park on the retail system of the Greater Swansea area. The evidence suggests that the greatest impact continues to be focused on the middle-order district and local town centres. The relationship is now ‘strongly competitive’ rather than ‘benignly complementary’. At the same time, the growth in scale and functional diversity of the retail park suggests a strong ‘competitive erosion’ of the status of the city centre. Thus, local authorities concerned for the future of their city, town, and district shopping centres should view processes operating within the shopping centre development industry in association with the location and marketing strategies of the principal ‘high-street’ multiple retailers with considerable caution.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
BCSC, 1996, “Town centre futures: the long-term impact of new” developments”, research report; British Council of Shopping Centres, DTZ Thorpe and Nathaniel Lichfield and Partners, London; 1 Queen Anne's Gate, London SW1H 9BT.
2.
BromleyR D FThomasC J, 1988, “Retail parks: Spatial and functional integration of retail units in the Swansea Enterprise Zone”Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, New Series134–18.
BromleyR D FThomasC J, 1993b, “The retail revolution, the carless shopper and disadvantage”Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, New Series18222–236.
5.
BromleyR D FTallonA RThomasC J, 2000, “Using the city centre”, report to the City and County of Swansea, and the Welsh Development Agency; Department of Geography, University of Wales Swansea, Swansea.
6.
BrownS, 1990Retail Warehouse Parks (Longman, Harlow, Essex).
7.
BurtSSparksL, 2001, “The implications of Wal-Mart's takeover of ASDA”Environment and Planning A331463–1487.
8.
CollisCBerkeleyNFletcherD R, 2000, “Retail decline and policy responses in district shopping centres”Town Planning Review71149–168.
9.
DaviesR L, 1986, “Retail planning in disarray?”The Planner7220–22.
10.
DETR, 1998The Impact of Large Foodstores on Market Towns and District Centres report for the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions by C B Hillier Parker, Savell Bird Axon (The Stationery Office, London).
11.
DoE, 1988Planning Policy Guidance 6: Major Retail DevelopmentsDepartment of the Environment (The Stationery Office, London).
12.
DoE, 1992The Effects of Major Out-of-town Retail DevelopmentDepartment of the Environment (The Stationery Office, London).
13.
DoE, 1996Town Centres and Retail Developments: Planning and Policy Guidance Note 6Department of the Environment (The Stationery Office, London).
14.
GuyC M, 1994, “Whatever happened to regional shopping centres?”Geography76291–312.
15.
GuyC M, 1996, “Corporate strategies in food retailing and their local impacts: A Case study of Cardiff”Environment and Planning A281575–1602.
16.
GuyC M, 1997, “Fixed assets or sunk costs? An examination of retailers' land and property investment in the United Kingdom”Environment and Planning A291449–1464.
17.
GuyC M, 1998a, “‘High street’ retailing in off-centre retail parks. A review of the effectiveness of land use planning policies”Town Planning Review69291–313.
18.
GuyC M, 1998b, “Off-centre retailing in the UK: Prospects for the future and the implications for town centres”Built Environment2416–30.
19.
GuyC M, 1998c, “Alternative-use valuation, open A1 planning consent, and the development of retail parks”Environment and Planning A3037–47.
20.
GuyC, 2000, “From crinkly sheds to fashion parks: The role of financial investment in the transformation of retail parks”International Review of Retail, Distribution and Consumer Research10389–400.
21.
GuyC, 2002, “Is retail planning policy effective? The case of very large store development in the UK”Planning Theory and Practice3319–330.
22.
HallsworthG, 1994, “Decentralisation in Britain: The breaking of the Third Wave”The Professional Geographer46296–307.
23.
ParkerHillier, 77 Grosvenor Street, London W1A 2BT.
24.
ParkerHillier1999, “Retail warehouse parks in the pipeline, January 1999”.
25.
ParkerHillier2001, “British shopping centre development. Master list summary, April 2001”.
26.
ParkerHillier2002, “Retail warehouse parks in the pipeline, September 2002”.
27.
MarsdenTWrigleyN, 1996, “Retailing, the food system and the regulatory state”, in Retailing, Consumption and Capital: Towards the New Retail Geography Eds WrigleyNLoweM (Longman, Harlow, Essex) pp 33–47.
28.
SCCP, 2002, “Swansea City Centre 2001: vitality, attractiveness and viability”, Swansea City Centre Partnership, Swansea.
29.
SchillerR K, 1986, “Retail decentralization—the coming of the third wave”The Planner7213–15.
30.
SparksL, 1996a, “Challenge and change: Shoprite and the restructuring of grocery retailing in Scotland”Environment and Planning A28261–284.
31.
SparksL, 1996b, “Space wars: Wm Low and the ‘auld enemy’”Environment and Planning A281465–1484.
32.
ThomasC J, 1989, “Retail change in Greater Swansea: Evolution or revolution?”Geography71201–213.
33.
ThomasC JBromleyR D F, 1987, “The growth and functioning of an unplanned retail park: The Swansea enterprise zone”Regional Studies21287–300.
34.
ThomasC JBromleyR D F, 1993, “The impact of out-of-centre retailing”, in Retail Change: Contemporary Issues Eds BromleyR D FThomasC J (UCL Press, London) pp 126–152.
35.
ThomasC JBromleyR D F, 1995, “Retail decline and the opportunities for commercial revitalisation of small shopping centres: A Case study in South Wales”Town Planning Review66431–452.
36.
ThomasC JBromleyR D F, 1996, “Safety and shopping: Peripherality and shopper anxiety in the city centre”Environment and Planning C: Government and Planning14469–488.
37.
ThomasC JBromleyR D F, 2000, “City centre revitalisation: Problems of fragmentation and fear in the evening and night-time city”Urban Studies371407–1433.
38.
ThomasC JBromleyR D F, 2002, “The changing competitive relationship between a small town centre and out-of-town retailing: Town revival in South Wales”Urban Studies39791–817.
39.
ThomasC JBromleyR D F, 2003, “Retail revitalization and small town centres: The contribution of shopping linkages”Applied Geography2347–71.
40.
URBED, 1994Vital and Viable Town Centres: Meeting the ChallengeUrban and Economic Development Group; report of a study undertaken in association with Comedia, Hillier Parker, Bartlett School of Planning, University College London, and Environmental and Transport Planning, Department of the Environment (The Stationery Office, London).
41.
URBED, 1997Town Centre Partnerships: A Survey of Good Practice and Report of an Action Research ProjectUrban and Economic Development Group (The Stationery Office, London).
42.
Welsh Office, 1996Planning Policy GuidanceWales Office, Office of the Secretary of State for Wales, Gwydyr House, Whitehall, London SWA 2ER.
43.
WrigleyN, 1992, “Sunk capital, the property crisis, and the restructuring of British food retailing”Environment and Planning A241521–1530.
44.
WrigleyN, 1996, “Sunk costs and corporate restructuring: British food retailing and the property crisis”, in Retailing, Consumption and Capital: Towards the New Retail Geography Eds WrigleyNLoweM S (Addison Wesley Longman, Harlow, Essex) pp 116–136.
45.
WrigleyN, 1998, “Understanding store development programmes in post-property-crisis UK food retailing”Environment and Planning A3015–35.
46.
WrigleyNLoweM S, 2002Reading Retail: A Geographical Perspective on Retailing and Consumption Spaces (Arnold, London).
