The Political Management of Change in Urban Retailing

René Péron

International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 2001, vol. 25, issue 4, 847-878

Abstract: This article deals with changing relations between retailing and the town. It focuses on the implications of changes that have arisen over the last thirty years and on the processes that have generated such transformations – or, to be more precise, on the role that policies may have played in the way change is conducted. The analysis examines the trend towards homogenization, on the world scale, of the way towns are being reconfigured: the development that locates large stores in distended, mono‐functional, off‐centre zones; the reshaping of neighbourhoods, which now tend to be defined solely by the notion of accessibility; town‐centre crisis and the selective rehabilitation of some town centres; and the decay of public spaces. It goes on to express reservations about the use of the term ‘Americanization’ to describe this movement, and then attempts to evaluate how far national laws and local administrations are likely to produce significant spatial, social and cultural differences. To achieve these aims, it adopts an approach that compares situations and practices from one country to another (in Europe and in North America), as well as from one town to another. L’article traite de l’évolution des rapports entre le commerce de détail et la ville. Il est centré sur les enjeux des évolutions survenues au cours de ces trente dernières années, sur les processus qui ont généré ces transformations, plus précisément sur le rôle qu’ont pu jouer les politiques dans la conduite du changement. L’analyse interroge la tendance à l’homogénéisation des reconfigurations urbaines observée à l’échelle mondiale: développement des implantations de grandes surfaces en zones périphériques distendues et mono‐fonctionnelles, recomposition des proximités qui tendent à se définir par la seule notion d’accessibilité, crise et réhabilitations sélectives des centres‐villes, dépérissement des espaces publics. L’auteur émet des réserves sur le choix du terme ‘américanisation’ pour qualifier le mouvement. Il tente d’apprécier dans quelle mesure les législations nationales et les gestions locales sont susceptibles de produire des différences spatiales, sociales et culturelles significatives. Il utilise à ces fins une approche comparative qui confronte les situations et les pratiques d’un pays à l’autre (en Europe et en Amérique du nord), mais aussi de villes à villes.

Date: 2001
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