GEOG 442

1
GEOG 442

• Day 19 Commercial and Retail Analysis, and
  Community Facilities

2
Retail and Commercial Uses

• Independent retailers are being replaced with
  chain supermarkets and department stores.
• Delivery services are tailored to bigger retail
  operations.
• Population is being redistributed to outer
  suburbs inner city shops are losing business.

3
Retail and Commercial Uses

• Corner stores offer place of contact, meeting
  place for the less mobile.
• Absence of small local stores may cause loss of
  community feeling.
• To encourage/ sustain local neighbourhood shops,
  we need to have more flexible policies allowing
  shops to expand when they need to, and encourage
  the provision of housing above the shops or the
  conversion of a ground floor of a house into a
  shop.

4
Retail and Commercial Uses

• Key to success for planning old shopping streets
  to make them economically viable is be selective.
• The boundary for improvement should be clearly
  defined
• Combo of tactics includes pedestrianizing street,
  some restrictions on automobiles, closure of some
  shops, redevelopment, beautification of building
  facades, adding rear access and parking, etc.

5
Retail and Commercial Uses

• CBD should be located centrally in the peak flow
  of vehicular and pedestrian traffic.
• Suburban centers should be located next to major
  transportation routes and residential areas.
• General rule size of such a centre should be
  between 30 and 150 acres this avoids large
  concentrations of traffic and impervious ground
  cover.

6
Retail and Commercial Uses

• At the project level, some retail location
  strategies exist. There are three steps
• Area Identification variables identified, then
  used to generate the best area for project
• Sub-Area Identification additional square
  footage of sub-area calculated to find adequate
  support spacing.
• Site Selection.

7
Retail and Commercial Uses

• Sizing Two general questions considered
• Is operation too large for site? Considerations
  related to internal circulation, parking and
  loading, and visual amenities.
• Is operation too large for general environment?
  Considerations related to activities and traffic,
  environmental impact, and compatibility with
  surrounding areas.

8
Community Facilities

• Siting is based on adequacy of service delivery,
  which focuses on convenience and economy
• Basic principles are
• -Site should be level
• -Major parks, golf courses, etc. should be
  located on the urban fringe
• -Direct access to public transportation.

9
Community Facilities

• o Adequate sizing for site
• o Public sites, such as churches and stadiums,
  located centrally on low cost land
• o Community facilities should be considered part
  of the open space system.