Encouraging the implication of shops in the city by means of retail associationism. The case of Bilbao

[EN] Retail activity in urban areas constitutes a key variable in the health of a city. For that reason, the processes of urban revitalization and retail revitalization run in parallel manner. Integrated management models for urban centres constitute a good framework to harness the competitiveness of the cities and their retail businesses, but they require of all implied participation, by means of a public – private cooperation.

Understanding urban freight activity: key issues for freight planning

Using information gathered from some 30 UK surveys undertaken over the last 15 years, this paper provides planners with an understanding of road-based urban retail freight transport activity. The findings suggest that the average High Street business could expect up to 10 core goods and 7.6 service visits per week, in non-peak trading periods with 25% additional activity during the build up to Christmas. Vans (‘light goods vehicles’) were the dominant mode, responsible for 42% of delivery activity with a mean dwell time of 10 min. Where possible, load consolidation should be encouraged by methods such as Delivery and Servicing Plans and using out-of-town freight consolidation centres to bring in goods over the last mile in shared vehicles. Where this is not possible, loading bay monitoring and control, and preferred lorry routes can help manage the movement of vehicles in and out of dense urban areas. Service vehicle activity is a significant contributor to urban freight movements and often requires vehicles to be parked close to the premises being served. Centrally coordinating elements of service provision (e.g. for cleaning, equipment maintenance, recyclate collection), or providing improved, more flexible parking provision for service vehicles could be as or more beneficial in reducing overall freight impacts than focusing on core goods deliveries. In the case of the latter, ‘pay-as-you-leave’ car park charging systems could encourage short-stay service vehicles to park off-street.

Experiences of Public-Private Collaboration for Stimulating

For over a decade now, work has been ongoing on the professional organization and management of town centre retail spaces in Spain under what is known as the Open Shopping Centre model. Introducing this model has involved a process of public-private collaboration in several different phases, conditioned to a large extent by the specific context of each initiative. With a view to furthering the process of benchmarking developed out of the experiences of recent years, we shall use case analysis to explain trends in initiatives for retail regeneration and stimulation undertaken in the Basque Country (an autonomous community in the north of Spain) since 2000. We analyze the factors that have prompted these initiatives, assessing and comparing the landmarks and conditions that have marked, or are determining, progress in the dynamic of collaboration between municipal authorities and retailers for a competitive improvement both in the retail sector and in the environment in which it operates: the city. Finally we list witch are these key factors.

Borlänge, Dalarnas köpstad no 1 : Hur centrum, Kupolen och Norra Backa kan bindas samman för att tillsammans vinna köpkraften

Thesis:The aim of our study is to identify how IKEA's externalestablishment at Norra Backa can affect Kupolen and the centre. This in order to provide suggestions on how these trade areas can be connected and create a whole to thereby gain the purchasing power.Method:In our study we used triangulation. That means we have used both a quantitative and a qualitative approach. The quantitative method based on a survey with 100 respondents. The qualitative method is based on interviews with the centre conductors of Borlänge, Laila G Prosén and Anna Timander.Theory:The theories we have used is STP, substitution effects and effects of overspill, important factors for an attractive market town, Town Centre Management, Urban Retail Product.Conclusion: We found how IKEA's establishment at Norra Backa may affect Kupolen and the center of Borlänge then we gave suggestions on how these trade areas can be connected.

SCAPE sustainable urban design simulation

SCAPE is an interactive simulation that allows teachers and students to experiment with sustainable urban design. The project is based on the Kelvin Grove Urban Village, Brisbane. Groups of students role play as political, retail, elderly, student, council and builder characters to negotiate on game decisions around land use, density, housing types and transport in order to design a sustainable urban community. As they do so, the 3D simulation reacts in real time to illustrate what the village would look like as well as provide statistical information about the community they are creating. SCAPE brings together education, urban professional and technology expertise, helping it achieve educational outcomes, reflect real-world scenarios and include sophisticated logic and decision making processes and effects.---------- The research methodology was primarily practice led underpinned by action research methods resulting in innovative approaches and techniques in adapting digital games and simulation technologies to create dynamic and engaging experiences in pedagogical contexts. It also illustrates the possibilities for urban designers to engage a variety of communities in the processes, complexities and possibilities of urban development and sustainability.

Binjiang urban centre and transport interchange

This project is the result of a collaborative design process involving QUT School of Design, and AREN Consulting and ZIAD (Zheijiang Provincial Institute of Architectural Design and Research). This major urban initiative explores new standards for multi-function urban centres. The sophisticated integration of transit interchange with retail, commercial and residential functions provides a dramatic mix of social activities. The large site is formed into a raised and terraced urban garden, with the transit centre and retail shopping precinct housed below this landscaped roof. Towering above this ‘hill’ are five building blocks housing the commercial and residential accommodations. These environmentally low-impact buildings are topped with a high-tech greenhouse roof or photovoltaic cells.

Genshanmen Urban Centre and Transport Interchange

This project is the result of a collaborative design process involving QUT School of Design, and AREN Consulting and ZIAD (Zheijiang Provincial Institute of Architectural Design and Research). This project is the submission prepared by the above partnership for an invited international design competition, promoted by Hangzhou City, China. ---------- This major urban design and architecture project is for a large transport oriented development on the new Hangzhou Subway system. The development, covering several city blocks, includes the provision of residential, retail, education, commercial, and transport infrastructure; integrated with rail, bus and ferry systems. ---------- The design strategies are based on the development or artificial land forms; the cutting of new canals, raising of the ground plane, and metaphoric reference to the Yellow Mountains (explored in the detail of the central ‘ridge’ of built form). Further to this, the project explores the integration of sustainable technologies and philosophies with large scale building projects in a subtropical context.

Report : Case study 2 : a subtropical urban community : investigating medium to high density residential typologies by design charrette

The case study site is physically disconnected from its surrounding community by the rail corridor and future bus lanes and is unlikely to be able to sustain its own commercial retail centre. As a result, it may also be socially disconnected from surrounding suburbs. However, it does offer proximity and access to an extensive „natural‟ area, and this is seen as key opportunity for the proposed development to develop a strong relationship with surrounding suburbs...

Exploring pedestrian accessibility and walkability : insight from public place observations in inner-urban higher density Brisbane, Australia

As planners work to create more sustainable and liveable urban environments, a priority is to transition away from prioritising the automobile and towards enhancing the pedestrian experience. Thus, this research explores the experience of pedestrian accessibility in inner-urban higher-density Brisbane in Australia, drawing on findings from semi-structured in-depth interviews with 24 residents and over 100 hours of public place observations in three case-study neighbourhoods. The interviews took place in residents homes and explored their experience of higher density living and their neighbourhood, whilst observations were recorded through a combination of methods including photographs, sketch maps, recordings and field journals. Observation locations included retail and commercial space, roads, parkland and open space, with multiple observations at each location. A thematic analysis identified common themes in both interviews and the observations, with this paper focusing on residents’ lived experience in urban built environments. This analysis revealed that pedestrian accessibility is linked to access to local amenities and direct routes, aesthetics, sense of community, ownership of space and safety. In particular, observations revealed how pedestrian accessibility and route-taking works with, against or in spite of the design features of urban environments, as well as the importance of the social use of the built environment. Residents spoke about although walking quick and preferred for local amenities, the decision to walk was moderated by factors such as time of day and perceived safety. Measures to ensure and improve the pedestrian accessibility of urban areas needs to take into account the propensity for people to prefer and improvise direct routes (often to the detriment of traffic safety considerations), the importance of ongoing maintenance and upgrading of walking infrastructure and the importance of aesthetically pleasing and safe walking environments. By combining interviews and observations, this research highlights the current dominance of the automobile culture in Brisbane and the layers of meaning, experiences and complexity hidden within the pedestrian experience.

Using communicative ecology theory to scope the emerging role of social media in the evolution of urban food systems

Urban agriculture plays an increasingly vital role in supplying food to urban populations. Changes in Information and Communications Technology (ICT) are already driving widespread change in diverse food-related industries such as retail, hospitality and marketing. It is reasonable to suspect that the fields of ubiquitous technology, urban informatics and social media equally have a lot to offer the evolution of core urban food systems. We use communicative ecology theory to describe emerging innovations in urban food systems according to their technical, discursive and social components. We conclude that social media in particular accentuate fundamental social interconnections normally effaced by conventional industrialised approaches to food production and consumption.

Prevalence of Salmonella in retail whole chicken carcasses in Hanoi, Vietnam

Au Vietnam, les informations sur la contamination de la viande de volaille par les salmonelles sont presque limitées. L’étude cherche à comparer la prévalence des salmonelles entre les marchés traditionnels et les supermarchés ainsi qu’entre les carcasses fraîches et congelées en plus de mesurer la température interne au moment de l’achat. Deux cent quarante-cinq carcasses de poulets entiers ont été achetées des marchés et des supermarchés dans sept arrondissements de la ville de Hanoi au Vietnam de juin à juillet 2011. L’échantillonnage a inclu 110 carcasses fraîches de marchés traditionnels (F/M), 109 carcasses fraîches des supermarchés (F/SM) et 26 carcasses congelées des supermarchés (FZ/SM). La température intérieure des carcasses a été évalué au moment de l’achat des carcasses. Salmonella a été isolé à partir de rinçage de carcasses et les isolats ont été sérotypés. La prévalence de carcasses positives pour Salmonella était de 66,5% (163/245) et variait entre les trois catégories : 84,55% (93/110) de F/M, 59,63% (65/109) de F/SM et 19,23% (5/26) de FZ/SM (P<0.05). Pour un total de 25 sérovars détectés, le sérovar principal fut Agona (24,78%) suivi de Albany (20,43%) et enfin Corvallis (10%). Deux des sérovars repérés se retrouvaient sur les mêmes carcasses pour 66 échantillons (26,9%). La température interne des carcasses des marchés traditionnels et des supermarchés était associé une différence significative (P < 0.05) avec une température moyenne de 27,3°C et 15,8°C respectivement. Cette étude dévoile une prévalence élevée de Salmonellaspp.des carcasses de poulets à Hanoi et démontre une difficulté partagée par tous les types de marchés à maintenir une température adéquate des carcasses.

Customer perceptions of Banking Products and Services in Kerala with reference to Specific Customer Segments in the Urban Area

As of 1999. the state of Kerala has 3210 offices of scheduled commercial banks (SCBS). In all, there are 48 commercial banks operating in Kerala, which includes PSBs, OPBs, NPBS. FBs, and Gramin Banks. The urban areas give a complete picture of the competition in the present day banking scenario with the presence of all bank groups. Semi-urban areas of Kerala have 2196 and urban areas have 593 as on March 1995.“ The study focuses on the selected segments ofthe urban customers in Kerala which is capable of giving the finer aspects of variation in customer behaviour in the purchase of banking products and services. Considering the exhaustive nature of such an exercise, all the districts in the state have not been brought under the purview of the study. Instead. three districts with largest volume of business in terms of deposits, advances, and number of offices have been short listed as representative regions for a focused study. The study focuses on the retail customer segment and their perceptions on the various products or services offered to them. Non Resident Indians (NRIs), and Traders and Small—ScaIe Industries segments have also been included in the study with a view to obtain a comparative picture with respect to perception on customer satisfaction and service quality dimensions and bank choice behaviour. The research is hence confined to customer behaviour and the implications for possible strategies for segmentation within the retail segment customers

Spatial concentration in institutional investment in the UK: some comparisons between the retail and office sectors

Geographic diversity is a fundamental tenet in portfolio management. Yet there is evidence from the US that institutional investors prefer to concentrate their real estate investments in favoured and specific areas as primary locations for the properties that occupy their portfolios. The little work done in the UK draws similar conclusions, but has so far focused only on the office sector; no work has examined this issue for the retail sector. This paper therefore examines the extent of real estate investment concentration in institutional Retail portfolios in the UK at two points in time; 1998 and 2003, and presents some comparisons with equivalent concentrations in the office sector. The findings indicate that retail investment correlates more closely with the UK urban hierarchy than that for offices when measured against employment, and is focused on urban areas with high populations and large population densities which have larger numbers of retail units in which to invest.

The role of retailing in urban regeneration

Recent ‘best practice’ research and guidance has emphasised the important role that can be played by retail-led urban regeneration projects, particularly in ‘under-served markets’ in the UK. This builds on ideas first formulated in the USA by Michael Porter through his close relationship with the Initiative for the Competitive Inner City (ICIC). This paper critically examines the role of retailing in urban regeneration nationally and locally in the UK, focusing on in-town shopping centres located in inner city areas of the UK. The paper is based on case study research in these centres, and was completed during 2003 for The Office of Science and Technology. The paper examines how employment impact in retail-led regeneration is commonly measured, and calls for more research to determine the real impact of retail in deprived communities using other, relevant measures.