Aesop Improving Planning Education in Europe

Although shopping behavior constitutes one of the most important spatial-economic activities in daily life, it receives rather little attention in the planning literature when compared to other topics such as transport, housing and the environment. The reason for this seems to be threefold: first, governments are often loath to interfere in a sector of the economy which is viewed as being relatively responsive to consumers (and thus relatively unproblematic). Second, the boundaries of retail studies as a discipline are rather illdefined. The methods used in retail studies run the gamut between locational studies, which usually rely on heavily quantitative data analyses borrowed from economic geography, to postmodern critiques of consumerism or shopping mall design. Thirdly, in some countries retail studies appears to be the specialized domain of distribution experts, instead of receiving the broader attention of strategic planners. This article argues that retail planning policy issues are not marginal concerns to spatial planning, but contain elements which cut straight to the heart of the ideals of the profession. The location of out-of-town shopping centers, for example, can have profound effects on the economic viability of town centers and independent retailers. It also will have impacts on issues closely tied to spatial planning such as traffic patterns, housing preferences, socio-spatial segregation and the natural environment. Moreover, shifts in the places of consumption can also have negative effects for segments of the population not owning cars, such as poor inner city residents and the elderly. Moreover, the shift from public space (city centers) to private space (shopping malls) will also have impacts on urban social life, especially if these projects succeed in extending their provisions to include after-hours entertainment. By examining the policies and developments of three countries in Europe — Germany, the Netherlands and the UK — this article contrives to show how spatial planning policy can affect the retail landscape. From these cases, it constructs a typology of urban regimes, and argues that governments and planners should take a new interest in retail issues and adopt a pro-active and coordinated approach in tackling them.