At the core of a city is the CBD which often contains specialist areas or districts in order to benefit from external economies of scale. Vertical land-use zoning in the CBD is also common, as retail outlets are found on the ground floor, commercial users higher up and residential above that. The CBD, however, is often burdened with traffic congestion and parking restrictions, and this has led to competition from regional business centers and out-of-town developments, including superstores.
As Cartwright points out, there is also competition from strips or ribbons of business development that can be found lining major streets and highways. These ribbons take four forms: local service (a neighborhood), traffic oriented (fast food outlets), clusters (medical offices), and land need (big box stores)
But Cartwright also outlines five levels in the hierarchy of shopping centers and malls in a city:
- At the lowest level is the neighborhood convenience store. It offers frequently-needed low-order goods and services and serves populations of up to 6000.
- This is followed in rank by the neighborhood center (6 000-15 000 people),
- Community malls (30 000-50 000 people)
- Regional malls (100 000-200 000 people) and,
- At the top, super-regional malls (over 250 000 people).
The Field Study:
Field studies may be carried out in a great variety of ways. The entire class, small groups, or individuals may be involved on separate occasions in observing and recording conditions in the local environment and then reporting their findings back to the class or teacher.
- Organize (see image of rubric)
- Locate centers by using students' general knowledge and by reference to suitable land use map of the area.
- Using the criteria (see images of field study forms), decide if centers are neighborhood, district, or regional. A City Directory could be used to identify the types of businesses in the centre.
- With groups, as opposed to individuals, four to five centers could be visited, depending on the size of the group.
- Record on the field study sheets, have them copied along with supportive information (e.g. map) for class members, and give a short report to the class. Include the evaluations/conclusions, with evidence.
Keywords for Further Research:
- Neighborhood business center
- Community business center
- Regional business center
- CBD
- Local history
- Role of trees in revitalizing business districts
- Mixing land uses
- Suburban business districts
- Parking management
- Business Improvement Zones
- Urban forest
- Sustainable Business Districts
- Hierarchy of business districts
- Low-order goods and services
- Threshold population
- Frequency of need
Sources:
- William Andrews (ed.). A Guide to Urban Studies. Prentice Hall. Scarborough. pgs. 76-77.
- Fraser Cartwright. Urban Dynamics. Oxford University Press. Don Mills. 1991. pgs. 80-88
- Susan Mayhew. A Dictionary of Geography. Oxford University Press.
James Gibson - James Gibson is a retired teacher and small business owner. He is a published writer and has a wide spectrum of interests.
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