Employment in retailing: A case study of employment in suburban shopping centres

There have been many studies of the retail industry in recent years, and of the impact that retailing has had on the spatial arrangement of urban areas and on consumer behaviour. Little attention has been paid, however, to employment in retailing, which is disturbing in view of its growing importance and its rapidly changing nature and composition. This paper examines the nature of the broad structural changes within the industry, and investigates their spatial consequences through a case study of employment generation within a system of suburban retail centres in Canberra, Australia. It is shown that the evolution of suburban centres, particularly those of a regional variety, has had an important and enriching impact on the suburban labour market. The regional centres are also seen to be the focus of the major structural employment changes currently affecting the retail industry. This has some important implications for urban planning.     

The revival of rural areas in advanced economies: a review of some causes and consequences

Recent years have seen a substantial growth of population in the rural areas of the United States and Western Europe. This is explored with particular reference to census evidence relating to Great Britain. Two sets of explanations are examined. The first relates to the exercise of residential preferences unconstrained by job location, and it is notable that the retired and the otherwise non-employed have increased substantially in numbers over the past 15–20 years. The second explanation focuses on employment relocation. Much resource-based, tertiary and, especially, manufacturing employment has grown in non-metropolitan areas. British and European evidence shows the manufacturing shift to have been substantial and it is suggested that this, coupled with (pre-)retirement migration and associated multiplier developments, may explain much of the counter-urbanisation that we are witnessing. The paper briefly explores some consequence of these trends, relating to the duplication of infrastructure, pressure on rural land and housing, and social change.     

U.S. Nationwide trends in metropolitan retail trade: A perspective of the mid 1980s

The 1982 U.S. summary data for retail sales (Census of Retail Trade) are analyzed in light of trends since 1958. The metropolitan economy consists of four sectors, namely CBDs, major retail centres (MRCs), non-CBD/MRC retailing and direct marketing. Total U.S. retail sales declined by some 1.6% during 1977–1982. Metropolitan retail sales increased, however, more than metropolitan population growth. This is related to the construction of outer-ring superregional centres which serve also exurban customers. Within metropolitan areas CBDs continued their absolute and relative decline, while MRCs grew, keeping their share in the metropolitan economy. Non-CBD/MRC retailing is the largest and increasingly growing sector. It represents demographic and economic changes that lead to an increased emphasis on speciality strip and small-town retailing. Direct marketing, while constantly growing, has not yet become a real threat to conventional store retailing.     

Economic development and population distribution in Albania

This article analyses the relationship between internal migration patterns and regional economic development in present-day Albania. Using demographic data migration figures were calculated for the period 1965–1971. These figures indicate that there is a Strong tendency for migration from the peripheral areas to the industrial triangle of Durrës-Tirana-Elbasan, and to the fertile farming area of the coastal lowlands which used to be malarial swamps. Present government policy however is directing growth away from the largest centres towards both the smaller centres and rural areas. Recent aims have been to achieve as even a spread of population and economic activity as possible.     

Winners, losers and curate's eggs: Urban and regional outcomes of Australian economic restructuring 1971–1991

Since the early 1970s the Australian economy has undergone major transformations common to other western industrialised countries. Jobs in manufacturing declined precipitately whilst the service economy grew, most significantly in producer services but also in lower skilled jobs. Tourism and services exports began to rival traditional agricultural and mining staples. Social outcomes, also typical of international trends, included rising unemployment and polarisation of incomes. Australia's changing global context, especially the nation's increasing orientation towards Asian growth economies, have underpinned restructuring. A political climate of economic rationalism has facilitated and accentuated restructuring. The economic shifts of the past quarter century have meant that everywhere the basis for economic growth has changed. Overlaying and reinforcing the re-definition of competitive advantage has been a shift in the pattern of agglomeration economies and diseconomies. New growth regions have emerged, others have had their prospects reinforced, and still others have had their outlook diminished in absolute or, more commonly, relative terms. The paper traces the regional outcomes of national economic restructuring and shifts in the balance of agglomeration economies and diseconomies over the period from 1971 to 1991. The focus is on the top end of the urban hierarchy, on specialised industrial cities where job loss from manufacturing has hit hard, amenity regions where international and domestic tourism have been major factors in growth, and non-metropolitan balances where growth has been uneven but generally low. Demographic, economic sectoral and welfare indicators are woven into a tableau of change expressed at national, intra-state and intrametropolitan scales.     

Office dispersal in metropolitan areas 1: a review and framework for analysis

Policies advocating restraint on the growth of office activity in central areas, and the dispersal of that activity to suburban centres have become increasingly popular in large metropolitan areas in Britain and Australia in recent years. This is the first of two papers which explore the implications of such a policy in detail. For these policies have been based on rather subjective judgements and on conventional wisdom; it has simply been assumed that they would solve growing problems of central congestion, environmental disamenity and job access. Little attention has been paid to the full range and distribution of costs and benefits that might arise. Experience to date has suggested that while an office dispersal policy has the potential to reduce problems in the central area, it can also give rise to serious problems of congestion, increased energy consumption and inequities of access in suburban areas. These problems which stem from the likely switch from public transport to cars for work journeys have generally been ignored by those advocating dispersal policies, and have received little attention in the few academic studies of this area. The paper concludes by outlining the assumptions and methodology adopted for a comprehensive case study of the cost and benefits of an office dispersal policy within the metropolitan area of Sydney, Australia.     

Observations on the relevance of the industrial-Urban hypothesis for rural development

Rural development tends to be viewed as a facet of urban development in the sense that rural areas are expected to be recipients of positive urban spill-overs. To that end, two concepts have been formulated: growth centre theory and the Industrial-Urban Hypothesis (IUH). The former has been beset by conceptual problems whereas the simpler IUH has not been tested in a Canadian context. This paper tests the basic IUH proposition that the general level of rural development is an inverse function of urban accessibility. Findings suggest that the IUH is more attuned to the impacts of smaller centres rather than the region's metropolitan centre. However, introduction of an exogenous element based on ethnic variations in rural settlements indicate how socializing factors work to modify the IUH concept.     

Job access, location decision, and the working poor: A qualitative study in the Columbus, Ohio metropolitan area

The critical perspective in job accessibility research argues that access to employment opportunities in an urban area is a complex process. This paper explores the role of individual level location decision-making as it relates to job access. In US metropolitan areas, a worker must consider where to live, where to work, and how they will commute between these locations – the residential–commuting–employment nexus. But limited work has been done to understand how this home-work link influences job access. This research interviews thirty working poor individuals in the Columbus, Ohio metropolitan area. One unexpected finding was the spatially transitory nature of these individuals’ lives – frequently changing both jobs and residences. Negotiating the nexus is a process of spatial decision-making determined by their individual urban mobility. Residential choice is made based on mobility options, not work location. They have diverse job commuting experiences as their mobility options change over time, and those mobility options often dictate their capacity to access existing job opportunities. From the experience of these individuals, Columbus has a strong local economy with many low-skilled higher paying jobs, but a weak public transit system. This article also contributes a qualitative based research perspective to a body of literature that historically under utilizes the approach.     

The dynamics of Nordic urban systems during the 1980s

The paper will focus on the classification of urban systems over time as an aid in uncovering factors impacting urban growth or decline. Methodologically the point of departure is the Noyelle & Stanback (1983) classification of North American cities, modified by recent advances and the specific Nordic situation. The method will be applied to the Nordic city-system and its restructuration during the 1980s with emphasis on relations between city size, type and growth. The main finding of the empirical case is the nearly ubiquitous growth of the larger diversified cities as a result of the preponderance of the most dynamic services in their production systems. Conversely, typical industrial production centres have generally suffered a decline in relative and partly absolute terms as a consequence of technological restructuring and fewer opportunities for replacing lost manufacturing employment by new service activities.     

Metropolization in China?

Not merely the rapid growth of the metropolitan cities in the Third World but the overconcentration of the political and administrative functions together with the economic, social and cultural activities within the metropolitan regions — in short: the primacy —should be considered as the essential component of the term metropolization.An accurate computation of the metropolitan population growth in China is difficult because of the frequent change of city area delimitations after 1953 in connection with the missing distinction between shiqu-, jiaoqu- and hsien-population in the statistics. Therefore a solid assessment of the Chinese policy to restrict the growth of the metropolitan cities seems to be impossible.Recent data reveal that there is still a strong primacy for the metropolitan cities together with a heavy concentration of this primacy in the historical core regions. The evaluation indicates that the efforts towards balanced regional development and reduction of the regional disparities could not be considered as successful so far.     

Institutional forces and retail change: a case study of Metropolitan Toronto

There is a growing interest in the development of purpose-built shopping centres, which now dominate the retail environments of many cities. Much of the past research has been directed at the impact of shopping centres on more traditional retail structures. More recently, however, there has been a recognition of the importance of those institutional forces that shape the internal character of shopping centres and ultimately determine their economic impact. This paper draws attention to these factors and discusses the control that leasing agreements and corporate policy have on shopping centre development. The whole discussion is set within the framework of metropolitan Toronto, which has for some time experienced the full impact of these institutional forces.     

Public policy and residential provision for the elderly

In recent years there has been a growing concern about the best type of residential care for the increasing elderly population in Britain. This paper examines the response of the public, private and voluntary sectors to the provision of residential care. It looks at the relative levels, spatial variations in the levels and changes in the proportions of provision by each of these sectors for the years 1981 and 1984. The levels of provision are related to indices of need, available resources and the political disposition of each local authority area. This paper then focuses on the variations in the growth of the private-sector provision of residential homes. It was found that the metropolitan districts had the greatest proportion of voluntary-sector provision; and the traditional seaside retirement counties such as Devon and Lancashire had the highest levels of and experienced the greatest growth in private residential care. The key variables in explaining variations in the mix of provision between areas were indices of need and resources. This study has established that there are great regional variations in the mix of the different sectors of residential care, although it is not possible to offer a total explanation of these differentials. In Britain, there are substantial inequalities in terms of the choice of types of provision for the elderly population which have significant implications for local authority policy.     

Regional policy in the Federal Republic of Germany

Since the 1950s, regional policy in the Federal Republic of Germany has switched emphasis from assistance to specific locations with development problems to a systematic programme of development aid. Within the Common Task ‘Improvement of Regional Economic Structure’, which is undertaken jointly by the Federal and Laender governments, areas embracing 62% of the Federal Republic's total area have received aid for establishing new industries, expansion of existing manufacturing industry and rationalisation, and for developing tourism. Overall economic deterioration since the mid-'70s has been accompanied by increasing criticism of the inefficiency of this kind of regional policy directed towards the mobilisation of capital. More recent appraisals of methods improving development aid are aimed at achieving spatial concentration of the development areas, more selective aid for new establishments or expansion schemes which have sound future prospects, and increased encouragement to existing firms to innovate.     

Planning development towns in Kuwait

Kuwait has been characterised by the emergence of a dominating metropolitan center in the last two decades. The new phenomenon led to severe regional imbalance because investments and development programs concentrated around the metropolitan center of Kuwait. To alleviate problems associated with such a phenomenon, to improve urban life, and to achieve regional balance, the country must plan for establishing new towns.This paper is divided into three sections. The first section identifies and discusses the major factors which contributed to the phenomenon of metropolitan dominance. The identified factors are: oil wealth, immigration and population growth, sectoral expansion, i.e. governmental services, the housing sector, commercial activities, industrial growth, and the road network. Discussions in the second section emphasized the different patterns of urban growth and expansion in Kuwait. Four patterns of urban development are identified in this section. The third sections deals with the necessity of town development in Kuwait in light of the growing phenomenon of metropolitan dominance. To evaluate the potentials of town development in the country, four major factors are stressed in this study. They are: planning, size and location, cultural aspirations, and leadership.This is a revised version of an original paper presented at the 77th Meeting of the Association of American Geographers held in Los Angeles, April 1981     

Situating queer migration within (national) welfare regimes

Building on recent criticisms within the literature on queer migration raised by Andrew Gorman-Murray and Nathaniel Lewis, the article explores ‘unconventional’ trajectories of queer migration: a Global North metropolitan area-Global North metropolitan area one and a Global North metropolitan area-Global North ordinary city one. Two very different migration patterns are analyzed: the movement of young queer ‘creative’ Italians from different metropolitan areas (Rome, Milan, Bologna, Catania, Naples, Padua and Turin) towards Berlin (Germany) and the relocation of young queers from the major Italian cities (Rome and Milan) towards ordinary/small size towns. Aimed at highlighting the complexity of material and immaterial factors leading the decision to migrate in times of crisis, austerity politics and increasing unemployment, the article introduces the role of welfare regimes in shaping migration’s choices. This way, queer migrants and their socio-economic status and possibilities find materially situated within national/local welfare regimes, thus challenging the teleological binarism of the ‘coming-out’ journey always presuming a rural/urban movement for queer subjects. Within such a framework, the ordinary/small size town can become a place for ‘outness’ and self-realization of queer migrants who create bridges and connections with the metropolitan areas, thus queering the provincial contexts.     

Employment and worktravel in a selection of English inner cities

The inner parts of many of the western world's metropolitan areas are currently suffering such drastic decline that many governments are attempting to rejuvenate their economic fortunes This is the context in which the present study is set, focusing attention on five major English cities — London, Manchester, Birmingham, Nottingham and Leicester — and using census employment and worktravel data for small areas. The study first reports on the relationships between the skills offered by residents, both male and female, and those demanded by employers in inner city areas. In addition to the consideration of the detailed variety of manufacturing and servicing activities taking place, an examination of the office and non-office components of both is undertaken. The second main aspect of the study considers the patterns of worktravel movement linking the places of residence and workplaces so described. The research concludes with a view on the policy implications of the results in the light of the overall context of the rejuvenation of inner city areas.     

Reconstructing historical trends in metal input in heavily-disturbed,contaminated estuaries: studies from Bilbao,Southampton Water and Sicily

Estuaries may be important reservoirs for contaminants as they tend to act as sinks for fine, contaminant-reactive sediments, and, historically, they have acted as centres for industrial and urban development. Analysis of dated sediment cores from these areas may allow historical trends in heavy metal input to be reconstructed, and recent and historical inputs of metal contaminants to be compared. Undisturbed saltmarsh settings have been used widely in the reconstruction of historical trends in metal input as saltmarshes provide a stable, vegetated substrate of dominantly fine sediments, and are less prone to erosion and reworking than adjacent mudflat areas. In comparison, much less research on historical pollution trends has been undertaken at estuarine sites which are prone to severe local disturbance, such as intertidal areas which are routinely dredged or where sedimentary processes have been modified by human activities such as shipping, salt working, port activities, land claim etc. This paper assesses the usefulness of ²¹⁰Pb and ¹³⁷Cs dating, combined with geochemical studies, in reconstructing historical trends in heavy metal input and sediment accretion in 3 heavily-modified, industrialised estuarine areas in Europe: the Bilbao estuary (Spain), Southampton Water (UK), and the Mulinello estuary (Sicily). Of these sites, only a salt marsh core from the Mulinello estuary provides a high-resolution record of recent heavy metal inputs. In Southampton Water only a partial record of changing metal inputs over time is retained due to land-claim and possible early-diagenetic remobilisation, while at Bilbao the vertical distribution of heavy metals in intertidal flats is mainly controlled by input on reworked sediment particles and variations in sediment composition. Where ¹³⁷Cs and ²¹⁰Pb distributions with depth allow a chronology of sediment deposition to be established, and early-diagenetic remobilisation has been minimal, mudflat and saltmarsh cores from even the most heavily-disturbed estuarine sites can provide useful information on variations in historical contaminant input. When the sediments have been vigorously mixed or reworked, large-scale compositional variations are present, or significant early-diagenetic remobilisation has occurred, however, only general information on the scale of contamination can be obtained.     

New towns in Japan

Most of the new towns in Japan are large residential estates with populations of more than 100,000, and with work-forces commuting to the parent cities. Rapid economic growth since 1960 has resulted in an enormous concentration of people in the metropolitan regions of Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya. Supply of public housing has been very difficult owing to a lack of suitable level land, fragmentation of land ownership, and high prices. Houses for a reasonable rent are now located a great distance from city centres.     

New port developments and balanced regional growth: a Taiwan example

Ports are very visible manifestations of economic activity. Not only are they vital systems of infrastructure, indispensable to the smooth operations of international trade and, hence, the nation's well-being, but they can also serve as industrial complexes in their own right. They are, in effect, symbols of integrated growth centres enjoying both service and manufacturing sectors. Mindful of these critical attributes, planners have attempted to render them into positive elements of economic development, not excepting regional economic development. This study examines one such rendition, the port of Taichung, Taiwan, founded as a deliberate act of government to fulfil two objectives; namely, to facilitate the island's export-promotion strategy by avoiding trade disruption stemming from anticipated port bottlenecks and, secondly, to spearhead formal commitments to balanced regional growth. The approach adopted in this paper is essentially one of qualitative evaluation; that is to say, it examines the degree to which Taichung Harbour has conformed to the demanding expectations set for it. Serious structural limitations are elicited, limitations which have prevented the port from realizing its full potential. By the same token, the port's role in advancing balanced regional growth has also been disappointing. As the study shows, the latter result is almost inevitable given the exigencies exposed in the former. This paper concludes by stressing the need for clear formulation of growth-centre functions in conjunction with urging a determination on the part of planners to evade the trap of goal conflicts.     

The nature of urbanization in the gulf countries

This paper analyses the urban process in the oil producing countries of the Gulf. The mode of urbanization is identified as one characterized by an extreme case of primacy but with rates varying among the countries of the region. This pattern is related to the historical evolution of human settlements as affected by the local environmental qualities and the recent large scale development of urban infrastructures which favoured the already existing capital cities. The relative city growth rates are among the highest in the world but with a declining tendency which reflects expenditure patterns and the nature of the regional economies. The high growth rates are essentially due to massive foreign migration into the region and to extremely high natural increase rate — an abnormal condition in an urban process approaching saturation point. The role of these primate centres in the development of the region is undeniable and, furthermore, all indications suggest that this pattern of urban development will continue in the furture as it is, perhaps economically and politically less costly.