Retail Sprawl in Post-Soviet Urban Residential Communities: Case Studies of Saint-Petersburg and Vilnius (original) (raw)
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⎯The relationship of stratification of shopping types, development of certain types of retail facilities, and major macro trends in the spatial organization of the tertiary sector of the city economy is described by with a case of St. Petersburg, one of the leaders and innovators in Russian retail. Shopping periodization from 1989 to 2016 is proposed based on the author's multiyear field surveys and interviews as well as the above criteria. Six periods are distinguished. The features of the latest, modern stage are described in particular detail taking into account consumer stratification by income groups. The data also argue in a more general discussion about the completion or continuation of social transformation in the post-Soviet metropolis. The data on the different stages and regularities in the development of the spatial organization of retail trade for this innovative leader give grounds to make forecasts for other major cities of Russia.
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From “Barakholka” to Shopping Mall: Transformation of Retail Spaces in St. Petersburg
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European Urban and Regional Studies, 2001
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The system of factors affecting the spatial distribution of the retail trade and service establishments has changed dramatically since socialist times. The administrative regulation lost its almost complete dominance and turned into one of the market forces. In contrast, the impact of the urban environment under very free market conditions substantially increased. We show the main directions of this influence. Two generalized indicators that we use describe macro trends in the development of the spatial system of retail trade and services. One of them, which we call the urban morphology, is of a concentric effect, another -transportation pattern -adds the sectoral component to the retail trade and services geography. Five systems of spatial attractions differently affect the distribution of different branches.
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Studies on post-socialist suburbanization, which originally focused on demand side dynamics and linear narratives of modernization, have progressively adopted more holistic approaches that consider the various dimensions and factors behind the phenomenon. However, there are still significant gaps and shortcomings affecting this research domain; studies encompassing demand side and supply side dynamics are rare, and so are comparative perspectives. The phenomenon has rarely been analyzed in the context of broader metropolitan change, together with other dynamics such as inner-city gentrification, degradation, or maintenance/regeneration of socialist era residential neighborhoods. This study addresses the mentioned gaps through a multi-dimensional comparative pilot analysis of suburban dynamics in Saint Petersburg and Riga. The analysis encompasses the spatial extent of demographic, socioeconomic, and housing market dynamics within the broader context of metropolitan change. The findi...
In the last 20 years of transformation, the Czech retail business underwent fundamental changes in its territorial and organisational structure and in numerous cases refl ects the model of retail trade transformation within the Central European region. After a long period of time of the development of the so-called socialist trading, the countries in the region were affected, with unprecedented intensity, by new, hitherto unknown forms of retailing within the expansion of foreign retail chains to their markets. Such changes took very marked effect in the urban structure of the landscape in these countries, for example in the Czech Republic. The following paper captures the basic extent of transformation of the Czech retail business and its refl ection in the urban environment.
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This paper discusses the changing retail property structures in Central Europe in the aftermath of the integration of these countries in the global economy. In general, within the property market, retail real estate is the market sector that is most affected by internationalization. Therefore, this sector is relatively transparent compared to the office and residential markets. The macro-economic transitions in Central Europe and the integration of these countries in the world economy opened these markets to international retailers. As a result, the retail scene in these countries, combined with the structure of the retail property stock, has changed dramatically. In the late 1990s, Central Europe experienced a retail development boom driven by international hypermarket operators and speculative developers. Shopping centers and hypermarkets became important elements in the urban landscape. However, lack of planning and vision led to chaotic development, and oversupply was the outcome. In the future, public and private actors will need a vision of how the city should develop before embarking on flagship urban projects.