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Presents theoretical and methodological considerations and techniques which bear directly on the valuation of retail properties in Australia and, to lesser extents, the UK and the USA. Surveys the Australian retail sector in terms of its overall significance for the national economy as well as the relative performance of the sector’s constituents. Considers the current domination of the sector by the regional and local shopping centres and the correlative decline in importance of retail outlets in traditional shopping streets. Contends that the dominance of shopping centres has produced an oligopolistic situation with regard to the supply of retail space in regional shopping centres because of the high regard in which such centres are held by major investing organizations. Despite the ability of shopping centres to produce income flows with apparently substantial year‐by‐year increases, this trend has been bucked in recent years by below replacement cost sale prices achieved by a number of shopping centres. Raises the crucial question of which factors should be considered most influential by valuers in assessing the capital worth of retail properties. Provides exemplary calculations by which realistic assessments are achievable. Casts a critical eye over entrenched “axioms” of the trade, such as that retail tenants can pay increased rents annually regardless of economic considerations and irrespective of the actual profitability of their retail activities. Considers the difficulties which now beset the position of specialty retailers in relation to the shopping centres in which they rent space. Argues for the importance of partnership relationships between landlords and tenants and predicts that the constant quest to maximize the rentals of individual retail outlets within shopping centres may seriously threaten the long‐term security of those centres. Presents recommendations for improving the prospects of successful trading by shopping centres against a consideration of potential developments of other purchasing means (warehouse retailing, TV retailing and catalogue shopping). Concludes that many shopping centres currently regarded as prime investments may appear less attractive when reconsidered in the light of the developments here outlined.

This study aims to examine the symbolic meanings of the local shopping malls inscribed by the shoppers from the sociocultural lens other than merely departing from the economic dimensions.

In this research, Kwai Chung Plaza was adopted as the case study. The author interviewed 12 local shoppers through an in-depth individual interview. All interviewees were selected through convenience and snowball sampling. All names of the participants in this paper are kept pseudonymous to protect their privacy.

An integrated model, which consists of three major levels, namely, the spatial, individual and community levels, has been formed to show that the shopping mall was not merely a place for buy-and-sell transactions but rather a place that could be understood as an extension of the street, a body of collective memories and a place for Hongkongers.

The most significant limitation of this study was the lack of a diversified demographic profile adding that the sample was restricted to the young generation. It is recommended that future research should consider including interviews with middle-aged and old-aged shoppers to ensure the generalizability of results. Future research may also consider examining other small/medium-sized shopping malls for comparison.

The findings demonstrated the diversified social roles and functions of the local shopping malls in a community. In addition, the present study, to the author’s knowledge, is one of the few scholarly discussions on small/medium-sized shopping malls from a sociocultural perspective.

This study aims to highlight the value of economics, social relations and culture in building a healthy community by interpreting qualitative data.

A qualitative descriptive approach was used between June 2016 and May 2017 and interviews were analysed inductively. Twenty residents of a shopping street in Tohoku, a rural town in north-eastern Japan, participated in this survey. This study focused on the residents’ value of economics, social relations and culture in building a healthy community.

People acquired economic benefits in the hope of gaining irreplaceable relationships with customers and residents, including memorable stories and heart-to-heart satisfaction. The narratives reflected not only the ideal aspects of social relations but also realistic and complex aspects, such as feelings of being uncomfortable with strangers, whether they were long-term residents or newcomers. The daily life of the town is a story, which is built based on customs fostered and strengthened through capital bonds.

To build a healthy community, people residing on shopping streets have unique care systems in which multiple glass shop windows make it easier to tell narrative stories, communicate or request assistance, which is very different from knocking on doors in suburban neighbourhoods.

The purpose of this paper is to document the results and the impact of the ESRC-funded High Street UK 2020 (HSUK2020), a project designed to take the existing academic knowledge relating to retail and high street change directly to UK High Streets, to improve local decision-making and, ultimately, their vitality and viability.

Through a systematic literature review, and by following the tenets of engaged scholarship, the authors identified 201 factors that influence the vitality and viability of town centres. Through the consensus-building Delphi technique, a panel of 20 retail experts identified the top 25 priorities for action.

Taking a place management approach led to the development of a more strategic framework for regeneration, which consisted of repositioning, reinventing, rebranding and restructuring strategies (4R’s of regeneration). Collaboration with the project towns resulted in identification of the strategy area that would add the most value, and the impact of the 4R’s and the top 25 priorities is demonstrated via numerous town examples.

Knowledge exchange projects, such as High Street UK2020, have an important contribution to make, not by developing even more theory that is unlikely to get utilised, instead their contribution is to bring existing theory into practical use.

This chapter offers a specific point of view on the Town Centre retail, in ­order to develop a new way to enhance the customer retail experience in this place. The combination of shopping over the Internet and the interactive technologies represents for Town Centre retailers one of the possible solutions in the creation of a multisensory experience for people living in and visiting this urban area. By welcoming the challenge of creating multisensory experiences, “bricks and mortar” stores need to integrate digital solutions to create and handle experiences. Customers can interact with people and contents via digital technologies such as Quick Response, Electrochromic Glass, Touch Systems, Outdoor Totems, Holographic Technology, and Augmented Reality. From the analysis of the academic literature emerges an agreement that the use of the Internet and interactive technologies are not totally exploited as tools able to revitalize the Town Centre retail and create animated, lively streets that offer multisensory experiences. Based on the above considerations, this chapter provides a theoretical model in order to create an immersive retail experience within the physical store by combining the use of the Internet to conduct shopping and the interaction with several kinds of technologies.

Newcastle's Eldon Square, in the heart of the city's commercial centre, opened early last year after a favourable response from would‐be retail tenants. With over 1.6 million sq ft of gross floorspace, it is Capital & Counties' largest development in the UK. The Centre was discussed from a number of viewpoints at the College of Shopping Centre Education—the meeting of the International Council of Shopping Centres—held in London recently, and the papers which follow are summarised from those delivered at the conference. We begin with the architect's view, then that of the principal tenant, a John Lewis department store, and conclude with a discussion of some of the leasing and real estate aspects.

In September 1990 the Meadowhall Regional Shopping Centre in Sheffield′s Lower Don Valley opened its doors to trading. There has been much speculation of its anticipated impact on neighbouring shopping centres. The Regional Shopping Centre phenomenon is briefly examined before looking at the likely impact of Meadowhall on Sheffield City Centre and Rotherham in more detail. Both centres face a number of problems in retail provision. Sheffield City Centre is hampered by its linear nature with three distinct areas of retailing. Like many town centres, problems of traffic congestion and the need for more parking are evident in both cases. Meadowhall provides 12,000 free parking spaces and will attract the car owner. With car ownership on the increase this has implications for existing retailers. Finally, the question of whether any initiatives are being proposed by public and private bodies to promote the traditional high street shopping environment in Sheffield or Rotherham is examined.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of the West Quay shopping centre development on the city of Southampton.

The West Quay scheme parallels recent high‐profile openings of “regional shopping centres” in city centre locations (e.g. Birmingham's Bullring and Reading's Oracle), and like those centres has had a significant impact on the image and external appeal of the city. Using a combination of material from personal interviews with key players in the Southampton retail scene, statistical data collected by Hammerson (the owners of West Quay), and city centre health check information, the paper offers an assessment of the impact of the regional in‐town centre on Southampton more broadly and on the city centre specifically.

Evidence suggests that the local effects of the centre's opening have not been as detrimental as was feared and that West Quay appears to be generating considerable synergy with Southampton's existing city centre. In addition, there are a number of important developments in the pipeline that owe their raison d'être to West Quay.

The paper does not record the views of consumers and a future task must be to document and evaluate consumer's opinions of West Quay and incorporate these insights into future assessments of regional in‐town centres.

The paper provides a benchmark of “impacts” to date and a resource for other cities with similar in‐town schemes moving forward.

Due to rising obesity levels, declining fitness levels, an aging population, and shopper lethargy, retail planners must give serious consideration to the physical demands retail centres place on their patrons. The purpose of this paper is to determine the importance consumers assign to spatial convenience, measure how consumers perceive shopping malls and shopping strips (also referred to as the downtown area, central business district, Main Street or the High Street) in relation to it, and compare them in their provision of it.

The study utilises a household survey of consumers and as well as a retail audit. The survey was used to identify the importance consumers assign to spatial convenience, while the retail audit was used to establish how malls and strips compare in their provision of it.

The results of the survey indicate that consumers regard spatial convenience as important and believe that malls are superior in providing it. The retail audit confirmed the accuracy of these perceptions, with the mall providing greater store compatibility, and a more compact shopping environment.

The influence of spatial convenience on shopping behaviour has been largely overlooked at the level of the retail centre. Moreover, those studies that have focused on this topic, have typically done so from the singular focus of either malls or strips. This study incorporates both, and does so via an empirical analysis of consumer attitudes and a spatial comparison of both retail formats.

This study aims to identify the elements that characterise spaces for tourists and those that characterise spaces for locals in a shopping district based on the perspectives of local students. Forty-five local undergraduates took photographs of settings that impressed them in the shopping district in Naha-shi, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan, and the reasons given by each respondent for photographing a particular setting were recorded. Frequently used nouns and adjectives were extracted for each category. The results suggest the importance of the types of commercial facilities and people on the perspectives of locals. Affordable and mundane products are associated with local spaces, while souvenirs may be regarded as symbols of touristic spaces. The absence of locals and the presence of tourists may be characteristics of touristic spaces whereas the potential attractiveness of encounters with locals for tourists is also implied.