Out Of Town Shopping Centres

Since the 1980s, much of the retail development in the UK has been in the form of out-of-town developments as lower land-values, the availability of land for expansion, a nearby labour force and good access routes on the rural-urban fringe of settlements has encouraged out-of-town centres to develop. These out-of-town centres, contain large, well-known stores and often have attractions for all the family, including leisure facilities, catering outlets etc. The growth of these development has however led to a number of common problems which include:

• - traffic congestion in the vicinity of the new developments
• - larger stores are often attracted away from nearby town and city centres to these new centres
• - more empty shops in town and city centres (often attract vandalism)
  
• - fewer people visiting the city centres - resulting in the creation of a 'dead heart', particularly in smaller market towns and economic decline
  

City centres have been fighting back against out-of-town developments through 'shop local' campaigns and in 1998, there were calls by the government to stop out-of-town developments, however there have more recently been proposals for relaxing the resulting planning laws which would make it easier for superstores to build out-of-town developments. Other attempts to reduce town centre decline include calls to abolish free car-parking in out-of-town developments to encourage shoppers back to the town centre.

EXAMPLE 1 - MEADOWHALL - Sheffield

Meadowhall shopping centre is a large out-of-town shopping centre that has been developed on the outskirts of Sheffield. It was built in the late 1980s as a response to the lack of shopping provision in the area. It was constructed on a brownfield site (56 hectare site of a former steelworks). Access to the shopping centre is excellent and it is close to several large urban areas with 9 million people living within an hours drive of the centre (see map opposite).

Why this location?

• plenty of space for expansion and for providing large free car parks
• rates and rents are lower than in the city centre (shops can be bigger) - i.e. cheaper land on edge of Sheffield
• near to suburban housing (provides a labour force)
• near a number of motorway intersections (nearbly M1/A roads) - great accessibility and access to large sphere of influence
  
• old brownfield site (was a steelworks) with plenty of room for expansion if required

The main characteristics of the shopping centre:

• bright and modern with many different faciliites, including a leisure centre, cinema, creche and other attractions for children;
• a large variety of shops;
• large, free car parts (12,000 spaces!)
• provides under-cover shopping (not restricted by weather and shoppers, shop in the comfort of an air-conditioned complex)
• supertram link with the city centre;
• two new railways stations built

(photo (c) Ian Britton - FreeFoto.com)

The Impact of Meadowhall on Sheffield?
The building of Meadowhall has had an impact on Sheffield City Centre, as many shops have moved out and takings have been down for some shops by as much as 25%. This good article on Geography Pages summarises the issues for the centre.


EXAMPLE 2: BLUEWATER - nr Dartford (Kent)

Bluewater, known as Europe's largest retail and leisure complex, opened in 1999, it was built on a brownfield site, in a disussed chalk quarry and has excellent access, being just outside the M25 in the area of Dartford. The following powerpoint gives more detail about the location and features of the out-of-town shopping centre as well as giving some consideration to the criticisms the centre has come under

Other examples of out-of-town shopping centres include:
Lakeside - East of London
Brent Cross - NW London
Metro Centre - Gateshead
Merry Hill - Dudley (Birmingham)

Follow up links:
Meadowhall Virtual Visit (by Holgate School - good overview)
Superstores 'killing' market town shops (BBC article)
Parking tax on out of town shoppers to save the high street (Times Article)
How has Sheffield City Centre changed since the development of Meadowhall (Geography Pages)
Proposals give supermarkets an easy ride to out of town centres (Time Article)
Meadowhall Website
Bluewater Website

Key Term Check:
Out-of-town Shopping Centres - large retail developments found in out-of-town locations close to major transport links.

The Rural-Urban Fringe (Land-use and conflict)

The rural-urban fringe (the area at the edge of a city) has become an increasingly popular area for economic developments. Competition for land in these areas increased signficantly during the 1990s. The land is much cheaper here than in the city centre, and many factories that were once in inner city locations have moved to these areas as their previous locations lacked space for expansion. As well as industrial estates and residential use, these areas attract shopping centres, business parks and recreation facilities such as golf courses. The benefits of the rural-urban fringe are set out in the diagram below.


Conflict at the Rural-Urban fringe
Although there is competition for land for economic developments at the rural-urban fringe, there is increasing pressure from environmental groups to restrict urban sprawl and protect the environment on the edge of cities from economic pressures. If urban sprawl continues unchecked, many wildlife habitats would be destroyed. Conservationists and farmers want to protect nature reserves and farmland, and open space for recreation is required by people living in the nearby urban area. There is therefore competition for land at the rural-urban fringe and conflict between economic and environmental land-uses. You should be aware of these and be able to discuss them in an exam answer.

There have been a number of attempts to control urban sprawl and reduce / restrict developments on the rural-urban fringe, these include Green Belts which were created by the government in 1947.

Follow up links:
Rural-urban fringe (definition)
The Rural-Urban Fringe (a detailed article really aimed at A'level students - but with many useful points)
Land-use at the rural-urban fringe (a detailed report from the Farm Foundation summarising policies and issues associated with land-use at the rural-urban fringe)
Urban Land-use Model (GeoBytes)

Key Terms Check:
Rural-urban fringe - where urban areas meet the surrounding countryside
Green Belt - an area of land around a settlement where development is severely restricted
Urban Sprawl - uncontrolled growth on the edge of a settlement
Greenfield Site - land previously unbuilt on

Urban Land Use Models

Land-use models have been put forward on the basis of the idea that towns and cities do not grow in a haphazard fashion, rather they tend to develop distinctive patterns of land-use as they grow and develop. Land-use models are simplified diagrams which are used to represent the pattern of land-use functions within a town or city. It should however be remembered that these are simplifications of reality and it is unlikely that any model will fit every town and city perfectly.

Two of the land-use models we often refer to are the Burgess Concentric Ring Model and the Hoyt sector model

The Burgess Model
This model was based on a study of land-use in Chicago. Burgess suggests that cities grow outwards from the CBD in a series of concentric rings of land-use. The oldest part of the city is at the centre and the newest part on the outer edge. The quality and size of housing increases with distance from the CBD, although the height of buildings tends to be greatest close to the Central Area, where land-values are high and space is at a premium. The quality and size of houses increases with distance from the CBD but the density of housing decreases as more space is available.

The Hoyt Sector Model
Hoyt's model modified that of Burgess following the development of public transport. His model suggests that transport and physical features were important, with industrial areas developing outwards in sectors along main transport routes (roads, rivers and canals) and housing growing up around these.

The Land-use zones identified in the models are:
1. CBD (Central Business District) - located at the centre of the city often at the convergence of rail and road routes. Contains many commerical activities, shops, entertainment and also business activities.
2. Inner City (also known as the Twilight or Transition Zone) - mixed land-use containing small industries as well as high-density residential land-use - often characterised by terraced housing.
3. Inner Suburbs - residential areas which developed during the 1920s/30s - often semi-detached houses in a distinctive 1920s/30s style with bay windows and front / back gardens.
4. Outer Suburbs - residential areas which grew up later as greater public transport and private car ownership allowed people to live further out from their places of work. These houses are often semi-detached / detached with larger gardens and garages.
5. Rural-urban fringe - this is right on the edge of towns and cities and is mainly low density, private housing (often larger detached properties); new industrial estates / business parks and facilities requiring larger open spaces such as golf courses;

It is important that you have a good understanding of the reasons for the growth and development of each of the land-use zones and that you are able to describe their main characteristics. In an exam you may be given maps or photographs and be expected to suggest which land-use zone they represent based on the features that can be seen (i.e. based on style of housing, density etc.).


Land-Use in Cambridge

Cambridge is a good example of a city with distinct urban land-use zones. The city stands on the east bank of the River Cam and developed here as it was an area of flat land and at the lowest bridging point across the river.

The city itself dates back to Roman times and has steadily grown up as an important trading centre and an important University town. In the centre of the city close to the historic core, as well as the old university buildings, which dominate, the land-uses are mainly commercial, and business in the CBD. One of the most important developments in the growth of Cambridge was the coming of the railway which was built in 1845. At this time residential areas began to expand more rapidly, with early Victorian terraced housing (inner city zone) which began to be developed out towards the railway station to the east of the city.

In the 20th century, the population grew even faster and houses were built along the main roads which converged on Cambridge. This is known as ribbon development. The houses were often inter-war semi-detached houses and now began to be built with garages as car ownership began to increase (inner and outer suburbs). This meant that now villages such as Cherry Hinton were being incorporated into Cambridge. This is known as suburbanisation.

Since the 1960's, modern housing estates have also grown up around the city. Some are council built, such as some of the houses at Kings Hedges while others are privately owned. (rural-urban fringe developments)

Follow Up Links:
The Burgess Urban Land-use Model - a detailed overview of the model and some of its criticisms
Urban Land-use patterns in MEDCs
BBC Bitesize - Urban Land-use Models
S-cool - Urban Morphology

Key Term Check:
Burgess Model - concentric ring model based on rings of land-use grown outwards from the CBD (with oldest buildings in the centre of the city, decreasing with age with distance from the CBD whilst wealth of inhabitants increases with distance)
Hoyt Model - sector model - wedges of land-use development determined more by major transport routes.