Re activation of vacant retail spaces strategies policies and guidelines

Public powers guarantee that the expansion of retail and artisanship will safeguard the development of all business forms both independent, group or integrated, ensuring that uncontrolle

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Retail has undergone deep structural and spatial evolutions throughout the decades,with dramatic and radical consequences in terms of functional concentration,attractiveness, scale and location of stores In the most recent period, theselong-standing trends have been further exacerbated by the stunning development

of the Internet and related e-commerce practices, together with the effects of morethan 10 years of economic crisis Consumer behaviours and retail strategies havechanged dramatically, and the evidences of this process are clear: inner-city areashave become less central to people’s lives, the economic impact of traditionalbusinesses is decreasing and shopping malls and big-box stores are also falling intodecay

Although more advanced in the US, the weakening of urban retail systems—up

to desertification—is a widespread phenomenon in many European cities andregions, and Italy makes no exception The formerly dynamic, both urban andsuburban, spaces once acting as magnets for a diversified range of activities anduser inflows are now dotted with vacant units gradually losing commercial attrac-tiveness The impact of this trend exceeds a sectoral dimension and bears severalsocial and economic costs, in terms of loss of new business opportunities, revenuesand employment for both SMEs and local branches of transnational companies.Therefore, this issue represents an important factor affecting the quality of life ofusers and consumers, as well as the vibrancy of local economies

Public authorities are asked to tackle this topic and to set up actions and policiesmeant to revitalize the sector, and, as a result, they must consider the territorial role

of trading activities, as well as their relevance for local and regional development

In fact, demalling and other actions aimed to face the shrinking of urban retailsystems have become a new task for urban planning in those areas where public andprivate actors need support in their effort to redevelop vacant malls, big-box andhigh-street stores This study is partially inspired by the outcomes of a researchproject titled Analisi delle criticità e delle opportunità di sviluppo del fenomenodella dismissione commerciale ai fini dell’attrattività urbana, developed by theUrb&Com Lab (Department of Architecture and Urban Studies/DAStU, Politecnico

di Milano) and supported byÉupolis Lombardia, the Lombardy Region Institute for

v

Research, Statistics and Training.1 The aims of the research are as follows:(i) framing the multidimensional aspects of the problem, and (ii) showing that thereare many different approaches to the issue, depending on the socio-economic andinstitutional context, the nature of the involved actors (private or public) and theirspecific goals.

The causes of the weakening of local retail systems are twofold: on the one hand,there are specific conditions for every single case, such as the relationship with thecontext, the saturation of markets (due to horizontal competition among operators,

or to format obsolescence) and the decrease in the offer quality On the other hand,some transversal factors must be taken into account, including the economic crisisand other current global trends, changes in the customers’ behaviours (such as theemerging sharing economy and the decrease of consumption) and competitionbetween formats and among different shopping practices (e.g traditional purchase

vs e-commerce) In thefirst part of this work, all the above-mentioned factors areexamined, and the overall investigation perimeter is drawn

The book also aims to be an operative tool and a useful contribution to thecurrent debate on how to deal with the issue of reactivating local economies

A particular focus is devoted to some international policies, programmes andactions implemented during the last years The first chapter identifies a series ofstrategies after drawing them from some significant case studies located in France,Spain, UK, Germany and USA The focus on the Italian case, in the second chapter,allows pointing out processes, instruments and methodologies within a set of cases

in which the author was involved as a technical consultant to policymakers andinstitutional actors during the last 10 years These direct experiences have served as

a basis for collecting and implementing the tools and proposals for developingpublic and private strategies aimed at reactivating retail areas (third chapter), withexpected positive consequences on the vitality of local economies Indeed, thepublication represents a sort of original and innovative handbook for an unexploredfield, which brings together economic and spatial elements and which can be used

by scholars and students, as well as by technicians and public institutions

1 Research Project (March 2015): Attuazione strategie europee 2014/2020: individuazione priorit à

e linee di azione ed evento di confronto sulle tematiche del commercio tra le Regioni dei Quattro motori Research team: Luca Tamini (coord.), Giorgio Limonta, Mario Paris, Silvia Carena, Agathe Dessuges, Vittoria Rossi, with Luca Zanderighi (Department of Economics, Management, and Quantitative Methods, University of Milan).

1 Re-activation Strategies, Experiences from Europe and USA 11.1 Before the Dismantling: Facing Threats and Weaknesses 31.1.1 French Policies Against Retail Desertification 31.2 During the Process: Supporting, Integrating

and Repositioning 51.2.1 The EPARECA Case: The Lucien Sampaix

Shopping Mall, Bagnolet 51.3 Demalling: How to Re-activate Big-Boxes and Urban

Retail Districts? 91.3.1 Dismantled Big Boxes: Governance and Tools

in U.S 91.3.2 The Vital’ Quartier Plan 131.3.3 An Innovative Legal Tool: Taxes on Closed Down

Retail Surfaces 221.4 Reflecting on Cases: Strategies, Actors and Proposals 231.4.1 From Case Studies to Policy Innovation 24Appendix: Planned Centres: Medium and Large Scale

Retail Distribution 29References 34

2 What Future for Vacant Retail Spaces? Recent Experiences

in Italy 372.1 Identifying an Existing and Pervasive Phenomenon:

Dimensions, Geographies and Characters 372.2 Re-thinking Urban Retail Systems and Sub-urban

Dead Malls: Responsive Strategies for Retail Vacancy 412.2.1 The Reuse of Large Urban Buildings 412.2.2 Transformation of the Medium- and Large-Size

Extra-Urban Containers 52

vii

2.3 Recent Experiences: From Practices to an Integrated

Methodology 59

2.3.1 Public Policies Supporting Urban Retail System: Urban Retail District 59

2.3.2 (Oriented) Policies for Urban Retail Systems 65

Appendix 72

References 74

3 Re-activating Retail Spaces: A Toolbox for Strategies, Policies and Pilot Projects 77

3.1 Innovating the Planning, Spatial and Regulative Approaches to Retail Spaces 77

3.2 Working on Retail, Re-activating the City: A Toolbox for Public and Private Actors 87

References 92

Index 95

Re-activation Strategies, Experiences

from Europe and USA

Abstract The chapter contains a sort of inventory of experiences in which urbanand suburban retail weakening is contrasted and the re-activation of its spaces issought The cases are located in both Europe and the US and vary according to themoment of the process they involve For each case, we introduce the specificsituation/context and provide one or two examples that illustrate the ongoingdynamics, and the potential solutions to them Several situations are described, inorder to show the variety of approaches and proposals and, secondly, to comparethe cases For this purpose, the inventory is followed by a matrix aiming both torelate the different strategies to each other and to point out some innovative waysprivate operators and public bodies can resort to in order to develop their actionsand programs

An analysis of international best practices is fundamental to identify suitable activepolicies designed to control and prevent retail dismantling, in so far as it supplies awide-ranging overview of such phenomena and offers examples, which can be used

as models Local areas are in great need of such work but town planning regulationshave not yet codified successful response paradigms The case review should beinterpreted in this way and consequently comparison between national and inter-national cases should not be forced, as these are often linked to issues of scale andsettlement pattern, as well as cultural and economic contexts which vary widely Onthe contrary, the established goal is to illustrate the point in the retail desertificationprocess on which it is possible to intervene with measures and policies, as well asthe potential outcomes, rather than analysing specific concrete circumstances Forthis reason, it is also important to introduce the variable“time” and the moment atwhich each strategy should be applied Some of the collected experiences shouldtake place before the process of dismantling, when the attractiveness of the retailactivity is diminishing, like in the cases of refurbishment of urban big-boxes inGermany, developed while the structure is still working Other strategies should beapplied when several vacancies dotted the retail systems, like in Vital’quartier(Paris) or Barcelona PECAB Finally, the publication proposes some ideas related

© The Author(s) 2018

L Tamini, Re-activation of Vacant Retail Spaces, PoliMI SpringerBriefs,

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1

to the re-activation of urban and suburban retail spaces (demalling), collecting someexample of re-functionalization of these volumes (from Italy or USA).

The choice of study cases is therefore as relevant as focusing on each singleprocess Best practice and elements, which could potentially be integrated intofuture public policies, aimed at preventing retail desertification phenomena, will behighlighted

This study involves an in-depth analysis of this subject in five Europeancountries and in the United States, and in-depth case studies linked to interventionand action on the big boxes of large scale retail channel or local retail The fol-lowing are of special note:

• France: in-depth study of the outcomes of the most advanced policies against thedismantling of the retail sector, developed from 1973 onwards, with specificmeasures, such as the setting up of the EPARECA institution (and the outcomes

on the Lucien Sampaix shopping mall in Bagnolet) on the one hand; and thecase of the Vital’Quartier programme in Paris on the other (Apur and Semaest

2013; Dessuges2013; Fleury2010; IAU2013)

• Spain; analysis of the Avenida M40 shopping mall and Parque Warner MadridResort y Parks that are both located within the Madrid metropolitan area on thebig box store and need intervention on retail and tertiary sector structures, versusthe Plan Especial de Equipamiento Comercial de la Ciudad de Barcelona andPlan Local de Equipamiento Comercial de Zaragoza that are two strategic andplanning tools, in which the cities aims to equip themselves with guidelinedocuments to strengthen and modernise the respective local retail areas (AytoBarcelona2011; Ayto Zaragoza2009; Sectores D B K.2014)

• United Kingdom: study of the Liverpool One Urban Regeneration Project,where retail was used as a vehicle and driving force for the recovery of itsindustrial port (BDP2009; Drivers Jonas Deloitte2012; University of Liverpool

2008), together with the re-launch of Brixton Village in Lambeth town inLondon’s southern quarter (English Heritage 2013; Fluid 2014; Hine 2010;Lambeth Municipality2014; Lambeth Planning Division2012; NLP2012)

• Germany: focus on the potential role of shopkeepers themselves, since in thetwo presented cases (the Sophienhof shopping mall in Kiel, and the ForumSteglitz shopping mall in Berlin), shopkeepers activated action on still operativestructures, that were subsequently considered obsolete or unable to respond tomarket demands These case studies show that such choices have increased theattractiveness of the aggregates both to consumers and potential newinvestors (DTZ2011; Union Imm.2013)

• United States of America: considerations on the crisis of the shopping mallformat, especially in its suburban locations, concluding with a presentation onthe Shannon Mall-Union Station Mall re-use case study in Union City, AtlantaGA(Congress for the New Urbanism2005; Congress for the New Urbanism andPrincewaterhouseCoopers 2001a, b; McAuliffe and LEED AP 2010; PBSJ

2001; Perry2001; Rossi2015; Sobel et al.2002; Tunnell-Spangler-Walsh andAssociates2003; Union City2010,2013)

1.1 Before the Dismantling: Facing Threats

and Weaknesses

1.1.1 French Policies Against Retail Deserti fication

Many public bodies have been set up in France to monitor, understand and act onretail Whilst these are based on town planning and economic type expertise, themonitoring tools1 used consider almost exclusively the consequences for theeconomy as a whole, giving no importance to the urban effects,2while the townplanning measures dealing with this sector are introduced via PLU town plans3and/

or SCoT regional plans4and/or town council SDCs.5

From the point of view of commercial trends, it should be noted that theAmerican mall model developed immediately after World War Two on the Frenchterritory The format was introduced by Edouard Leclerc with the first discountsupermarket opened in Landerneau in 1949 It was a great success and this newmodel later spread to the majority of French outlying urban districts To preventuncontrolled development of this new retail model the state decided to developtools to monitor retail businesses with the aim of counteracting their negative effects

on local economy in the town centres

On 27th December 1973, Law Royer decreed that a permit from the Commission

Départementale d’Urbanisme Commercial (CDUC)6was required prior to buildingany retail outlet larger than 1000 m2 in size The purpose of this law was tosafeguard town centre shops

Public powers guarantee that the expansion of retail and artisanship will safeguard the development of all business forms both independent, group or integrated, ensuring that uncontrolled growth in new forms of distribution does not squeeze out small business, waste retail surfaces or compromise employment.7

1 These documents often take the form of town planning and building regulations drawn up from local studies carried out by a number of provincial and/or local council level bodies.

2 A phenomenon previously identi fied by René Péron, La fin des vitrines, des temples de la consommation aux usines à vendre, éditions de l’Ecole Normale Supérieure de Cachan, 1993.

3 Plan Local d ’Urbanisme is the equivalent of Italian town plans.

4 Sch éma de COhérence Territoriale [regional plans] The goal is coherence between the various town council town plans and the development of town planning concepts and guidelines, which will then take precedence over the town regulations They are made up of agglomerations of town councils.

5 Sch éma de Développement Commercial [retail development plans] The goal is to set the dations for commercial town planning designed to provide guidelines for new retail outlets.

foun-6 Provincial Commercial Town planning Commission.

7 “Les pouvoirs publics veillent à ce que l’essor du commerce et de l’artisanat permette l’expansion

de toutes les formes d ’entreprises, indépendantes, groupées ou intégrées, en évitant qu’une croissance d ésordonnée des nouvelles formes de distribution ne provoque l’écrasement de la petite entreprise et le gaspillage des équipements commerciaux et ne soit préjudiciable à l’emploi”, art.1 Legge Royer, 27th Dec 1973.

The CDUC is composed of twenty members8:

• 9 mayors including the mayor of the town in which the permit has been appliedfor;

• 9 delegates from retail activities and craftsman business;

• 2 delegates from consumer rights associations

Other delegates take part without having the right to vote, these are the prefect andmayors from neighbouring town councils, reporting to the town in which a permithas been applied for

The CDUC bases its decisions on very precise elements of a prevalentlyquantitative type9:

• balanced supply and demand in each business sector within the catchment area;

• medium and large retail shop density in the area of reference;

• the potential effect of the project on the retail and craftsman fabric of the urbanagglomerations in the proximity of the catchment area;

• the employment effect of the project in terms of full time jobs generated, bothpermanent andfixed term;

• competitiveness outcomes of the project in the retail and craftsman sectors;

• commitments by the project manager to fund food sector retail outlet creation on

at least 10% of the surface area applied for in zones requiring urban opment or rural areas, in which the development of retail activities with avending surface area of less than 300 m2is considered top priority

redevel-All the decisions taken by this commission must refer to the studies of theProvincial Retail Building Observatory These policy measures have immediate andsignificant impact on the opening of shopping malls in the vicinity of town centres.This powerful monitoring tool has been modified over the years on a number ofoccasions, culminating in Loi Raffarin which transformed the CDUC intoCommission Départementale d’Equipement Commercial (CDEC)10

and in 2000with the Loi SRU which converted the CDEC into Commission Départementale

d’Aménagement Commercial (CDAC).11

In 1996, for example, the 1000 m2threshold for retail licences was lowered to

300 m2 and, consequently, all the large scale distribution networks in the towncentres were obliged to apply for permits too By contrast from 1996 to 2000, whenthis legal threshold of 1000 m2was restored, fewer medium and large-scale retailbusinesses were opened

8 Legifrance.gouv.fr.

9 Raffarin law dating to 5th July 1996, art 28, legifrance.gouv.fr.

10 Provincial Commercial Building Commission.

11 Provincial Commercial Planning Commission.

1.2 During the Process: Supporting, Integrating

and Repositioning

1.2.1 The EPARECA Case: The Lucien Sampaix Shopping

Mall, Bagnolet

The case of the Lucien Sampaix shopping mall is an opportunity to study the work

of the EPARECA public company,12 which deals specifically with re-launchingabandoned retail big boxes in the outskirts of French towns, asfirst priority in urbanrenewal The case is an interesting one because the mall is situated in a poor urbancontext suffering from serious safety problems

The socio-economic and regional context

Bagnolet has direct links with Paris on metro line number 3 (last stop Gallieni, close

to Porte de Bagnolet) The town centre shops thus compete with the Parisian retailfabric Their main retail customers are local and they supply services and primarynecessities The Bel-Est shopping mall is at Porte de Bagnolet with 60 shops and afood store base, an Auchan supermarket Its client base is not solely local but it alsoattracts people living in central Paris, thanks to its proximity to the Gallieni metrostop and the accessibility and visibility of motorway A3, as well as the Parisringroad Lucien Sampaix shopping mall (Fig.1.1) is around 1.4 km from thisnetwork of shops, which gives it a powerful competitive edge in the local context(Table1.1) Bel-Est is difficult to reach on foot but has local public transport links

It should be noted, however, that the town’s retail businesses have held out againstthe attractions of the shopping mall partly as a result of low vehicle ownership perperson ratios.13 The Paris ringroad passes through Bagnolet The A3 motorwaydivides it in two, making it almost impossible to walk through A large scale urbanrenovation project has been launched to rebuild links between the various quartersand increase the density of the urban fabric.14

Permit and building process time frame

Reconstruction of the dismantling process:

• 1948–1967: 3800 social housing flats were built in the Malassis quarter

• 1960s: building of a 1120 m2

supermarket and 16 shops

12 Établissement Public National d’Aménagement et de Restructuration des Espaces Commerciaux

et Artisanaux: National Public Commercial and Artisan Spaces Planning and Renovation Institution.

13 One third of those living in Bagnolet town do not own a car (Source: http://www.ville-bagnolet fr/ ).

14 It should be noted that the retail programme is an integral part of a social residence programme: 95% of the town ’s housing is social housing (the Malassis quarter has a population of around 5000).

• 1967–87: building of additional social housing flats in the Malassis quarter andthe creation of the La Noue quarter for 6000 inhabitants.

• 1992: dismantling of retail and tertiary sector

• 2007: ANRU began an ambitious town redevelopment programme

• 2007: arson at the Lucien Sampaix supermarket

• 2010: judicial liquidation and closing of two shops (57% closed)

• 2010–2014: closing of five other small shops (73% closed)

1 – Café, bar and tobacconist 150 m2

Fig 1.1 The Lucien Sampaix shopping mall, Bagnolet (F): layout

Table 1.1 The Lucien Sampaix shopping mall, Bagnolet (F): dimensional data

Medium sized retail outlets (MSV): 1 supermarket Surface area covered EdV: 1359 m2

MSV: 1120 m2Disused surface area EdV: 700 m2

EdV: 350 m2MSV: 300 m2Tertiary and service sector businesses 1100 m2Car parking spaces 82

Building permit issue 1960

Closing 1992 closing of the first offices in the area was followed by the first

retail dismantling The supermarket burnt down in 2007, judicial liquidation took place in July 2010 for Primeur Land and this was followed by the closing of many neighbourhood businesses

Project time frame:

• April 2010: EPARECA is given the task of renovating the retail fabric byBagnolet town council

• June 2010: studies began

• December 2011: market study by Pivadis completed

• September 2012: judicial and real estate study completed

• 2012–13: retail project integrated into ANRU’s urban renovation project

• June 2013: project modified

• Nov–Dec 2013: existing supermarket demolished

Action planned:

• Road network modification—2014–16

• Building of an open air market—2015

• New tertiary and service sector businesses added (medical and social centre,nursery school, pre-school club) on the ground floor of the new buildings(2015–16)

• New retail surfaces added (2016–17)

Economic analysis identifies a potential market of around 27 million Euroswhich could increase to 34 million as a result of the growth in population densityexpected by the time the town redevelopment plan is completed Recent enquiriesinto consumption habits in the quarter have, in fact, shown that an unsatisfieddemand for local retail exists (Fig.1.2)

Following on from its market study EPARECA identified the type of activities itconsidered sustainable:

• medium sized food retail with a surface area of no more than 300/400 m2(thehard-discount option was discarded right away);

• neighbourhood businesses; The chemist is in much demand so it is expected toremain

Project sustainability threshold High profitability scenario Low profitability scenario

Fig 1.2 The results of the market study by type of retail activity and pro fitability scenarios (in millions of €) Source EPARECA/Pivadis, Dec 2011

This new retail aggregate will function only if certain factors impact on theeconomic sustainability of the new retail system such as:

• visibility;

• the presence of a large distribution network brand supermarket, as a retailattraction;

• the creation of partnerships with other sectors (tertiary, services);

• the maintenance and growth of the neighbourhood catchment area

Once the format was established EPARECA studied the new locations of allbusinesses and the public space project with ANRU.15

A number of agreements with the town council to sustain retail businesses weredrawn up, especially:

• the setting up of council services (nursery school and pre-school club);

• changes to a public transport bus route;

• the organisation of a weekly open air market in the new square;

• the relocation of the goods loading/unloading area

Partners

• EPARECA: involved in funding, local diagnosis, work management

• ANRU: involved in funding work

• Bagnolet town council: requested EPARECA’s intervention and will beinvolved in investment

• Sequano Aménagement: mixed ownership company16 which owns the shops

• Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations17: partial funding of work

• The state: represented by the prefecture, EPARECA controlling powers,decision-making powers

• Other partners involved in the social housing renovation project: Sem Pact 93,Paris Habitat OPH,18OPH Bagnolet and Association Foncière Logement.SWOT Analysis

The case main strengths and potential can be summed up as follows:

• Strengths: location of the established urban fabric which guarantees a potentiallyextremely large catchment area; a large scale urban renewal project; urban safetymeasures; significant public investment; considerable attractiveness due to itsproximity to Paris; limited real estate pressure

15 Agence Nationale pour la R énovation Urbaine: National Urban Renewal Body.

16 67.54% public*, 32.46% private**: *province of Seine-Saint-Denis (62.20%) —Aubervilliers, Blanc-Mesnil, Bobigny, Gagny, Les Lilas, Pierre fitte-sur-Seine, Le Pré Saint-Gervais, Trembay-en-France, Villetaneuse town councils (5.34%); **Caisse des d épôts, Caisse d’Epargne

d ’Ile-de-France (15.04%)—OPH de Seine-Saint-Denis, OPH de Bobigny, Logirep (7.93%)—other private shareholdersi (9.49%).

17 Loan and deposit bank.

18 Of fice Public de l’Habitat: Public Residential Institute.

• Potential: the urban renewal project links two social housing quarters, identified

as‘sensitive’, thus increasing town council services and public spaces with theobjective of raising living standards and making the area more attractive As it isclassified as a ZUS (sensitive urban area) zone shopkeepers opening up retailoutlets receive incentives and bothfinancial and bureaucratic help

The case weaknesses and threats are, on the other hand, as follows:

• Weaknesses: enclave situation, which blocks the area’s economic development,

a population in financial difficulty with limited buying power, a climate ofinsecurity, extremely high levels of competition and a degraded neighbourhood

in both social and town planning terms

• Threats: still under-assessed to the extent that the negative consequences willonly become apparent when the project is complete: the park built above the A3motorway to link the two quarters could become the site of clashes and/or illegalexchange increasing the area’s insecurity and diminishing the power of efforts torenew the area

1.3 Demalling: How to Re-activate Big-Boxes and Urban Retail Districts?

1.3.1 Dismantled Big Boxes: Governance and Tools in U.S.

The dynamics observed in Lombardy and overall Italian context, as well as ininternational case studies relating to the planned dismantling of retail units provideindications for the formulation of a number of useful approaches to managing andminimising retail closing dynamics

The first map of potential closings of medium-large retail units (Fig 1.3)highlights the fact that today this phenomenon seems to relate above all to mediumsized units (retail area < 2500 m2), although some shopping malls have also begunfacing anchor store dismantling, vacant units, a drop in sales, lower employmentrates, worker dismissals (see shopping malls such as Verola Center and Le Robinie

in Verolanuova BS, Le Acciaierie in Cortenuova BG) In the Italian and Lombardscenario a first case of demalling has occurred: the former Esselunga brandsuperstore in Pioltello (MI), a medium sized retail structure, which, after itsabandonment as a result of retail de-localisation, has been made into a health unitthrough a joint public-private initiative (Cavoto2014)

The thoughts expressed below follow the logic of the qualitative programming

of retail areas with the goal of possibly building additions to the new regionalprogramme and, on a cascade process, to local planning and regulatory approaches

by means of the retail components of town plans and local building regulations

1 We will start with considerations on the location of new buildings, proposing amodel inspired by the British world’s sequential approach (Findlay and Sparks

2010), which has seen interesting applications in Italy in a number of regionalcontexts Public action involves introducing a regulatory mechanism for thequantitative and comparative evaluation of location applications and availableareas, which prioritise central or at least urbanised locations, ensuring thatcertain requisites such as accessibility on public transport networks, the absence

of soil consumption, limitations on environmental and landscape impact, energy

efficiency, sustainability and material re-use are satisfied

2 Secondly, it would be useful to consider the economic cycle of large scale retailareas at the planning and evaluation stage, identifying the various phases in theirlifecycles and planning re-functionalisation, optimisation and re-conversion ofsuch areas in order to adequately forecast and consider how architectural andtown planning projects, already under way, could be reused in the future In thissense, it is important to intervene also by drawing up planning guidelines,designed to introduce specific requisites and building recommendations with theintention of minimising the landscape impact of retail areas which may facil-itate their later re-use or reconversion/breakdown

Fig 1.3 Milan competitive landscape: Deadmall snd Ghostboxes Source Urb&Com Lab, Politecnico di Milano, 2015

The United States experience shows that it is possible to import certain measuresdesigned to favour building re-use when big boxes close Specifically, large formatretail units in the planning stage should be accompanied by documentation illus-trating the potential of parcelling out the rentable (or saleable) public space tomultiple shops, thus reducing interior sizing And this in consideration of the factthat the bulk of potential tenants, interested in re-using abandoned retail spaces, aresmall-scale businesses In the Bozeman (MT), Olympia (WA) and Reno (NV) areaordinances apply, requiring appropriate paperwork certifying any transformation,which buildings would need in order to host multiple retail outlets via internalwalls, utility adaptation and transformation of the façade, by adding extra entrances

to it In Bozeman, specifically, clauses have been applied to surface areas of around

3700 m2, in Olympia for around 2300 m2and in Reno for 5500 m2for buildings of

a surface area of around 4600 m2 Planning for the future transformation and re-use

of buildings can involve extra planning costs but these may limit later modificationcosts and favour re-use

As an alternative to re-use, once again on the basis of US experience, a tractual clause, known as the demolition bond, means that owners must transfer asum equivalent to 110% of the building‘s value in the event of closing to localcouncils Demolition can be implemented when the building reaches retail vacancylevels of 30% This clause has been adopted in Oakdale (CA), for example, onbuildings of more than 9290 m2and the bond there covers expenses not only ofdemolition in the event of closing, but also maintenance for a total of 12 months

con-In Milwaukee (WI), on the other hand, retail businesses occupying surface areas

of more than 4645 m2 require contributions of $0.20/ft2(0.0929 m2) to the CityLand Conservation Fund, which can be used to demolish the building if necessary.Contracts set out that owners commit themselves to drawing up projects forpotential re-use or demolition in the event of the area’s bankruptcy

As far as demolition is concerned, a useful reference is American LEED fication (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), developed by the U.S.Green Building Council (USGBC) for environmental building sustainability Thiscertification encompasses not only measures to minimise energy consumption, butalso the use of materials and resources, which can facilitate reuse at the end of itslifecycle, with a minimum of dismantling costs in bothfinancial and environmentalterms In view of the expenses involved in invasive work to adapt buildings withthe necessary modifications to new functions, this approach could be extended.Potential physical decay of the building, as well as negative visual and socialimpact in the context of reference, following retail dismantling, can be significantlydiminished with contractual clauses between owners and tenants or with localcouncils The maintenance of abandoned buildings is essential if decay is to beprevented The American experience provides case studies, such as Newberg (OR),where 1% of the value of retail businesses in buildings, that are larger than 3700 m2approximately, is paid into a citizens’ fund used to maintain such properties in theevent of closing or, as an alternative, as incentives for new tenants to encouragere-use In order to ensure continuity in retail activities and reduce closings costs,other measures can be implemented on a contractual level, using certain US models

certi-Certain ordinances ban rental payments in the event of retail dismantling or, as analternative, block retail businesses from retaining tenancies in the event of closing,without the property being relocated on the market This favours the immediateintegration of retail businesses into vacant spaces In the event of the dismantling ofspaces larger than 7000 m2 in Forsyth County (GA), contractual competitionclauses are cancelled, thus allowing the building to be re-used by any businessauthorised in zoning regulations Within 24 months of closing, a demolition orre-use building project must be presented In Evaston (NY) a clause was stipulatedwith Walmart, which identifies new tenants in the event of closing.

Once again considering the importance of ensuring the maintenance of doned property, the potential for temporary re-use of buildings in the intermediatephase between closing and new use identification is a strategic priority TheAmerican strategic demalling model, involving non-invasive re-use of architecturalstructures, often emerges from the logic of maintaining internal spaces active asmuch as possible by ensuring the maintenance of a continual flow of users.Additional functions, some of which were alternative, were used at a number ofmalls during the economic crisis, and these ensured the maintenance of such spaces,the attractions of centres and profits for owners Case studies include that ofEastmont Mall (Oakland CA), whose original regional mall went into bankruptcy,and which is currently targeting rental of its indoor spaces to local organisations,social activities and small businesses, while awaiting a definitive strategic plan.Despite the many activities it hosts, there are still a great many vacant spaces.However, the recurring absence of an overall co-ordination plan for this type ofre-use of the whole or part of its indoor spaces, in terms of functions and time,frames counteracting decline only weakly by simply putting off the inevitable Thisunderlines the need to understand the potential for temporary planned re-use ofbuildings, as a forerunner to definitive re-use (or demolition)

aban-Prioritising associations and citizens’ co-operatives has been shown to be apossible solution to the maintenance and re-use of vacant spaces on the high streets

of many American urban and suburban areas The Northeast InvestmentCcoperative was thefirst of its kind in the United States to create a system in 2011,where residents could invest in buying, renovating and subsequently relaunchingvacant retail buildings with a $1000 stake In 2012, the Cooperative began con-cretely investing in the Central Avenue closing, in the north-east of Minneapolis(MI), re-launching local activities and promoting urban renewal in the surroundingareas, especially in the Central and Lowry intersection areas Urban renewal isaccompanied by positive increases in employment, in returns on investments withinthe community itself, in re-launching local businesses and start-up initiatives and inthe reinforcement of a sense of community, which is much sought after in theUnited States In some Canadian provinces, support to cooperatives also comesfrom governmental institutions, where tax deductions of up to 35% of retailinvestments and local business activities are applicable thanks to CommunityEconomic Development Investment Funds (CEDIF)

1.3.2 The Vital ’ Quartier Plan

The socio-economic and regional context

The problem of urban attractiveness and retail desertification has been a researchtheme for some time in Paris, a veritable town planning workshop on new ways ofmanaging new urban problems

In fact, Ile de France is set out around the Paris metropolis and influenced by thepowerful attractions of its city centre In a context of this sort, where accessibility is

a factor creating inequality in the territorial distribution of retail businesses, criticalpoints have emerged also for the medium-large scale retail network which has torenew itself constantly, in both format and the range it offers to maintain orregenerate its attractiveness

To give the retail supply greater coherence in this macro-region, and confrontmono-function and closing issues, identified in both town centres and outlying areas,

a number of monitoring and town planning tools have been used For example, Paristown council has an urban research workshop, APUR,19which publishes a great deal

of research on the key theme of the metropolis every year, and works in partnershipwith local councils In-depth studies into changes in the retail sector enable constantupdates on the trends outlined above (to be obtained), as well as on the consequences

on the urban level, or the whole region, to be forecast For this reason, an overview ofbusinesses is drawn up every four years in order to supply an objective research base,which will enable an overall framework of the retail situation and of the problems,emerging from the towns to be drawn up (Apur and Cci Paris-Idf2013)

In the early years of the new millennium Paris city council created new tools orupdated existing ones (Fleury2010), which may be examples of good practice forthe subject matter of this research These include:

• 2001–2003: creation of the Quartier Vert programme as a tool to enhanceexisting local retail businesses It is expected to potentially help create goodsloading/unloading areas and renew the urban fabric

• 2004: activating the experimental Vital’ Quartier programme to incentivise/re-establish retail in the proximity of urban areas experiencing powerful retaildismantling and single business phenomena

• 2006: identifying the main Plan Local d’Urbanisme the main retail axes Thistool involved the potential for limiting the space along the axes identified thatare allotted to retail and craftsman functions

Lastly, the action identified in Paris fit into a global regional managementapproach It is the intention of the issuing body that such operations should improverelationships between the distributional system in the historic centre, as well asthose of outlying areas, and ensure a better balance between the two

19 Agence Parisienne d ’Urbanisme, Paris Town Planning Agency.

The role of SEMAEST within the program

Given evident difficulties in the Parisian retail fabric, in 2004 the city councildecided to assign thefirm SEMAEST20the task of studying the urban retail systemand setting up the Vital’ Quartier programme in certain areas, in partnership withthe Paris city council and the mayors of the various quarters SEMAEST and thecity council set out a Convention Publique d’Aménagement21 agreement, whichenables public bodies to monitor SEMAEST’s actions and delegate its powers such

as, for example, the right offirst refusal in buying space

SEMAEST is a mixed capital company with powers to receive and manage bothpublic and private funds with the corresponding obligation to report its actions tothe public body funding it In this case the Paris city council has set aside 87.5million Euros in funds, which will be paid back on completion of the projectincluding in the form of real estate The total sum has been split into 50.4 millionEuros to the Vital’Quartier 1 programme (2004–15 period) and 37.1 million Euros

to Vital’Quartier 2 (2008–2021 period)

The programme was launched in six urban districts in 2004 Four of thesefeatured marked specialisation in retail outlets—called single activity—seen ascritical points, as a result of their predominant goods base (wholesalers,‘red light’retail, etc.), while two had a significant proportion of disused shops on the groundfloor, 15% of the total (and 27% of spaces).22

After initial tests on these districts (Fig.1.4), other mayors put forward their ownstruggling retail districts A second phase of the project began in 2008 withfive newdistricts Three were experiencing single activity problems, and one retail deserti-fication averaging 15% The goal in the last of these districts was very different Itaimed to safeguard a single type of retail outlet—bookshops—which is one of thehistoric features of the area, but which was struggling, due to the powerfulattractions of its central position and the consequent tendency to replace such shopswith other, more profitable urban sectors.23

In 2014 the Vital’Quartier programme was awarded the European CEEP-CSRprize for the fourth year running on social and environmental responsibilitygrounds

20 Soci été d’Economie Mixte d’Animation Economique au Service des Territoires.

21 The CPA is now obsolete on a judicial level and has been transformed into a public concession.

22 Retail dismantling in Paris approximated 9.9% in the 2003 –2005 period, when the programme was launched (See Commerce Database BDCOM managed by Agence Parisienne d ’Urbanisme APUR).

23 The large national and international retail chains —with their contractual power in both financial and taxation terms —often increase the real estate value of retail outlets, when they enter the marketplace Rents thus often become unaffordable for local retail outlets of a cultural kind or those with a local client base.

The programfixed the following goals:

• re-valuing vacant shops;

• re-developing urban areas;

• increasing urban safety;

• creating new jobs;

• promoting and/or safeguarding a specific type of retail (organic, tally friendly, cultural, small scale retailers…);

environmen-• creating an ‘urban village’ environment in which neighbourhood relationshipsare reinforced;

• confronting retail desertification;

• resisting mono-function aggregation phenomena;

• preserving historic and traditional retail;

• supporting shops as neighbourhood services

Actors

Local government in France is made up of a multiplicity of actors, each one having

a precise function This number is doubled in Paris because the metropolitan area issubdivided into twenty quarters, each of which is managed by local councils, inFig 1.4 Development operations managed by Semaest Source Apur and Semaest ( 2013 )

addition to Paris city council Consequently, a multiplicity of public actors areinvolved in the Vital’Quartier programme The main actors are the following:

• APUR, which carried out preliminary research into urban retail;

• Paris city council, which identifies the districts where to implement the gramme with the participation of local councils;

pro-• the Semaest firm, which has been given the task of activating urban opment projects

redevel-SEMAEST has to keep Paris city council informed on its work for the duration

of the project, despite the fact that its funding comes from the banks which sustainthe project Furthermore a Groupe Technique Local24regularly makes on site visits

to gather information from shopkeepers, residents and local councils The goal is tokeep up-to-date on trends in local markets, in real time in both sales and rentalterms, in partnership with Centre des impôts foncières (Real Estate Tax Service).SEMAEST also keeps contacts with another public body Direction de

When units fall into the SEMAEST system, management companies can becontacted for renovation In this way, another body enters the equation—theParis-Ile-de-France Chamber of Commerce and Chamber of Commerce—whichannounces tenders for the management of the shops, and publicises them withinterested retailers Future shop owners submit their business projects toSEMAEST, which selects them on the basis on the information dossier presented

by future tenants

Local councils are kept constantly up-to-date over the whole process, includingsale of shops and the GTL (Groupe Technique Local) manages an active moni-toring body

In order to manage the sale of shops and the completion of the Vital’Quartierprogramme, Caisse des Dépots and SEMAEST set up a further company, FoncièreParis Commerce with the purposes of purchasing these spaces Paris city councilwill also own all the shops in the Quartier Latin district, for example, to act as astabilising presence and give continuity to the district’s historic bookshops

24 GTL: Local Technical Group.

25 DU: Town Planning Management.

26 Commencement notice, mandatory only in urban areas selected by Paris city council.

to manage spaces.

2 Buying

Once the district’s potential is known, the Vital’Quartier programme sets out twopotential options for managing vacant spaces:

(a) If the shop is on sale:

• Buying: owners are contacted and if an offer has already been made privately,SEMAEST can exercise its right offirst refusal

Fig 1.5 Time frame and actors involved in the Vital ’Quartier programme

• A protocol of understanding: an agreement offered to future owners, whocommit themselves to maintaining the unit’s current business model, inexchange for not exercising its right offirst refusal.

(b) If the shop is not on sale:

• A retail 3/6/9 rental contract is offered to owners (a classic rental contract on athree, six or nine year time frame), with a clause that specifies the option tosub-rent to a third party

• Leasehold or loan for use: mainly used with public bodies (bodies managingpublic housing), which are variable in length but usually 25 years

Shops managed by the programme are renovated with the goal of enhancing thelocal supply context Work done by companies contacted directly by SEMAESTfitout retail outlets, in which business is to take place As far as those activities, whichrequire the introduction of specific machines or structures (such as butchers’ andbakers’), are concerned, the programme provides extra funding to encourage suchshops to set up in the area

Renovation work is done mainly to bring shops into line with the law, as this issomething, which shopkeepers can often not afford Shops are insulated to respond

to the requirements of Paris Plan Climat27and supplied with disabled access Shopwindows are renovated in‘traditional’ style with natural painted wood SEMAESTcommissions an architect to design work Tenders are then set up for companies

3 Rent

Setting in motion the process offinding a new lessee (e.g shopkeeper) is done inthe following stages: every month, a list of vacant shops is sent into the Chamber ofCommerce, the city quarter councils and the City council and then published in theBulletin Municipal Officiel de la Ville de Paris.28 Residents and shopkeepers arekept informed with posters affixed to the windows of vacant shops The Chamber ofCommerce can put forward candidates who send in their applications toSEMAEST, which has compiled a list of shopkeepers intending to take part in theprogramme

After afirst selection in this list, the Comité d’Investissement et d’Attribution,29

linked to the quarter’s public administrators, is drawn up The main factors takeninto consideration in the selection are: (i) thefinancial prospects of the hypotheticalbusiness and (ii) the type of goods to be sold, which must correspond to the site’spotential, as identified by SEMAEST

The yearly rent must balance the operation It isfixed on the basis of the shop’sbuying price, the cost of the work done, the street’s retail appeal and the type ofbusiness to be set up Lessees are exempt from rental payments for thefirst three

27 Laws on insulation and building CO2 emissions All renovated shops must respect these requirements.

28 Of ficial Journal of Paris City Council.

29 CIA: Investment and Attribution Committee.

months and from business start up Rents can be raised after thefirst year on thebasis of market trends.

The programme also involves business support services to shopkeepers for theduration of the Vital’Quartier programme The services supplied and/or put forwardare as follows:

• List of useful contacts with local bodies (associations, local councils, etc.);

• (Paid) training and conference organisation every two months;

• (Paid) services: audits, business management, retail strategies, etc.;

• Help in the search for funding (special relationships with banks sustaining theproject, inviting shopkeepers to use crowdfunding, and recommending Internetplatforms, etc.);

• Marketing and entertainment activities,30 at the Club’Vital’Quartier

4 Resale

At the end of the rental period between SEMAEST and shopkeepers, shops are put

up for sale once again At this point there are four potential options:

• the lessee buys the shop This is the preferred solution, but one which is oftendifficult to sustain financially by shopkeepers;

• shops are sold to Foncière Paris-Commerce31;

• Resale to private owners This is the last solution, in spite of the retail potentialre-generated by the Vital’Quartier programme, which is often rejected as a result

of the unstable character of the site’s real estate value, which puts businesses atrisk;

• Shops are assigned to Paris City Counciland, and the funds invested arereimbursed

A districtfighting against retail desertification: the Belleville case

To understand the impact of this action the results obtained in Belleville, thedistrict, which presented the greatest number of vacant shops in 2003, when theprogramme began, are shown below (Apur and Semaest2013)

The process of retail decline was already advanced when the programme beganand thus regenerating the area’s retail fabric was more challenging than in otherdistricts, where the programme was more successful (Table1.2)

Belleville had a closing rate of 22.7% in 2000 and this trend continued, minating in afigure of 27.4% in 2003 Paris City Council thus decided to integrate

cul-it into the Vcul-ital’Quartier 1 programme, which began in 2004 In 2002 the number ofvacant shops dropped by 40%, representing 17% of retail units Over ten years, theVital’Quartier programme succeeded in inverting the previous tendency of anincrease in numbers of vacant shops

30 Participation funded by SEMAEST.

31 Paris Commerce freehold founded by Caisse des D épots and SEMAEST in May 2013.

This outcome was made possible by buying only 19 shops, representing lessthan 2% of the district’s shops As of today, three of them have been resold with aclause limiting shop use In addition to the protocols of understanding drawn up(19), a partnership with SIEMP32 (a company managing public housing buildingswith vacant shops) was activated SEMAEST intervened in a total of 39 retailoutlets, representing 3.7% of the area’s retail fabric.

In the choice of shops bought, priority is given to corner shops This locationgives shops greater visibility and heightens the urban impact These corners areusually between a shopping street and one with a large number of abandoned units,

in order to increase pedestrian traffic from the main street to the secondary one.Later acquisitions are made in order to extend this pedestrianflow along the street.The Vital’Quartier shops thus became a reference point along the street, attractingpotential users and clients (Fig.1.6)

Having faced high retail closing rates for many years, the Belleville districtdecided to incorporate tertiary activities, such as offices and art galleries on theground floor of the shops bought, into the project Whilst the ultimate goal is toestablish shops also in these secondary roads, this principle acted as an incentive topedestrian flows there This flow represents potential customers for retail units,which willfind it easier to take the place of the initial tertiary activities in this way.Retail desmantilng are still widespread today and the shops bought will, for themost part, be resold to Foncière Paris Commerce, which will enable the processunder way to continue

Table 1.2 Retail features of Belleville district (2003 –2012)

32 Soci été Immobilière d’Economie Mixte de la ville de Paris.

SWOT Analysis

Strengths

• a ‘trigger’ effect, an initial impulse aiming to attract other lessees/shopkeepers;

• an analytical tool aiding in a highly advanced understanding of the area whichwill enable retail trends to be forecast;

• buying shops ensures that the town council’s management of the area will behighly effective;

• potential for developing, limiting or safeguarding retail outlet type;

• specific help to shopkeepers, helping them to optimise their chances of success;

• reactivating the neighbourhood network can help to improve the area’s munity life and increase numbers of associations in the quarter;

com-• increasing governance in the area and thus perceptions of urban safety;

• creating new jobs

Weaknesses

• highly complex and costly system requiring huge public investment;

• slow progress in areas where abandonment has been under way for many years;

• the complexity of the dialogue between shopkeepers and the public tration, due to the multiplicity of public bodies involved in the process;

adminis-• SEMAEST has had to invest further in shop buying and operations during theprogramme, and therefore it requires rents, which are often higher than marketrates;

• the services and help offered to shopkeepers are generally not free of charge;

• SEMAEST manages shops but cannot intervene in the urban context of ence (urban fabric, street cleaning management, management of parking areas,goods loading/unloading)

refer-Fig 1.6 Avenue Gambetta: transformation from 2008 to 2014

• Shop management is open to all, and Paris City Council, or other public bodies,

as owners, can have a direct impact on retail

• SEMAEST monitors all the shops owned by Paris City Council today Thecreative network can stimulate retail initiative in a great number of quarters, orotherwise give Paris City Council the chance to create themed retail areas, based

on the new tourism-shopping-culture nexus

• This system can potentially be used together with or against certain national orinternational retail chains, since the City Council will decide who owns them

• It offers the chance to recreate ‘urban village’ environments;

• It is potentially a tool, which can enhance participatory democracy

Threats

• It is a tool, which could obstruct free competition

• It is an extremely large investment fund, and if it should fail, it would beimpossible to recover, except by selling off the land bought at discount rates

1.3.3 An Innovative Legal Tool: Taxes on Closed Down

Retail Surfaces

The Taxe sur les Friches Commerciales (TFC),33 set out in article 1530 of theGeneral Tax Code, was modified by law no 2012-1509 of 29th December 2012(article 83) and became operational only from June 2014 Every town council cannow decide whether to impose a tax on underused retail surfaces on approval by thetown council It is a yearly tax calculated on real estate valuations by the GeneralTax Department The tax is 10% in thefirst year, 15% in the second year and 20%from the third year onwards Town councils can decide to increase this tax but not

by more than double (increasing it, then, by 20, 30% and then 40%) Real estatesubject to this tax must be disused for a minimum of two years and have belonged

to the same owner for more than two years Article 1530 also specifies that the taxcan be imposed on offices or any other spaces that were previously used for retailbusiness, including shopping mall car parks, storerooms and/or warehouses.34

33 Tax on Disused Commercial Buildings.

34 Taxe sur les Friches Commerciales (TFC), service-public.fr (updated 01/07/2014 by the Legal and Administration Directorate) They are liable to TFC: “concernés par la taxe foncière sur les propri étés bâties: immeubles de bureaux ou utilisés pour une activité commerciale, parkings des centres commerciaux, lieux de d épôt ou de stockage, et qui ne sont plus affectés à une activité soumise à cotisation foncière des entreprises (CFE) depuis au moins 2 ans au 1er janvier de l'année d'imposition et sont rest és inoccupés pendant cette période (par exemple, un local commercial qui n'est pas exploit é depuis le 1er janvier 2013 devient imposable au 1er janvier 2015).”

Paris city council adopted this tax in November 2014 deciding to double the basetax rate, taking it to its maximum level, in the hope of launching re-generationdynamics in disused areas This measure was much criticised by the real estatesector, which considered it a further obstacle to the re-launch of disused areas andlikely to penalise buildings, which cannot adapt to other uses and purposes forarchitectural and town planning reasons.

Other towns, such as Dax, Perpignan, Argentat, Saint-Amand-Montrond, LaRoche Sur Yon and Calais, adopted the tax in autumn 2014 Differently sized townshope to encourage retail regeneration in their town centres through this tax It isimportant to highlight that this law also serves to re-launch the rental market inabandoned retail buildings

But if the effects of this law on retail and tertiary sector surfaces in the towncentres have been thoroughly analysed, very little consideration has taken place onthe impact on medium-large scale retail structures The application of this taxfrequently makes it hard tofind business people willing to manage or sub-rent suchdisused buildings The town of Calais, for example, has bought a disused shoppingmall in the town centre for the symbolic sum of one Euro

Lastly, note that this tax mechanism requires an in-depth knowledge of the areaand its economic and town planning framework, which is often not be found in thelocal medium-small scale French context It is a law, which, in such cases, couldeven turn out to be counterproductive on the level of the general objective ofeconomic re-launch of the urban retail system

1.4 Re flecting on Cases: Strategies, Actors and Proposals

The stock of strategies listed in previous sections shows an interesting geneity in the approaches, policies and actions involved There is no space here tofocus on specific circumstances of each case, but the comparison among proposedsolutions allows a reflection on the state-of-the-art of current public policies sup-porting retail and/or counteracting demalling phenomenon, and the crisis in thedistribution system

hetero-In order to move forward in stages in the summarizing and analysis process, wehave decided to provide a set of forms, enabling to list and sub-divide variousinternational experiences, according to the sphere of action (unitary structure/localretail) For each experience, one should look at the reasons of dismantling, or at thefactors leading to crisis in the distribution system For each of these reasons we haveattempted to provide a list of guidelines that affect policies and/or strategies,developed by public actors Following the examples of the international practices,these guidelines affect a set of different situations, in which local or regional gov-ernment is involved for the governance, the management, or the radical transfor-mation of retail structures, such as Barcelona’s public markets (Guàrdia et al.2010)

The in-depth studies carried out currently point out a trend showing how thesechallenging situations have been managed at local scale, both for retail polaritiesand for urban retail systems.

The variety of scales and approaches collected show the richness of the debate

on this topic, in which several solutions can be exported, creating a specificknowledge on thisfield At the same time, it is important to underline that policiesand solutions have been implemented within a precise legal, economic and socialframework For this reason, it is important to highlight the specific features of thecontext, where various actions took place The potential innovations are listed in thefollowing matrix

The case studies analysed show an interesting heterogeneity in the approachesused and strategies pursued At the same time, there is no space here to set out thespecific circumstances of each case but, by contrast, this is an opportunity ofconsidering the present status quo, and attempting to reflect in a cross disciplinaryway on the current state of public policy supporting retail, as a tool to counteract thedemalling phenomenon and the crisis in the distribution system

The in-depth studies, currently carried out, show a tendency to delegate agement of challenging situations to local tools both as far as retail polarity isconcerned, and in relation to the traditional outlet Concerning regional scaleexamples, these have not yet been identified and, in actual fact, this aspectdemonstrates the great interest of the action advocated by this work The change ofscale, linked to the adoption of a new role by the region can serve to heighten theoverall applicability and in-depth effect of the results obtained by means of theaction adopted

man-For this reason, it is important to attempt to highlight the specific features of thecontext of the various actions, taken in building our matrix, and the potentialinnovations in the guidelines, which can be taken as examples in building anintegrated regional approach to this phenomenon in our conclusions

1.4.1 From Case Studies to Policy Innovation

This summary and comparison of international case studies throws light on thepresence of a highly heterogeneous series of approaches to the issue A schematicapproach may serve to identify certain useful support tools for the region and localactors, in their attempts to foster strategies for retail

There are three possible approaches all fully represented in the research anddealing mainly with such issues as: (i) preventing desertification; (ii) injectingdynamism into contexts, characterised by retail crisis symptoms; (iii) acting onabandoned buildings, thus creating stimuli and incentives for the re-use of thesespaces These diverse orientations have been structured both in line with buildings

in unitary form, and for local retail

In the cases introduced, thefirst approach is the one linked to prevention andrepresented by a number of proposals, formulated at PECAB in Barcelona and

PLECdZ in Saragozza, containing cross disciplinary consideration of urban retailsystems, both in relation to suburban big boxes and urban systems Difficulties inacting on the possible causes of retail desertification is visible in either cases(economic crisis and contraction of consumption, socio-economic transformationand changes in consumption patterns), which leads to the need to prioritise thebuilding of a quality retail system, capable of presenting itself as a service infras-tructure for inhabitants and consumers For this reason, the focus is onmulti-channel supply, the modernisation of the distribution network, and thebuilding of synergies between retail and other urban functions as the only possibletrajectory.

This is not the place to go into further depth on this type of approach, since it istoo strongly tied to the choices and resources of each individual local council,which occasionally can choose to launch pilot projects on public space redevel-opment, as a tool for the promotion of tertiary retail activities, as well as to set asidefunding for individual shopkeepers, subsidies for voluntary shopkeepers associa-tions, or the creation of dedicated sector policies It is perhaps more important here

to note the usefulness of the approaches of the cited town councils, to which we canadd the example of Région Brussels Capital, in which retail is the subject ofinter-disciplinary study in political programmes and strategic choices for the city,and is not dealt with solely by means of sectorial tools and action, neglecting itssocial and cultural role The approaches linked to the injection of dynamism intocontexts showing signs of crisis, and where the abandoned retail units fullydescribed in Chaps.2 and 3 are already present, encompass four specific factorswhich have been taken into consideration in many of the strategies and actionspresented, each structured to suit contexts (units or excerpts of consolidated urbanfabric) and the specific subject of actions or policies These factors are:

1 awareness of context;

2 marketing and communication;

3 training and interaction with entrepreneurs;

4 interaction with real estate owners

1 Awareness of context and work on it

As noted in previous paragraphs, effective monitoring of activities and, above all,abandoned retail units or those which are currently closing down is an essentialfactor in the construction of active policies to counteract such phenomena Itenables those involved to identify vacant shop owners and understand the reasonsfor their inability tofind a new market role, just as it occurred in Barométre, as setout by the Atrium Agency in Brussels At the same time, it has been demonstratedthat it is fundamentally important to gain an understanding of consumer habits andcarry out market research on economic potential, in order to assess the potential forretail regeneration In this sense the Barcelona and Paris case studies, with theVital’Quartier project, are important experiences in understanding the opportunitieslinked to this type of work A study of format and goods most in demand would

appear to be useful and will limit investment by targeting shops/investors,encouraging projects which are potentially in line with market demand, whetherthey are linked to a specific urban area (district—like Brussels—or ZUC—likeSaragozza), to entire cities, such as Barcelona, or a specific outlying retail building.This analysis can be fostered both by public bodies, which can tie this focus tothe building of a company, and private bodies, who can target such enquiries intobuilding a re-launch or expansion strategy in a specific context The German casestudies are of note in this respect, since the companies managing the two shoppingmalls identified the needs both of their shopkeepers, and consumers, and used this

as the basis for refurbishment of the buildings

A decisive step in the achievement of such goals is linked to defining the area ofwork, in which the analysis should be carried out, and the sphere in which policieswould have an impact We can infer a certain variety in proposals and approachesfrom the case studies in this respect and, for this reason, rather than proposing asingle approach this phase of study must highlight the difficulties that the variouspublic bodies must show in defining town scale policies for retail and the tendency

to create infra-urban areas (identified as and when as districts, urban retail areas,shopping neighbourhoods, main streets, etc.) in which to implement reinforcementstrategies (shopkeeper and business funding, specific project creation) andre-launch strategies (promotion programmes, partnerships, etc.)

In this sense it is interesting to note that, also within these areas, many programmestend to identify reference points and elements to focus even more targeted action,such as vacant corner shops in the Vital’Quartier programme, or large retail surfaceareas, squares, intermediate points that create continuity between an area’s mainstreets, which are essential to maintaining retail visible and dynamic Such spacesrequire specific attention to maintain ground floor businesses Action focuses on:

• increasing shops’ visibility, removing or shifting road signs, creating specialparking areas, improving town street lighting, creating pedestrian routes;

• making sites more welcoming in order to improve potential clients’ consumerexperience;

• helping and/or obliging owners/apartment blocks to keep building façades ingood condition and renovate them;

• facilitating grouping together of shops with the aim to increase surface areas andenable different formats

At the same time other examples consider medium and large-scale retail asreference points, too, such as covered markets and shopping malls, implying a needfor consideration of the roles that these can play in relaunching local retail and anarea’s economic fabric In this sense, the results obtained in Brixton Village, inwhich three semi-abandoned shopping malls played a driving force role ininvestment and the area’s attractions, make it necessary to consider the weight ofsuch presences in public policy

2 Marketing, communication and information in launching new dynamicsOnce the scale of action and the sphere of work have been established, it isimportant to support such action with effective communication and area marketingstrategies These can activate new economic dynamics and, in so doing, attract newinvestors and potential shopkeepers.

In the most successful cases, public bodies have succeeded in transmittingre-launch policies in highly visible ways, in order to demonstrate that their role wasnot exclusively funding, but also supporting and providing an interface betweenstakeholders and those potentially interested It would seem to be useful to highlightthat, in such contexts, communication has centred on positive factors, showingdynamism and policy innovation as the driving force for regeneration and change

In such cases, communication must move on multiple levels, encompassingmore innovative ones (Internet, social networks, etc.), as well as traditional avenues(bands—such as in Liverpool—workshop organisation—as in the Brixton case—posters or advertisingflyers in Paris and Brussels, etc.)

In the case of local retail event organisation, linking retail and entertainment isvery important as a driving force in economic re-launch, while the creation of anInternet platform is the best way to create a database of supported projects, whiledirect accounts by new shopkeepers is also a way of demonstrating the programmesuccess to any project carriers and potential important investors

Monitoring vacant units can also enable searches for potential investors to belaunched, including large-scale retail outlets The potential for proposing specificspaces to specific shopkeepers, as the Atrium Agency does, for example, enables aclimate of institutional dialogue to be generated which, if transparent, can lead tothe creation of solid partnerships

It is also useful to launch a search for potential project carriers by means ofdedicated Internet platforms and/or institutional bodies (Chambers of Commerce,sector organisations, etc.),as the Vital’Quartierproject does Compiling a database

of ready to open new shops, managing franchises, or a specific artistic space as well

as locating their professional activities (offices, workshops, etc.) there through use

of vacant spaces is also positive Setting up tertiary or artistic activities, eventemporarily, in such spaces raises the profile of the area needing re-launching andbrings in people, who may be potential clients for the vacant spaces when newshops come in

3 Training and interaction with entrepreneurs as a way of creating opportunitiesInforming and creating a retail culture and identity enables existing activities to besupported both on the town scale and the district/quarter level For this reason, it isimportant to provide training and on-going dialogue with shopkeepers, above all inlocal retail, and when this is of the traditional entrepreneurship type Consequently,public bodies wanting to consolidate and re-launch retail have to interact with andraise awareness in three groups: shopkeepers, project carriers and the localcommunity

Conferences and meetings with personal success stories can raise awareness of newtools and successful experiences, opening retail units to shopkeepers It is also anexcellent opportunity to promote networking and construct dialogue and culture inspecific areas and districts On occasions such as these, interaction is also possible,involving listening to experiences and taking suggestions on board

These are opportunities for training, which can support such business people onimportant themes that are often of interest to them, such as accounting, marketing,client interaction, shopfitting and introducing new technologies

It is important to distribute good practice guidelines, containing useful tips onshop management, legal support, public services dealing with the retail sector,which can be contacted to receive explanations of the district’s policies

Project carriers

Once these have been identified, it is important to understand their motives andcheck their commitment to the project Organising workshops and seminars, whichhelp them to create business projects is useful to this end These can help potentialshopkeepers to understand their needs and, in this way, direct their choices to themost suitable location At the same time this can be the right place to invite futureshopkeepers to undertake training to strengthen their profiles When a local bodysucceeds in building a process of this type, the motivation and abilities of thoseinvolved can be assessed and, in this way, a new generation of trained andself-aware shopkeepers can be created as has happened in Belgium where theAtrium Agency helps candidates tofind a shop suitable to their needs, and supportsthem in their negotiations with owners The quality of the business project is thusthe distinguishing feature In the Vital’Quartier programme the starting point is theneed of the potential store and it is only when a clear view of this has emerged that asuitable location is sought Each vacant shop has specific characteristics (archi-tectural, market, context, emerging demand) and thus projects are not all suited tothe same spaces The role of the public body must be that of an interface (betweenpotential shopkeepers and owners; between the various individuals involved) anddirectional (training, opportunity creation)

The local community

Often little account is taken of those living in a specific context, but these are themain players in re-launching an area’s retail sector and for this reason it is crucial tokeep them informed on local retail regeneration strategies and their socialresponsibility in this respect At the same time, it is useful to raise awareness ofconsumption habits, which can support local retail

It is equally important to encourage dialogue between these actors (shopkeepers,potential shopkeepers and the local community) in order to create a spirit of part-nership, stimulating bottom up initiatives (associations, events, voluntary work)and, at the same time, nurture a district and neighbourhood identity

4 Interaction with real estate owners, a tool for retail desertification research andrelaunch

In the regeneration and against desertification process, a central role is played byreal estate owners, and for this reason it is important that public bodies take account

of these in implementing specific policies The current economic crisis and culties infinding new investors have generated an entirely different attitude—onewhich is more open to dialogue and joint working—amongst such actors who arecurrently showing a greater interest in dialogue and experimentation than in thepast

diffi-For this reason, public bodies must succeed in encouraging lasting and profitableinteraction between these individuals and potential businessmen, moving awayfrom past rigidities towards new forms of exchange For this reason, it may be ofhelp to work on multiple levels:

• awareness raising and transparency where attempts are made to understandwhich vacant sites and units are truly ready to return to the market;

• building dialogue networks and encouraging meetings between owners andpotential investors;

• the legal level creating new tool and contract types, based on flexible timeframes with limitations and scaled rents, such as those put forward by AtriumAgency or in Brixton Village where vacant sites were turned into potential retailbusiness incubators

Appendix: Planned Centres: Medium and Large Scale

innovation Type Action Direct

incentives

Indirect incentives

The owners bought the shopping mall

to make it into an indoor outlet integrated with activities linked to leisure

Parque Warner Madrid Resort y Parks, Madrid (E)

de Madrid)

Ownership Approval/

supervision

Participation in

management (via subsidiary) Regulatory/

town planning use category

Presentation of a transformation project for the park into an integrated tourist centre Interaction with the individual town councils affected to favour changes in use category of the area around the theme park

Sophienhof Shopping Mall, Kiel (D)

innovation Type Action Direct

incentives

Indirect incentives

Applications for permits to increase retail surface area (plus 2000 m2to add to existing 26,500)

Award concession (e.g increases in retail surface area) in the presence of refurbishment projects involving high quality standards (urban design, ceding public spaces)

EPARECA Lucien Sampaix, Bagnolet (F)

New retail surface area and format creation Renovation

of public spaces Modifying public transport routes Creation of

a common market

Large scale urban renewal project Public building management Building of local retail services

Retail activities agreed with town council activities Unitary management

Shannon Mall (Union Station Mall), Union City, GA, USA

innovation Type Action Direct

incentives

Indirect incentives

TAD (Tax Allocation District):

Regulatory/

residential and retail use and new businesses Start of public work, infrastructure and utilities

Local tax advantages Opportunity zone tax reductions following on from increases in employment Community improvement district to fund public work

Active participation

by public body in the 1st phase with the updating of the LCI Study incentives for – Drawing up of a growth and transformation vision shared by citizens – Start of market analysis – Start of local and social context analysis – Map of retail deserti fication

(continued)