Retail land-uses are generally under-represented in morphological studies. Geographer J.W.R. Whitehand examines the redevelopments of British town
centres; however, he is primarily concerned with the architectural and development industries’ roles in this process (1984; Whitehand 1979). Davis (2009) presents an international comparison of the commercial-residential building type, revealing that many similarities exist in their form despite being studied on three continents. Few studies actually look at retailing in the general context of the urban tissue. An exception is Scheer (2004) who presents a detailed analysis of the elasticity of the urban fabric in sites along a major commercial corridor. These examples show morphological examination at various scales of resolution, from individual buildings, to morphological regions. This thesis follows in this manner, adopting micro to macro lenses, examining the retail landscape from details of individual buildings to patterns apparent across the entire city.
Other studies have looked at the form of retail environments without explicitly using the terminology or concepts of the urban morphologist. Wyckoff (1992) examines a commercial strip in terms of its building fabric and land-uses in
Denver. The commercial strip theme continues with Jakle and Mattson’s model of change along one strip in terms its land-uses (Jakle and Mattson 1981). In
examining various neighbourhoods in Calgary, Sandalack and Nicolai (2006) touch on some of that city’s retail landscapes, looking at the town-plans and building forms of each. Also in Calgary, Davies and Baxter (1997) look at the changes along
highway ribbons as retail and other commercial functions are intensified. Longstreth (1997; Longstreth 1999) has extensively documented the retail
landscapes of Los Angeles, and especially the car culture which has created them. He documents the changing environments over time from a detailed historical perspective. Continuing the theme of automobile commercial areas, Jakle and Sculle (1999) examine the architecture of fast food restaurants along roadsides. In a classic study during the era of highway building, Garrison (1959) examines the changes that occur in land-uses due to the new mobility patterns created by the freeway.
Recently urban form has been studied in relation to politically charged critiques of the urban environments. One area is the impact of form on the
sustainability of cities (Jenks et al. 1996; Breheny 1992). These and other authors critique the new urban forms found in suburbia, including out of town shopping centres, as unsustainable and call for more traditional retail landscapes as part of new urbanism ideals (Katz, Scully, and Bressi 1994; Leccese and McCormick 2000). Notable in this work on urban sustainability is the analysis of distances that one must travel, usually by the automobile, to reach stores in the contemporary city. Some argue that travel by automobile is leading to an obesity epidemic, and if stores were closer to the residential this would be tempered (Frank et al. 2005; Townshend and Lake 2009).Others look at travel without such a defined agenda, instead
choosing to look at travel patterns to and from the stores (Newman and Kenworthy 1991; Handy 1996b; Handy 1996a; Handy 1993).
Unfortunately, many of these studies do not explicitly make reference to the substantial body of knowledge found in Urban Morphology. For example, two papers that measure density and other characteristics of sprawl do not refer to how the morphologists have studied these issues (Tsai 2005; Song and Knaap 2004); the former referring to a Sierra Club paper but not to the urban morphologists.
the very popular study of urban form and its implications on health and the economy.
APPROACH
M.R.G. Conzen, the originator of the ‘British School’ of urban morphology, detailed three interrelated components of the urban landscape: a city’s town-plan, its land-use patterns and its three-dimensional building forms (Conzen 1960). Town-plan analysis examines the form of three basic components: buildings, lots and streets. These components can be viewed at a given point in time to see how they weave into the urban fabric. Their origins and evolution can also be traced over time – their morphogenesis.
This study will use a morphogenetic approach to interpreting the retail landscape, “tracing the evolution of forms in terms of their underlying formative processes” (Whitehand 1981, p. 1). As previously discussed, the drive for profit maximization is paramount to reading and understanding the formation of the retail landscape. All three components of the townscape, land-use patterns, building forms and town-plan, are examined to produce an inclusive history of retail activity as expressed in the built form of the city. The analysis begins before the city was incorporated in 1855. The earliest map from 1839 shows the location of the first few buildings in the London settlement. An 1855 map shows that development had occurred in the retail sector, but was still limited to two small strips along Dundas and Ridout Streets.
All three form complexes are examined in the following chapters; each looking at different retail landscapes and their relationship to the general urban fabric. The imprint of retailing on the town-plan is traced, as are the relationships between the three-dimensional forms of retail sites and their surroundings. Also examined are the retail land-uses types and their situation within the urban fabric.
Additional morphological characteristics are also incorporated, many of which were first outlined by Conzen (1960) (see Larkham and Jones 1991 for a glossary of these concepts). For example, the concept of the “morphological frame” is defined by Conzen (1960) as antecedent plan features that leave their mark on future growth. The morphological frame inherent in the lot structure is examined
in relation to the changing formats of retailing. As stores grow larger, and with new ownership structures of the buildings themselves in the large planned shopping centres, the morphological frame inherent in the lots is expected to become increasingly important.
Also pertinent is the ‘burgage cycle’ where buildings first occupy the fronts of lots and then are expanded through successive additions to their rears (Conzen 1960; Whitehand 2001). Over time the densities increase until ultimately clearance occurs, destroying much of the built areas; then the cycle continues again from the start. Although this theory was designed to describe processes in early-modern Britain, it is applicable to the town-plan of the core of the North American city in the last two centuries, where successive additions are added to the rears of the building due to the demand for space. The buildings are ultimately torn down to make room for parking lots in the second-half of the twentieth century.
In discussing her observations of the distinct retail patterns in Boston and New York, Domosh (1990) argues that the social and economic conditions must be considered when built form is analysed. Throughout this work the contemporary social and economic conditions of the era are considered. So too are the technological innovations which have changed these landscapes. It is not, however, a study into the causes of retail change; no regression analysis of retail characteristics with social and economic variables is performed.
Using the tools and theories of the urban morphologist, this research traces the evolution of the urban landscape. GIS is extensively used in the analysis, applying the capabilities of this software to the study of urban morphology. The research looks at the creation and change of the built forms which compose this landscape. In so doing it considers the landscape as both mould and mirror (Meinig 1979) of the city’s dwellers; both its retailers and the customers.
Harvey (1985) draws our attention to the fact that capitalism is constantly making and remaking urban landscapes in its own image to suit its needs at a particular time. As entities in the capitalist system, retailers strive to maximize their profits. The result is that retailers are constantly building and fashioning landscapes in order to attract as many customers and sell as many goods as possible. As the market changes, retailers must adapt or face extinction. Retailers, however, are not solely responsible for the (re)formation of the retail landscape. Also to be
considered are the developers, architects, planners and designers who create the stores and their environs. Perhaps most important are the customers, whose changing cultures and financial conditions are imprinted in the landscape through what is purchased and where it is purchased. These processes, as well as the decisions of the various actors, are manifested in the urban landscapes they create and occupy. As Ley has demonstrated in his work on Vancouver, this imprinted landscape can be read as a text (Ley 1981, 1987). In order to decipher this text, the approaches and methods found in the field of urban morphology are used.
This chapter has attempted to demonstrate the importance of retailing within the urban landscape throughout history, as well as outline how retailing has been studied from both traditional and contemporary approaches in geography. With the formulation of the guiding theory for this research complete, as well as consideration of the methods and approaches to analysing the townscape found in urban morphology, it is now time to discuss the sources and methods used in this research (Chapter 2). The next chapter (Chapter 3) shows the presence of retailing in the early settlement of the community, and the importance of it in the
development of the city. Chapter 4 reveals the changing retail locations, functions, and forms over time. Detailed examinations follow of the specific landscapes of the downtown core at the height of mainstreet retailing (Chapter 5) and the planned shopping centres (Chapter 6). Finally, conclusions (Chapter 7) outline the
differences and similarities of the retail landscape at different points in its evolution, reveal a ‘trialectic’ occurring between all three townscape elements, and suggest ways to revitalize the struggling downtown retail districts based on what has been seen in successful retail landscapes.