Big Box Sprawl

Term Paper # 100296

Canadian Studies > Business Issues
Environmental Studies > Urban Issues

Big Box Sprawl

An analysis of the range of variables that have contributed to the decline of the urban, inner-city retail strips and the rise of the suburban economic power centers.

2,383 words () | 7 sources | MLA | 2007 United States

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses the decline of the urban, inner-city retail strips and the rise of the suburban economic power centers featuring the massive commercial developments known as "big box" or "category killer" retailers. The paper examines this phenomenon and focuses on the experience of the greater Toronto area. It looks at the range of variables that have contributed to this phenomenon, the most significant of which is the explosive levels of growth in North American suburbs as immigrants bypass the traditional inner-city reception areas and settle directly in the suburbs.

Table of Contents:
Introduction
The Death of the Inner-City Retail Strip
Immigration and Growth
Characteristics of Suburban Retail Growth: The Big Boxes
Conclusion

From the Paper:

"Rather, as this essay has attempted to show, demographic factors have also played an important role in both diminishing the local clientele for inner-city retail strips and fuelling the growth of not only the suburbs but the "big box" retailers situated in the suburbs. Immigrants have been central in this dynamic, as migration from overseas bypassing the traditional immigrant reception areas in Toronto's downtown core, as well as intra-city migration of already established immigrants, are not only resulting in the collapse of retail strips such as Chinatown East, but are accentuating the growth of Chinese suburbs and malls. In this analysis, while the suburban power-centres and inner city retail strips are not in direct competition, they are twin poles of an economic dynamic that is reshaping the retail and settlement patterns of cities such as Toronto."

Sample of Sources Used:

Anonymous. "Into the Suburbs." The Economist. 13 March, 2004: 32.
McCormick, J. "Chicago Loses Immigrants to the Suburbs." Tribune Business News. 25 August, 2003.
Elton, Sarah. "Chinatown Blues." The Globe and Mail. 4 November, 2006: M2.
Hernandez, Tony. "The Impact of Big Box Internationalization on a National Market: A Case Study of Home Depot Inc. in Canada." Int. Review of Retail, Distribution and Consumer Research. 13.1 (2003): 77-98.
Jones, Ken, and Doucet, Michael. "Big Box Retailing and the Urban Retail Structure: The Case of the Toronto Area." Journal of Retail and Consumer Services. 7 (2000): 233-247.