Retail relocation : Mapping changes of inner city retail and external retail locations in Sweden

• Although being paralleled by economic recession in the last years, the developments of the retail industry has been characterized by rapid expansion and growth, both in terms of turnover and market entries, not least in Sweden. However, these changes have spatial implications pointing to not only the importance of location, but also to a need of a better geographical understanding of where these changes are taking place and what kind of retail activities they are influencing. As shown in recent studies, and despite a growing trend of concentration of retail activities in external retail locations and establishments, inner city retail is reported to handle competition from external retail locations relatively better than retail in neighborhood centers and peripheral areas. This is partly explained by its resilient, specialized and complementary nature. From a Swedish perspective, this study investigates a) where changes in the location of retail activities are taking place (between cites and within urban areas) and b) the resilience of the inner city retail by studying the distribution and relocation of specialized retail activities over time. The study uses data from the PLACE-database, a longitudinal database covering geocoded data of every individual in Sweden in working age during the time period 1998 to 2008.

Ämnesord

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Social och ekonomisk geografi -- Ekonomisk geografi (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Social and Economic Geography -- Economic Geography (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Retail

Sweden

mapping

relocation

external retail establishments

inner city retail

Kulturgeografi

Social and Economic Geography

Publikations- och innehållstyp

vet (ämneskategori)

kon (ämneskategori)