Urbanism and Retail Management

Research focus

The Peer review has evaluated this group as Good

The research activity refers to several main topics, such as the process of modernization of retail activities and of consumers’ behaviour and their impact on land use transformations; the relationships between leisure, shopping and tourism; the regulation of the development of large commercial establishments at different territorial levels; the policies for the revitalization of small independent retail in urban regeneration projects; international benchmarking of case studies of projects, policies and good practices in the field of retail management. The research activities are developed within a research laboratory named URB&COM (Urbanistica e Commercio), funded in 1998 with the purpose of facing the transformation processes of the retailing sector, with a planning, geography and architecture approach. In fact, despite the development of several studies approaching the economic impacts of retailing dynamics, there has been a lack of research activities looking at the complexity of spatial effects, which knowledge and governance seem to be quite difficult to approach. In Italy, as it happened in most European countries a few years ago, retailing activities tend to be more frequently located out of the city centres and out of the consolidated urban texture. This relocation process is having relevant impacts in developing new commercial centres in the city outskirts and in depriving local and independent retail in the city centres or in the large housing estates, with negative consequences on the social milieu. Several Italian regions have been experiencing the birth of large retail centres on account of different pressures, such as changes in consumers’ behaviours, new interest from major investors driven by the stability of the new European currency, and lastly the entrance of important foreign developers and promoters who have introduced new commercial formats (factory outlet centres, retail parks, retail poles, multiplex) characterised by very large catchment areas, high levels of consumption of land, congestion of the roads network, economic impact on the existing local retail structure. URB&COM develops its research and consultancy activities in relation to these main topics. This means dealing nowadays with some of the most relevant processes of transformation of town centres and of their countryside, on account of the importance of retail, culture, tourism, entertainment – all activities which are more and more related and integrated to commerce - in the economical development and in the attractiveness of an area. Specific research topics are related to the following issues. Development and impact of retail poles - to represent commercial establishments in the Provincia di Milano, through the implementation of date bases and the realization of thematic maps, with the aim of proposing a strategic plan for the management of the different commercial poles, in the urban, suburban and extraurban areas; - to recognize (through an innovative methodological approach) and locate the main “interregional commercial polarities” in Lombardia, Piemonte and Emilia Romagna, 20 2 aiming to find out and experiment shared interregional policies for the governance of the territorial impacts and the exploitation of the economical resources generated by these settlements. The research has been realized by an interdisciplinary team of the Politecnico di Milano, Politecnico di Torino and Università di Parma; - to assess the process of urbanization in twelve metropolitan areas of southern Europe, within an international research group (ETSA Barcellona-Vallès, IUAV, Universidade do Porto) Modernization of small independent retail districts - to study the positioning and attractiveness of local urban retail systems and the ways to improve and enhance them within programs of revitalization of the downtown, both by means of urban design projects and of the experimentation of “centralized retail management”; - to assess the role of retail in the requalification programs of large housing estates and experimenting the possibility for “retail activities incubators” to create new employments and to enhance the quality of social milieu; - to study the characters, impact, conflicts, opportunities related to ethnic retail enterprises. Leisure, shopping and tourism - to study new behaviours in the use of leisure time, considering the role of shopping activities related to tourism (recreational shopping) and the consequent impact of retail, culture, entertainment in areas rich of heritage and environmental qualities. Retail, mobility and transport infrastructures - to study the territorial dynamics of commercial settlements and other activities (theme parks, trade parks, multiplex) which have characterized during the last decade the Milan-Turin connection, in relation with the modernization of the infrastructural network; - to study the relationship between retail and transformations in circulation patterns, either taking in account the impact on the territorial road networks, or dealing with traffic calming techniques or innovative mobility models which favour the pedestrian and public transportation.

Dipartimento di afferenza

Dipartimento di Architettura e Pianificazione (DIAP)

Docenti afferenti

Associate Professors
Corinna Morandi
Andrea Rolando