FEMININITY, PLACE AND COMMODITIES: A RETAIL CASE STUDY

Recent accounts of the significance of consumption and commodities in the constitution of femininity have stressed the fluidity of consumption practices and the indeterminacy of their meaning for the oppression of women. The role of place in the construction of femininity has not been considered in these accounts, and as such uni-dimensional portraits of the consumption-femininity nexus have prevailed. In this article I offer an alternative place-based account of the construction of femininity through consumption, demonstrating the constitution of gendered relations of consumption in place. In so doing, some of the contradictions in the consumption-femininity nexus are highlighted. Using a case study of one facet of consumption - retailing - I demonstrate the importance of place and context in the construction of femininity through consumption, in three substantive ways. First, the selling of commodities by retail institutions entails the creation of place. Second, the construction of femininity - shopping as an important component of domestic labor and shopping as feminine, is part of this creation of place. Third, this environment and the process of shopping influence the meaning of commodities and associated constructions of femininity.     

SHOPPING AND LEISURE: IMPLICATIONS OF WEST EDMONTON MALL FOR LEISURE AND FOR LEISURE RESEARCH

In the context of three alternative approaches to the meaning of leisure (activity, time, and experience), this article uses West Edmonton Mall (with its vast array of shops and unique complex of recreational facilities) as a starting point to explore four relationships between shopping and leisure. These are: independence (shopping as purchasing); shopping for leisure (the purchase of goods for use in subsequent leisure time); shopping and leisure (when shops and leisure facilities are juxtaposed in a single facility like West Edmonton Mall); and shopping as leisure (when shopping begins to take on the attributes of leisure as an experience). It is concluded that the last category offers the most interesting questions for future research.     

上海城市老年人日常购物活动空间研究

购物活动是老年人日常生活中主要的活动类型之一,对老年人日常购物空间的研究是理解老年人与其周围商业环境相互作用的关键,然而目前国内这方面研究才刚刚起步。本文以上海城市老年人日常活动问卷调查的第一手资料为基础,首先对数据进行汇总得出了上海城市老年人日常购物活动的发生频率、出行距离等总体特征。然后进一步细化,分别总结出各小区老年人的日常购物活动空间模式并进行对比分析,发现市中心老年人的日常购物活动空间比较紧凑,而郊区老年人的日常购物活动空间则相对分散。最后着重从上海市的商业空间及零售业态的变革、商业设施的可达性、老年人购物决策过程三个方面对这种差异性进行了解释。     

GEOGRAPHIC IMPLICATIONS OF MEGA-MALLS, WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO WEST EDMONTON MALL

West Edmonton Mall (wem) is an internationally known shopping mall I leisure complex comprising approximately 4 million sq. ft. of leasable retail and service space. It contains more than 600 shops, plus a hotel and leisure and recreational facilities that are unmatched in any previous shopping centre. The superimposition of a single, massive development on a pre-existing urban structure has created both opportunities and problems for Edmonton, while the emergence of such an urban phenomenon, unprecedented in scale and character, should raise new questions and stimulate new thinking among academics. This introductory article provides a context for the articles that follow by outlining the developmental history of wem and assessing its significance as a mega-ma/ prototype, and by identifying themes to be addressed in detail in the subsequent articles.     

The condition of ‘Cosmo-housewives’: leisure shopping,the mainstream and its ambiguities

‘Leisure shopping’ is a particular kind of shopping activity that is devoted mainly to fashion clothes and accessories. Women are commonly represented as the main leisure shoppers, and consequently, they tend to be at the centre of shopping centres' mainstream discourses. This article argues that interpretations of representations of ‘leisure shopping’ and the corresponding practice have too often ignored the daily and seemingly ‘banal’ experiences of the social actors involved. The primary purpose of this article is to show how gender roles are performed and reified in high-end factory outlet villages in Italy. It adopts a cross-sectional approach to ‘leisure shopping’ that includes an analysis of the ‘languages’ of two Italian high-end factory outlet villages, the ‘social space’ represented by the same sites and the ‘stories’ about a few ideal-typical female shopping experiences. These aspects are situated in the Italian cultural and political context at the time the research was conducted. Very different demands – such as sensuality, efficiency and motherly care – are put on women in Italy, as well as in the majority of Western societies. The analysis reveals that through their practice of browsing in a high-end factory outlet village, women often reproduce stereotypes while simultaneously trying – though ambiguously – to challenge them.     

Consumption,exclusion and emotion: The social geographies of shopping

In recent years, a productive dialogue has developed between retail geographers and those social geographers concerned with the spatiality of consumption. This has resulted in a series of accounts of shopping that emphasize notions of consumer creativity. Nonetheless, this paper argues that many of these have struggled to reconcile the meaning of shopping with an understanding of the material parameters within which consumers operate. Recognizing that this tendency has distracted from the socio-spatial inequalities evident in retailing, the paper examines how shopping rituals are embedded in social relations that discourage particular shoppers from visiting certain retail locations. Drawing on extensive and intensive data derived in Coventry (UK), the paper questions the extent to which this geography of exclusion is the product of constraint, arguing that shopping is shaped by a more complex spatiality of inclusion and (self-) exclusion. Accordingly, the paper makes the case for a social geography of shopping that pays careful attention to the emotionally laden transactions played out in particular settings.     

The tyranny of gendered spaces – reflections from beyond the gender dichotomy

This article argues critically that the consequences of a binary system of gender norms is experienced as a kind of gender tyranny both for those who transgress gender in their daily lives, but also for those whose lives are lived within such constraints. Feminist geographers and urban theorists have argued that space is gendered and that gendering has profound consequences for women. This article extends this analysis and shows how rigid categorizations of gender fail to include the intersexed and transgendered populations, a small and highly marginalized segment of the wider population. This article uses autoethnographic methods to illustrate the ways that those who transgress gender norms experience a tyranny of gender that shapes nearly every aspect of their public and private lives. The nature of these consequences is explored using citations from the transgender and queer literature as well as the lived experience of this tyranny by the author in a continuum of public to private spaces, including: parking lots, public restrooms, shopping malls, the workplace and the home.     

大型购物中心与幼童母亲的多重身份建构——女性主义、家庭化、公共与私人空间的超越

大型购物中心成为研究现代都市女性身份与社会、空间关系的三棱镜。本文聚焦于"幼童母亲"这一群体,探究其身份认同与购物中心的相互建构过程。通过南京市虹悦城购物中心的研究发现,幼童母亲在购物中心内建立起了多种身份认同,并在身份认同驱使下形成多重实践。这一过程使得幼童母亲在购物空间中突破了传统的公共空间与私人空间的二元划分,借助私密空间的综合性和社会化实现了女性自我个性的释放,实现了社会性别空间的重新定义,同时也重新定义和建构了大型购物中心这一现代都市消费空间。     

STRUCTURAL FEATURES OF WEST EDMONTON MALL

This article addresses the question of how West Edmonton Mall (wem) may be a new and distinctive component of retail spatial structure by analysing the retail and service attributes of the mall in the context of (I) Edmonton's retail structure at the regional shopping centre level, and (2) the internal structure of the mall. It is suggested that wem has added a new level to Edmonton's retail hierarchy, rivalling the downtown as the city's primate centre. The analysis of tenant changes leads to the conclusion that these changes tend to reflect a movement from unconventional to conventional tenant mix, and that wem is not much different, other than in sheer size, from most large regional shopping centres. The only unique structural characteristic appears to be the existence of enclaves not usually found in other malls.     

上海市民大型超市购物行为特征研究

以上海居民消费行为的问卷调查为基础,探讨零售业态变革下上海居民大型超市购物行为的总体特征以及时空间特征。上海居民选择大型超市购物的比率及频率较高,在大型超市购物的耗时相对较长,并且有集中于夜间的特点,购物出行方式上以步行和自行车为主,陪伴者以家人居多。通过不同类型商品购物行为空间的分析得出,大型超市对居民购物出行空间的影响显著。受大型超市空间分布和周边其他零售业设施发育程度的共同影响,居民购物活跃度的空间差异也较为显著。     

替代抑或补充:网上购物与传统购物出行的关系研究

有关网上购物与传统购物的关系问题是当前电子商务领域的研究热点之一,但研究结论还不尽一致。许多人认为网上购物将替代传统购物方式,但是也有其他的观点表明应是一种促进或者补充的关系,甚至有人觉得这种影响是很小的。本文通过对大学生购书行为的调查,采用统计方法分析了网上购物对传统购物出行的影响作用。结果表明:总体上,网上购物对消费者传统购物出行的影响并不显著,网上购物还只是作为消费者原有购物出行的一种补充方式,并不会对大多数消费者的传统出行频率和出行距离造成明显的影响。一方面,网上信息浏览和网上购物对传统日常购物出行的影响主要表现为消费者日常出行频率和距离的缩减以及多目的出行频率的上升。另一方面,网上行为可能使消费者非日常出行频率增加,单次出行距离增长。总之,网上购物与传统购物出行的关系并不是简单的替代或者补充,而是要复杂地多。     

Views,use and reception of visualisations of development proposals impacting cultural heritage

Visualisations of land-use projects have become an important part of the planning process. Using a survey of heritage professionals’ attitudes towards visualisations as a starting point, this article addresses tensions between the expressed usefulness of visualisations and critical attitudes towards the lack of ‘objectivity’ of visual representation and the risk of manipulation for strategic purposes. Moving from the survey, the article discusses how visual representations of development proposals became part of a Norwegian public dispute over the expansion of a shopping centre in a historic town. Furthermore, our aim is to introduce a social semiotic approach for analysing visualisations at historic sites. Finally, we discuss some theoretical implications of negotiating visualisations, with emphasis on the recent debate about representational and non-representational theories in heritage studies.     

The external effects of inner-city shopping centers: Evidence from the Netherlands

Shopping center redevelopment is inevitable to remain attractive for consumers. In this paper, we investigate the external effects of shopping center redevelopment on nearby residential property prices. Using a difference-in-difference empirical framework, we find the redevelopment has positive external effects on nearby property prices. We find the price of a property located next to a redeveloped shopping center increases by 1.43% on average just after redevelopment. Our results indicate that these positive external effects wear off rather rapidly across space and over time. This suggests that shopping center redevelopment plays a substantial, but limited, role in combating neighborhood deprivation.     

Mental maps,segregation, and everyday life in Dar es Salaam,Tanzania

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, has a long history as a segregated city. Starting in 1891 the German and then later the British colonial government enacted a series of building ordinances that outlined the styles of construction allowed within different areas of the city. Although these policies applied only to the structures themselves, ultimately they served to divide the city into European/Expatriate, Asian, and African areas. In spite of official attempts to integrate the city, postcolonial Dar es Salaam remains a racially segregated place. This segregation extends beyond residence location and affects all aspects of everyday life such as shopping and recreation. This article uses mental maps drawn by some of Dar es Salaam's residents to illustrate the lingering effects of colonial segregation on the knowledge, perception, and experiences residents have in and of today's city. Expatriate, Asian, and African maps include vastly different locations within the city. Those places considered important enough to map demonstrate that colonialism has continued impacts on the spaces and realities of everyday life in contemporary Dar es Salaam.     

THE REGIONAL MALL IN CANADA

Over the last three decades, regional shopping malls have become significant features of the Canadian urban landscape. They account for the largest concentrations of employment, retail sales, and trip destinations outside the central business district, and they reshape patterns of accessibility within communities. This article examines the number, economic role, location, and implication of these facilities, in Canada, and contrasts them with similar malls in the United States. By 7 986, there were 84 regional malls with more than 500 000 sq. ft. of space in Canada, and these malls accounted for 10 per cent of all retail sales.     

The Transformation of Retail Markets in Lisbon: An Analysis through the Lens of Retail Gentrification

The relationship between cities and retail is strong and historical. This article focuses on the analysis of traditional retail markets, a retail concept that has lost its relevance in previous decades. However, more recently there has been a reversal of this trend following increased interest in the rehabilitation of these markets. This reinvestment follows the divestment stage and is characterised by the active role that private interests play in the management and operation of these retail precincts. This evolutionary process challenges the capacity of traditional retailers to continue their operations in these markets and the ability of disadvantaged customers to continue shopping there. Furthermore, this development may be indicative of retail gentrification. In this article, the ongoing process of market rehabilitation in Lisbon is analysed to determine whether evidence of retail gentrification has occurred. The use of case studies forms a significant part of the methodology. In addition, eleven retailers were interviewed in three traditional retail markets in Lisbon. The article concludes that direct displacement did not occur in the markets studies. However, because of the divestment in these retail precincts, indirect displacement did affect several retailers.     

An Assessment of the Space-Time Differential Model for Aggregate Trip Behavior to Planned Suburban Shopping Centers

Aggregate trip behavior to planned suburban shopping centers is studied in terms of changes in trip distance and shopping time within a framework of trip frequency, center scale, and consumer mobility. Such changes are expressed by a second-order differential equation. The assumed shopping strategy is that consumers accelerate the shopping trip cycle by minimizing trip distances. This can be solved to provide theoretical norms to assess against an exploratory data set compiled from 2,810 surveys undertaken in 1980/82 and 1988/89 over a range of centers. The analysis shows a significant relationship between the gravity coefficient and trip frequency. The samples are tested for periodicity using Fourier analysis. The results show that “small” centers are more likely to exhibit periodic behavior. “Large” centers do not follow this hypothesis. Both the gravity coefficient and trip frequency are shown to be quadratic functions of center size. The nonlinearity may be introduced by the agglomeration of shopping opportunities at larger centers. A critical value for “small-” and “large-”center behavior is determined from the minimum points of these distributions. A second equation from classical diffusion analysis is tested for “large” center behavior, where consumers accelerate spatial choice through a time minimization strategy. The results suggest that this strategy occurs at the midrange specialty center during the afternoon of the pre-Christmas rush rather than at large regional centers. The empirical characteristics of the three types of trip behavior are summarized.     

基于区位和商品类型的居民购物过程分解比较——以南京为例

网络购物影响下的购物行为变革一直是国外交通统计学和地理学领域研究的热点。已有的研究,几乎都将购物看作一个整体行为,很少从购物过程分解的角度对居民购物行为的改变进行分析。本文以南京为例,以分解购物过程为切入点,通过区分不同区位、不同商品类型来研究网络购物对居民购物行为的影响,得出3点主要结论：①居民倾向于只通过网络或实体店完成所有购物活动;②网络购物对实体店购买搜索型商品存在替代与补充的混合效应,对实体店购买体验型商品仅存在替代作用,且替代作用在城区比郊区显著;③网络购物会产生搜索、体验和退换货出行,且网购体验型商品产生的额外出行比搜索型商品多,在郊区产生的额外出行比城区多。     

Salesclerks, sexual danger, and national identity in Egypt, 1920s-1950s

This article investigates change and continuity in anxieties about shopping during the first half of the twentieth century in Egypt to argue that department stores and their salesclerks became critical sites for enacting and challenging new notions of sexuality and citizenship. Retail innovations, such as commission pay, display, free entry, and large commercial staffs, became understood as sexual and moral problems because department stores blurred the boundaries between classes and were public spaces where unrelated men and women could mix. These concerns about sexuality in the 1920s were recycled and amplified in the late 1940s and early 1950s when salesclerks again came under scrutiny during debates over citizenship and ethnicity. I argue that the particular way this latter debate was barnacled by the concerns of the 1920s helped to delineate the broader society's reaction to the challenges of defining Egyptian nationality.     

The "Mouse That Roared": Agenda Setting in Canadian Pesticides Politics

Issue redefinition and venue shopping have been identified as key strategies for enacting agenda and policy change, but much work remains to be done in elaborating these processes. I argue that an important aspect of issue redefinition involves shifting not only the image of an issue but also the bases for considering those issues—what I call policy principles. Policy principles are the core values, beliefs, or guidelines attached to policies that help direct decision making. The emergence and acceptance of new principles by the public and policymakers can be a vital source of policy change, at times having far greater consequences for policy than redefining an issue. Venue shopping is also a multifaceted undertaking involving efforts by policy entrepreneurs and advocacy groups to keep issues out of venues they would rather not participate in as well as move decision making to new arenas. Moreover, while the literature suggests that shifting venues is usually a sensible strategy, sometimes venue shopping can backfire. A case study of the municipal movement to restrict the nonessential use of lawn and garden pesticides in Canada illustrates these theoretical points and shows the applicability of agenda setting models to contexts outside the United States.