URBAN FIELD – RETAIL SHOPPING
Truman Hartshorn, in his text ‘Metropolitan Dominance and Movement’ defines Urban Field as the sphere of influence of the city, as constituted by its economic and social zone of control. Such studies would include examination of the full complement of services the city provides- medical care, higher education, employment, newspapers, goods distribution (wholesaling) and shopping to illustrate the full impact of each city (Hartshorn 1996). But for the study of this concept with respect to the city of Chicago, urban field analysis is been limited to the retail shopping pattern.
In the middle of the twentieth century, shopping in the Chicago region was absolutely urban. It had developed around the historic business core of the city and further, it spread along major streetcar routes within the city. Apparently, a string of family businesses, chain stores, and department store branches opening at key intersections. Beyond that, small retail concentrations were to be found in the downtowns of the region's satellite cities and the trackside business clusters of the railroad suburbs. The spread of the automobile at first simply reinforced this historic mass-transit-based pattern, because the plethora of city streets and slowly rising urban congestion limited the impact of the private car (McClendon 2004).
By the end of the twentieth century, shopping in metropolitan Chicago had been revolutionized. First, shopping plazas with off-street parking began the concentration of retail land use into favored nodes. Commercial strips incorporating such plazas also thrived, especially along major arterial streets. But it was the building of the metropolitan expressways in the 1950s-80s that fundamentally realigned shopping locations for Chicagoans by providing widespread access to the new shopping malls and regional supermalls. By 2000 there were at least 23 regional malls within the contiguous built-up area. Most of the old commercial ribbons along major city streets started declining, except where foot traffic remained strong, and downtown Chicago retail businesses faced severe competition from suburban competitors, leading a number of department stores to close in the urban core, having repositioned their sales space in the outlying malls (Natunewicz 2004).
The sphere of influence for retail shopping centers in the city of Chicago, had grown gradually from a concentrated retail centers in 1948 to network of retail centers in 2000. This also explains the concept of expanding zone of influence of the city of Chicago. This was made possible due to the transportation facilities like mass transit pattern, expansion of roadways and automobiles. Furthermore, the increase in urban field provided people with greater choices in living environments.
In the middle of the twentieth century, shopping in the Chicago region was absolutely urban. It had developed around the historic business core of the city and further, it spread along major streetcar routes within the city. Apparently, a string of family businesses, chain stores, and department store branches opening at key intersections. Beyond that, small retail concentrations were to be found in the downtowns of the region's satellite cities and the trackside business clusters of the railroad suburbs. The spread of the automobile at first simply reinforced this historic mass-transit-based pattern, because the plethora of city streets and slowly rising urban congestion limited the impact of the private car (McClendon 2004).
By the end of the twentieth century, shopping in metropolitan Chicago had been revolutionized. First, shopping plazas with off-street parking began the concentration of retail land use into favored nodes. Commercial strips incorporating such plazas also thrived, especially along major arterial streets. But it was the building of the metropolitan expressways in the 1950s-80s that fundamentally realigned shopping locations for Chicagoans by providing widespread access to the new shopping malls and regional supermalls. By 2000 there were at least 23 regional malls within the contiguous built-up area. Most of the old commercial ribbons along major city streets started declining, except where foot traffic remained strong, and downtown Chicago retail businesses faced severe competition from suburban competitors, leading a number of department stores to close in the urban core, having repositioned their sales space in the outlying malls (Natunewicz 2004).
The sphere of influence for retail shopping centers in the city of Chicago, had grown gradually from a concentrated retail centers in 1948 to network of retail centers in 2000. This also explains the concept of expanding zone of influence of the city of Chicago. This was made possible due to the transportation facilities like mass transit pattern, expansion of roadways and automobiles. Furthermore, the increase in urban field provided people with greater choices in living environments.