Are retail streets the solution to regenerating our cities?

Woods Bagot principal Christopher Lye, who has been involved in many large-scale retail design projects across China, shares his thoughts on how built retail – despite the recent disruption – holds significant placemaking power if designed with the right priorities in mind, and could become an unlikely saviour for global cities.

A growing demand for next-generation retail streets across Asia speaks to their global potential, says Lye. While they retain the open air, pedestrian-friendly appeal of their predecessors, they also improve interdependency within a city through a carefully curated approach to different urban typologies – wielding the ability to reinvigorate our cities by creating incredible destinations.

Consuming experience

From the mall to the metaverse, today’s retail is synonymous with experience. When it comes to the physical store, retailers are seeking maximum impact. Two-thirds say they want to open more stores in 2022 but, instead of 50 new locations, they will be looking at 15-20 high-profile sites that target their shopper demographic[1]. These flagship stores will be attractions in their own right – functioning like thematic galleries in which the product is reframed as by-product of the retail experience.

To overcome the challenge of creating greater impact with less, retailers are choosing the positions of their stores carefully: 50% are on the lookout for better locations, with 48% preferring the fresh-aired, pedestrian buzz of high streets[2]. Where climate permits, this preference is reflected in the way the indoor shopping complex has shrunk to prioritise a composition with a larger allocation of street-side retail[3] – formalising the retail street as an independent typology.

Offering a constellation of goods, sightseeing and entertainment, retail streets see the enclosed nature of retail space flipped open. Experience still reigns supreme but – instead of being contained – the design considers multiple plots, cross-site connectivity, focal point planning and integration with surrounding urban fabrics. To be successful, retail streets demand systematic thinking at the urban level that considers the needs of all users, rather than just shoppers visiting a venue for sales.

Homage to history

When overlaid with a historic street or attraction, a retail street will enliven history with contemporary life. By emphasising the site’s local characteristics with a planning approach that surrounds and radiates from the historic element, a retail street can gently guide pedestrians towards the attraction. In these cases, retail acts as a supporting function to history, with the trade-mix composition placing local food and souvenir shops in the centre and high-end anchors at a slight distance to function as sub-centres within the retail district.

Shanghai Yu Garden Wenchang Street saw Woods Bagot remagnetise a retail attraction that includes Yu Garden, a Ming Dynasty Garden and temple, with contemporary design elements and planning. This was achieved via the restoration of the traditional detailing on the ‘Dragon’ and ‘Wenchang’ (named for the Taoist god of culture and literature) gates, roof and cloud pattern on the stone floor, reintroducing historic craftsmanship and the site itself as a cultural attraction. A careful trade mix of antique, handicraft, and traditional snack and souvenir retailers has been placed amongst space for entertainment and events to reinforce the district’s appeal.

Local regeneration.

Tired streets only remind us of their better days. By upgrading existing landscaping and facades alongside new builds, a retail street can be the solution to regaining the lost charm of existing local characteristics while remaining socially, culturally and financially relevant. If the correct balance of old and new can be struck, a weary site can be revived via a focus on the maximisation of circulation permeability and reinforcement of the local identity will help create a unified street appearance and atmosphere.

This juggle of old and new elements is elegantly done in InPoint, Shanghai. Located on WuJiang Road, the project was the last piece in the puzzle completing the retail axis from Jinan Kerry Centre to Swire TaiKooHui. Tasked with converting the site to accommodate future double height flagship retail units and retaining WuJiang Road’s history as one of the cities most beloved ‘snack streets’, Woods Bagot focused on façade and internal upgrades to create major duplex anchors to give the street a sense of identity. Lighting, public seating, pockets of respite and a widened walkway all work to invite visitors to linger.

New destinations

When a retail street is a new addition, the goal is to create a destination. A new-built retail street should emphasise hierarchical and sequential journeys that elevate the overall visiting experience through the zoning framework design – focusing on the creation of a three-dimensional circulation system. These sites need dedicated entry points that lead visitors through core zones that have distinct purposes and characters, working with the anchor store distribution strategy to create multiple retail pockets and slowly weave visitor journeys from one zone to another – lifting off the ground plane.

Set to open in 2023, Suzhou Cangji Retail creates a modern retail destination by unfolding the traditional horizontally linear retail journey into three-dimensions to add complexity and opportunity for discovery. Referencing older elements of the city, Suzhou’s unique cultural makeup is drawn on in the masterplan via new retail streets punctuated by smaller lanes, canals, bridges, squares and gardens that draw on the height and width of existing local streets. Thanks to innovative digital analysis, retail planning places visitors at the centre of the design, maximising visibility, value and experience, while the traditional Chinese garden has been reimagined as a three-dimensional feature garden that arches through the site and connects various retail zones.

Retail streets to stay on.

The overarching aim of any retail street is to extend the amount of time visitors spend onsite. This aim holds deep value for retailers, who – faced with research showing that for each 1% increase in the time spent in the store there is a 1.3% increase in sales[4] – are on the lookout for sites that make people stay as long as possible.

Across Asia and beyond, in cities such as Dubai and Adelaide, Woods Bagot has seen retail streets harness the potential of offline retail – which itself has become an experiential, leisure-based activity[5] – and weave it in with historic, cultural and new built elements to create enjoyable spaces. By prioritising the experience of all users, the draw of the retail street beckons beyond the shopper to speak to a sense of civic generosity that improves a city at large by providing opportunities to socialise, sightsee, rest, and discover – lengthening dwell time, widening appeal and regenerating our cities.

References:

[1] Asia Pacific Retail Flash Survey, CBRE Research, October 2021.

[2] Asia Pacific Retail Flash Survey, CBRE Research, October 2021.

[3] Hybrid Retail, ARUP, 2021.

[4] Time is Money” Shoppers buy more when they stay longer, Path Intelligence, October 2021. http://online.fliphtml5.com/olpx/fgfr/#p=1

[5] 73% of Chinese consumers regarded shopping as a leisure activity, and roughly half thought it was among the best ways of spending time with the family, according to a 2015 McKinsey study.

About the author:

With over 15 years of experience in the United Kingdom, Hong Kong and China, Christopher Lye has completed numerous retail and commercial projects and gained significant experience in project and design management. As the Studio’s Retail Sector Leader and part of Woods Bagot’s Retail Design Centre of Excellence group, he supports the Hong Kong Studio as the firm’s main retail hub for different global project reviews and collaborations.

Images: Supplied

Branko Miletic

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