sustainability Article Resilient Forms of Shopping Centers Amid the Rise of Online Retailing: Towards the Urban Experience Fujie Rao Melbourne School of Design, University of Melbourne, Melbourne 3010, Australia; [email protected] Received: 13 June 2019; Accepted: 17 July 2019; Published: 24 July 2019 Abstract: The rapid expansion of online retailing has long raised the concern that shops and shopping centers (evolved or planned agglomerations of shops) may be abandoned and thus lead to a depletion of urbanity. Contesting this scenario, I employ the concept of ‘retail resilience’ to explore the ways in which different material forms of shopping may persist as online retailing proliferates. Through interviews with planning and development professionals in Edmonton (Canada), Melbourne (Australia), Portland (Oregon), and Wuhan (China); field/virtual observations in a wider range of cities; and a morphological analysis of key shopping centers, I find that brick-and-mortar retail space is not going away; rather, it is being increasingly developed into various shopping spaces geared toward the urban experience (a combination of density, mixed uses, and walkability) and may thus be adapted to online retailing. While not all emerging forms of shopping may persist, these diverse changes, experiments, and adaptations of shops and shopping centers can be considered a form of resilience. However, many emerging shopping centers pose a threat to urban public life. Keywords: retail resilience; online retailing; shopping center; urban experience; urbanity 1. Introduction Shopping has been at the heart of urbanity since the earliest cities developed as sites of exchange. One sees and touches the product, perhaps smells and tastes it, bargains with the trader and experiences the larger social, political and cultural life that comes with traditional marketplaces. When purchasing most products, people now have a choice: go to town or go online. The latter has been increasingly accepted in recent years. Between 2014 and 2016, online sales grew by 31% in the United States (US) [1], 33% in Canada [2], 41% in Australia [3], and 85% in China [4]. However, brick-and-mortar retailing seems to be stifled—what the media calls the ‘retail apocalypse’ [5]. For example, Figure1 shows the number of quarterly store openings and closings in the US between 2012 and 2017 [6]: the number of net store closings remained positive after the third quarter of 2013 and peaked in the third quarter of 2017 at around 5000. At the same time, a long list of retail chains around the globe filed for bankruptcy [7,8], such as Toys “R” Us, Sears Canada, and Masters (a home improvement chain in Australia). This decline of brick-and-mortar retailing could have a ‘domino effect’ [9] on the shopping center (defined as an evolved or planned agglomeration of shops). If the material shopping space is less frequented, a weakening of urban public life could be triggered. Sustainability 2019, 11, 3999; doi:10.3390/su11153999 www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability SustainabilitySustainability 20192019,, 1111,, x 3999 FOR PEER REVIEW 2 2of of 27 25 Figure 1. Quarterly store openings and closings in the United States (US) between 2012 and 2017. Figure 1. Quarterly store openings and closings in the United States (US) between 2012 and 2017. 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I thenIn describe what follows, my research I first methods, review ‘resilience’ including interviews,theories, with observations, a focus on and‘retail mapping resilience’ (Section (Section3). Next, 2). I thenI present describe the results my research of qualitative methods, and including morphological interviews, analyses. observations, I show that and brick-and-mortar mapping (Section retailing 3). Next,is not I being present replaced the results by online of qualitative retailing; and rather, morphological they form material analyses./digital I show synergies, that brick-and-mortar giving rise to retailingspatial transformations is not being replaced of the shopby online and shoppingretailing; center.rather, Thethey shop form space material/digital can now often synergies, be a non-retail giving risespace to wherespatial an transformations enhanced touch-and-feel of the shop experience and shopping is produced center. The and shop may space be capitalized can now (Sectionoften be4 ).a non-retailOn the larger space scale, where shopping an enhanced centers aretouch-and-feel being transformed experience into materialis produced forms and that may are be geared capitalized toward (Sectionthe urban 4). experience. On the larger This scale, may shopping bolster main centers street are development being transformed/reinvigoration into material and stimulate forms that a wide are gearedrange oftoward synergies the urban between experience. the main This street may and bols theter suburban main street mall development/reinvigoration/power center (Section5). While and stimulateshops and a shopping wide range centers of synergies show strong between capacity the formain adapting street toand online the suburban retailing, themall/power emerging center forms (Sectionof shopping 5). While do not shops necessarily and shopping foster vibrant centers urban show public strong life capacity (Section for6 ).adapting to online retailing, the emerging forms of shopping do not necessarily foster vibrant urban public life (Section 6). 2. Retail Resilience 2. Retail Resilience Resilience theories mainly emerge from ecology. According to C. S. Holling [10,11], ecosystems are situatedResilience in theories a world mainly of random emerge events from and ecology. unanticipated According disturbances. to C. S. Holling Therefore, [10,11], after ecosystems a shock areappears, situated ecosystems in a world cannot of random bounce events back to and the previousunanticipated state. disturbances. Rather, they may Therefore, adapt to after the shocka shock by appears,making changesecosystems without cannot lurching bounce into back a new to the regime, previous leading state. to Rather, ‘ecological they resilience’ may adapt [12 to]. the shock by makingWhereas changes avoiding without a regime lurching shift into is key a new to the regime, resilience leading of an to ecosystem, ‘ecological a resilience’ human system [12]. largely continuesWhereas by fosteringavoiding a new regime regimes shift [is13 key,14]; to for the example, resilience as of a an village ecosystem, becomes a human a town, system the mode largely of continuesproduction, by urban fostering form, new and regimes social life [13,14]; of its inhabitantsfor example, are as substantially a village becomes converted. a town, Many the researchers mode of production,therefore argued urban that form, when and applying social ‘resilience’life of its to inhabitants studies of human are substantially systems, the co focusnverted. should Many shift researchers therefore argued that when applying ‘resilience’ to studies of human systems, the focus Sustainability 2019, 11, 3999 3 of 25 from the persistence of the current regime to the capacity of the system for change [15–17]. In light of this, Ron Martin coined the term ‘adaptive resilience’ [16], meaning the ability of a human system to persist through new regimes while maintaining a strong adaptive capacity for change. Drawing on this thought, Wrigley and Dolega found that some successful main streets in the United Kingdom (UK) were transformed into new regimes when a chained supermarket, often considered a killer of main street shops, entered the main street and spurred a revitalization [18]. Furthermore, whereas the resilience of an ecosystem generally contributes to sustainability, the resilience of a human system may endanger sustainable development [14,19]; for example, urban sprawl is a resilient socio-spatial pattern that diminishes the sustainability