Scottish structure plans and their role as indicators of future retail developments

Summary

In trying to form a view of what the pattern of retail development in Scotland is likely to be in the early years of next century, it is important to gain an understanding of how the physical planning framework influences the development process. Most Scottish Structure Plans now contain detailed statements of policy on retail development and the Scottish Development Department (SDD) periodically issues planning guidelines, including guidelines on the location of major retail developments. Much of this paper is taken up with analysis and interpretation of Structure Plan policies on retailing and the SDD's new planning guidelines, issued in December 1986.

Previous work in this subject area has identified common elements in Structure Plan policies on retailing and has pointed to the difficulties planners face in formulating policies appropriate to the dynamism of the industry. This paper attempts to go further than previous work by showing how policies are evolving in the face of change in the retail industry. Four broad trends in policy development are identified. The paper also describes the distinguishing features of the retailing policies of the six regional planning authorities in Scotland.

The review of Structure Plans, which was accompanied by a series of interviews with planning officers, highlighted a number of issues for further discussion. It is clear that the SDD's new guidelines on the location of major retail developments are being interpreted differently by different planning authorities and that the full intent of the guidelines has yet to emerge. Local authorities are also concerned about how the necessary environmental improvements in town and city centres are to be financed. Particularly in light of the emergence of new forms of shopping and proposals for new large‐scale and out‐of‐town developments, a further issue is the feasibility of retailing policies based on the principle of hierarchy.

Although there is no reason to suspect that the continuation of Structure Planning in Scotland may be in doubt, the question also arises of whether the plans have a future, given that Structure Planning is to be abandoned in England and Wales. The answer to the question is, ultimately, political, but Structure Planning in Scotland does appear to work. Scotland has a more coherent structure of local government than England and Wales and, unlike their counterparts elsewhere in Britain, upper‐tier local authorities in Scotland can exert strategic control over the development process by virtue of their call‐in powers.

The paper comes to the qualified conclusion that Scottish Structure Plans do, or at least have the potential to, indicate the way ahead for the pattern of retail development. The qualification is necessary because Structure Plans generally are in a state of flux and, for this reason, it is not entirely clear whether the policies are anticipating change in the retailing industry or are simply reacting to it. Some of the remaining uncertainties should be resolved, however, when Structure Plan policies are reviewed in light of the new planning guidelines.     

Consumer Choice of Retail Food Store Formats in Qingdao,China

Abstract

This study analyzes Chinese consumer behavior across different retail food store formats and how household demographics affect shopping behavior. A multivariate probit model with four categories of retail food store formats (wet markets, small grocery stores, supermarkets, and hypermarkets) in Quindao, China is estimated. The results indicate that the new hypermarkets are substitutes for supermarkets, but they do not compete extensively with wet markets and small grocery stores. Furthur development of various catagories of food shopping store formats is linked to store-owner characteristics, potential interrelations among existing retail formats, as well as consumers' demographics and shipping habits.     

The implementation and the future of development plans

Summary

Once again the planning system of England and Wales is being reviewed. This paper considers criticisms of development plans, and proposals for changes, including those of the Department of the Environment (DoE) and Welsh Office in the consultation paper, "The Future of Development Plans: a Consultation Paper”, September 1986, with some of the reactions to it, and also The Nuffield Foundation report, "Town and Country Planning”, 1986. A focus of this critique is the effectiveness of development plans, in particular regarding the questions of implementation and resources. It is concluded that it is the co‐ordination of the provision of public resources, which are needed to implement plans and policies, that requires the attention of the Government, with adequate national and regional planning guidelines, rather than the abolition of Structure Plans.     

Planning applications for food superstores 1960–86: Great Britain and South Wales

Summary

The development and implications of food superstores in Great Britain have been the focus of much study. Most analysis and research however has had the drawback of being based solely on successful superstore applications (i.e. trading stores). A recent example of such work has appeared in this journal (Guy, 1988). It is argued here however that such analyses provide an incomplete understanding of spatial strategies, planning policy effectiveness and the development of superstores. A better understanding is afforded through an analysis of all superstore applications, i.e. applications which are unsuccessful as well as those that succeed. A database for planning applications for superstores is used here to provide first an introductory analysis of superstore development processes in Great Britain and to a lesser extent, Wales, and secondly a critical analysis of Guy's (1988) study of superstore development in South Wales.     

Grocery Store Attributes in Recovering Economies: An Empirical Investigation of Their Importance,Using Three-Component Contour Plotting

The authors share results of a study conducted to measure the attributes of grocery stores that are the most important for consumers in a market recovering from war and transitioning to a market economy. Applying a trilinear coordinate plot, the authors develop a model that consists of those attributes. The findings led to conclusions that services and location, rather than the historically favored attribute of price, increasingly are key factors affecting store choice. Managerial implications are discussed and future research directions are suggested.     

Valuing Food Store Access: Policy Implications for the Food Stamp Program

Food stamp recipients may lack access to larger stores, reducing the availability of nutritious food. Reliance on smaller stores may have undesirable impacts. Policy alternatives include limiting food stamp redemption to larger stores and subsidizing store development. I estimate that limiting redemption to supermarkets and grocery stores, or supermarkets alone, results in losses ranging from $499.2 million to $1.05 billion, or $1.17 billion to $2.44 billion (respectively) annual loss in food stamp recipient welfare nationwide. The impact of improving access is also significant, ranging from $333.6 million to $931.2 million.     

TYPES OF FARMING IN NORTH WALES*

This paper presents the results of a classification of farming undertaken for the four counties of North Wales.? Essentially a type-of-farming classification results in the subdivision of a large area into regions within which a relatively homogeneous association of factors influence the prevailing types of agriculture. Ideally, a type-of-farming area would consist of all that territory within which the choice of products and the possible combinations of factors tend to be similar. The nature of any classification will depend, however, on the main purpose for which it is made. In the present study this was to group parishes according to the type of agricultural activity occurring within them. A further objective was to map the location of the different farming types and thereby to define the predominant type-of-farming areas in North Wales. Among other uses of this classification is an attempt to calculate the contribution to production of each type of farming in the area.     

Effect of Consumers’ Personality on Store Brand Choice in Grocery Stores: Insights from France and Germany

Abstract

Consumers’ personality can influence choice behavior. Considering disparities between food store brand market shares across countries, we investigate the impact of personality on food store brand decision making. We carried out two non-hypothetical choice experiments for milk, ice-cream, and cereal, one in France and one in Germany for a total of N?=?505 participants. Results show that in France neurotic and in Germany conscientious consumers purchase significantly less store brands for the food items in question. This study contributes to the literature by providing evidence that both, personality and country-effects, influence consumer food choice behavior and serve as a motivating factor for multi-category purchases of grocery store brands.     

Crossing spatial analyses and livestock economics to understand deforestation processes in the Brazilian Amazon: the case of São Félix do Xingú in South Pará

The Amazon is the largest tropical forest area on Earth, and has been undergoing rapid deforestation for the last four decades. In the Brazilian Amazon, large‐scale pasture for cattle ranching and soybean production are the main land uses, leading to a yearly deforestation rate of 0.5%. These conversions are mostly located in frontier areas distributed along the so‐called “arc of deforestation”. Within this large zone, various land use change processes are interacting through several modes of land valuation and organisation. From several case studies in the State of Pará (Brazil), the current project aims at analysing how landscape dynamics are related to infrastructure development, ecological conditions, zoning policies and to the evolution and the organisation of the production, consumption and marketing chains of livestock products. This paper presents the results for one test site, the region of São Félix do Xingú, South of Pará This region is the focus of land speculation, cattle expansion, and deforestation. Road construction, investments in electrical energy, financial credit for cattle, and the land reform policies have all fuelled this process. All these factors make this region one of the most dynamic agricultural frontiers in the Brazilian Amazon. The main objective of the paper is to improve our understanding of deforestation processes by crossing spatial analyses and 1ivestock economics.studies, and to characterise the role and impact of various natural and anthropic factors in the location and development of the main types of farmers, and their policy implications.     

Sewing terror: price dynamics of the strawberry needle crisis

In September 2018, a former strawberry‐picking supervisor for a strawberry farm in New South Wales was arrested for inserting sewing needles in hundreds of punnets of fresh strawberries sold in retail stores across several Australian states. This paper analyses the 2018 Australian strawberry needle scare as a case study on the market impacts of agro‐terrorism events. We develop a novel four‐step procedure to estimate the effects of the strawberry needle contamination on wholesale fresh strawberry prices. Our results indicate a drop in wholesale fresh strawberries prices of about 20% while the needle crisis was ongoing. However, public and private supply restrictions caused wholesale prices to rise by up to 94% relative to expected dynamics over several weeks in the immediate wake of the incident.     

基于县域城乡统筹发展模式评价--以浙江省绍兴县为例

建国60年,特别是改革开放30年来,我国县和县级市的发展取得了一定的成效,产业竞争力、经济实力不断增强,医疗、教育、住房、就业保障体系初步建立,特别是县域城乡一体化发展的态势初步形成。但在看到取得的成就的同时,也应看到,我国县域经济社会发展水平还存在巨大的差异,县域内部的经济社会发展还存在严重不平衡,与城乡统筹发展的要求差距较大。文章在对我国东部浙江省绍兴县县域城乡统筹发展现状分析的基础上,构建了由经济发展水平、社会统筹水平、环境统筹水平组成的城乡统筹发展评价指标体系,采用统计与调查数据,对绍兴县进行了实证分析,并提出了未来绍兴县发展的思路。     

Urban containment strategies: A case-study appraisal of plans and policies in Japanese, British, and Canadian cities

This paper presents a comparative assessment of the nature and impact of urban containment policies in three countries, through examination of strategic plans for six case-study cities. Recent development patterns and current planning policies are mapped and assessed, and compared to a conceptual model of strategic options for urban containment. Emphasis is on rationales for containment, locational attributes of areas where development is encouraged or curtailed, the overall supply of developable land, and policies relating to development densities.The case studies demonstrate more stringent control on the location, timing, and density of development in Britain and Japan, with shorter time horizons and tighter development boundaries than in Canada. The Canadian cities, however, are moving towards higher densities, to enable transit-oriented development.     

Telecommunications and the future of cities∗

Summary

This article examines the impact of new telecommunications technologies on urban growth and development. Contrary to the conventional wisdom, the author argues that new technologies are strengthening large ‘world cities’ that are centres for international finance and information services. The author describes the emerging telecommunications infrastructure in the US and analyses the distinctive roles of government and business in the planning and development of this infrastructure. Drawing upon data from major financial institutions, the author analyses the location of corporate headquarters and information processing centres. The conclusions suggest that there will be growing disparities between urban and rural telecommunications systems and the consequences for office development.     

Taking account of governance: The challenge for land-use planning models

It is widely recognised that weak governance is a major constraint in planning for sustainable development, especially in the South. Sophisticated models that have been developed for assessing the likely effect of selected policies on land-use, and on sustainable development more generally, increasingly acknowledge this; but they do not include methods for taking this into account, in quantitative terms – which is what is necessary if such models are to be applied in practice. This paper begins by identifying the limitations of standard models in this respect, and then suggests a possible way to respond to the problem. We propose the use of what we call ‘policy-specific governance indicators’, that is, indicators not of general government performance across the board, but rather of the actual performance of particular policies – or, if necessary, suitable proxies derived from similar policies. By reference to a case study from Brazil concerning controls on deforestation, we show how this can be done in practice, and built in to the planning model. And by reference to studies from Indonesia and India we explore how one might address still more challenging cases that may arise.     

北京市沟域经济生态景观存在问题和建设对策

沟域经济是北京市近几年提出的一种崭新的山区发展模式.本文在总结国内外沟域经济相关研究的基础上,分析了北京山区沟域经济发展伴随的生态景观问题,即存在生态景观文化规划欠缺、生态承载力研究不足、生态特色资源挖掘深度不够和景观多样性差四方面问题,并对针对各问题提出了相关建设对策.     

农地流转现状及影响因素分析——以芜湖市为例

<正>确认识当前农地流转的形势,剖析农地流转的主要影响因素,并探讨规范农地流转的对策建议。文章采用安徽省芜湖市4个县和4个区的17份农业大户访谈记录、244份农户调查问卷,利用数理统计的方法,归纳总结了农地流转的现状差异;科学地选取相关指标,利用主成分分析法剖析了农地流转的影响因素。研究结论:(1)农地流转现状差异主要表现在流转方式、流转规模、流转期限和流转价格等4个方面;(2)农地流转是一项受到多方面因素影响的系统工程,其中社会经济发展、经济利益等因素对其影响较大;同时,科技进步、政策法规等因素也从侧面推动农地流转。建议综合协调各方面因素,大力发展地方经济、推广农业新技术、加强法律法规建设,对引导农地高效流转、提高农业综合生产能力,推动农村规模经济发展,具有十分重要的意义。     

我国东部地区县域城乡统筹发展 模式典型案例探究

改革开放30年来,我国县和县级市的产业竞争力、经济实力不断增强,医疗、教育、住房、就业保障体系初步建立,特别是县域城乡一体化发展的态势初步形成。但在看到取得的成就的同时,也应看到,我国县域经济社会发展水平还存在巨大的差异,县域内部的经济社会发展还存在严重不平衡,与城乡统筹发展的要求差距较大。文章以东部地区3个典型县为研究案例,通过定量分析和评价,提出了今后东部地区县域经济城乡统筹发展的对策建议。     

Housing land availability — some observations of the process of housing development in contrasting urban locations

Summary

Housing development operates at different levels of intensity in the urban areas of Britain, and private and public housebuilders exert varying pressures on local planning authorities. The findings of a research study on the provision of land for residential development in urban areas are examined by means of six case studies. These expose the significance of landownership and planning policies in influencing the rate of housing development. In order to exploit fully the potential of urban sites for residential development there is a need for coordinated action by local authorities which may include compulsory purchase power and a housing development budget.     

Historical and critical review of spatial and transport planning in the Netherlands

The spatial and transport planning have geographical, economic and environmental constraints and are closely linked to the social and political conditions of each country as well as are well under the influence of globalization forces. This makes it all a highly complex issue and requires a better understanding of the background and products of policies and the interaction of a number of key determinant factors in policy-making and implementation. Within this large picture, the long-term review of different cases may provide useful discussions for the guidance and reinforcement of policy assessment. Therefore, the primary aim of this study is to critically analyze the planning in the Netherlands through examining the issues of governing structure, spatial policy-making, and transport re-structuring. The leading characteristic of the Netherlands is the scarcity of usable land that has raised high and early awareness on spatial development issues and its connections with natural and environmental protection. The functioning of planning systems, and policy aims and measures within the planning documents since the end of the 1950s, have been reviewed and the key planning concepts have been examined by bringing in general and current discussions on the issues. The success and failure in past policy-making and implementations have been highlighted. The policies of the current spatial and transport planning documents have been evaluated by their main policy titles such as compact city, network of cities and sustainable mobility. There is a general consensus that the Netherlands has been developed into a well planned and organized society and has designed leading policies such as the ABC firm location policy. However, a number of issues such as increasing vehicle kilometres, urban decline and sprawl, and some gaps in policy making remain to be the critical planning challenges.     

Environmental Regulation and the Spatial Structure of the U.S. Dairy Sector

Substantial public scrutiny about adverse environmental impacts of the dairy sector has resulted in increased environmental regulations. A behavioral model of location and production is developed to examine the impacts of environmental regulations, traditional location factors, and agglomeration economies on the spatial structure and geographical location of dairy production. The results show that counties in the states with more stringent environmental regulations tend to lose dairy inventories to those with less stringent policies. There are substantially meaningful spatial patterns of dairy production. Current dairy production levels are positively correlated while changes in production levels are negatively correlated across counties.