Retail streets can regenerate our cities

Having endured its fair share of recent disruption, built retail has weathered a storm of consumer and investor doubt to emerge as a drawcard for our global cities – holding significant placemaking power if designed with the right priorities in mind.

A growing demand for next-generation retail streets across Asia speaks to their global potential. Retaining the open air, pedestrian-friendly appeal of their predecessors, these successors 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.

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 demographic¹Asia Pacific Retail Flash Survey, CBRE Research, October 2021. . These flagship stores will be attractions in their own right – functioning like thematic galleries in which the product is reframed as byproduct 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 streets²Asia Pacific Retail Flash Survey, CBRE Research, October 2021. . Where climate permits, this preference is reflected in the way the indoor shopping complex has shrunk to prioritize a composition with a larger allocation of streetside retail³Hybrid Retail, ARUP, 2021. – formalizing 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.

When overlayed with a historic street or attraction, a retail street will enliven history with contemporary life. By emphasizing 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 center and high-end anchors at a slight distance to function as subcenters within the retail district.

Shanghai Yu Garden Wenchang Street saw Woods Bagot remagnetize a retail attraction that includes 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, ceiling and cloud pattern on the stone floor, reintroducing historic craftsmanship and the site itself as cultural attraction. A careful trade mix of antique, handicraft, traditional snack and souvenir retailers has been placed amongst space for entertainment and events reinforce the district’s appeal.

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 maximization 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.

When a retail street is a new addition, the goal is to create a destination. A new-built retail street should emphasize 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. Refencing 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 center of the design, maximizing 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.

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 sales¹Time is Money” Shoppers buy more when they stay longer, Path Intelligence, October 2021. – are on the lookout for sites that make people stay as long as possible.

Across Asia and beyond in cites like Dubai and Adelaide, Woods Bagot has seen retail streets harness the potential of offline retail – which itself has become an experiential, leisure-based activity²73% 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. – and weave it in with historic, cultural and new built elements to create enjoyable spaces. By prioritizing 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.