Shopping and the City 2020

How cities in the future will attract consumers

• How did the relationship between cities and shopping develop in the past and how will it develop in the future?
• What are the most important drivers of economic and social change and what influence will they have on the city?
• To what extent will the nature of cities as shopping locations change as a result?

The development of the city centre is closely linked to developments in the retail trade: it determines what the city centre looks like, provides the foundations of a varied public life and forms the basis for further institutions and offerings. The city is the traditional high-traffic retail location. But the ways in which retail trade operates have changed significantly over the past years: some tasks have disappeared, others have been added.

The study focuses on the city centre in particular, and on the traditional shopping streets of European cities. With a view to establish the most important influential factors it analyses the major driving forces likely to impinge on cities between now and 2020.

Summary of the study (PDF)