- People have better transport means - most people have at least one car and out of town shopping centres are developed with very regular bus services.
- Out of town sites are easily accessible for customers and good transport as motorways, ring roads, and occasionally stations often build them.
- For the development of these hypermarkets there has to be huge open spaces which cannot be achieved in the CBD.
- Land in the suburbs was cheaper when they moved and in some places still is but because of the increasing popularity and greater demand, has increased in price.
This move has resulted in the decline of the CBD and often the only thing that saves it is the government’s costly efforts to prevent it.
Data collection methods
Primary methods
We took a minibus to South Gyle to get there for retail opening time - about 9:00. Collection of data involved:
- A land use survey - what shops are there in the centre
- Several environmental surveys - what is the situation like in and around it.
- Many questionnaires to gather as much information as possible about the people that visit the centre.
- Field sketches
- Photographs
Land use survey
We were given an outline of the Gyle by our teacher and asked to fill in the shops that were there. From this we could identify the types of shop they were - convenience, service, or comparison.
Environmental survey
We stood for example in the car park and identified certain aspects - positive and negative concerning the general environment of the place. Theses studies were carried out both indoor and outdoor.
Questionnaire
At each site we took many questionnaires we were given question sheets showing the questions, which were to be asked. This data will come in helpful when identifying the socio-economic differences.
Field sketches
These were taken at each site. They are merely a quick sketch to help give a rough out line. If you have you managed to take good photos then sketches may not be so necessary but are always useful as back up.
Photos
We took digital photos at each site. Relevant photos were taken i.e. help identify the environment and land use. Digital cameras are the most convenient because the photos can be stored on to computer and inserted into my project anytime.
Secondary data collection
Internet
In this project Internet is not the best source of secondary data mainly because it is not specific enough for my investigation but is good for maps.
Textbooks
These were probably my most helpful source of secondary data. The textbook we have was particularly helpful at explaining the wider issues, the geographical issue surrounding shopping patterns. They also contain useful examples of other similar projects.
Photos / data that is not yours
In my project I used a few pictures that were not mine. Also a lot of my results were shared with other people so as to myself more results to analyse
Questions for Investigation.
Within these subtitles I hope to find the answer to my title question - Why is out of town shopping growing in popularity? This part of the project is about introducing the sub-titles and saying why they are important
- Is there a difference in patterns of land use?
The reason why this Question is relevant is because we need to know what each shop is used for. We will be able to compare the land uses of each site.
Results & Analysis:
Map
At Princess Street the shops are mainly made up of comparison and specialist shops. There are also many services, specialist and financial cervices. On the other hand the Gyle has mainly comparison with the two anchor shops at either end.
As you move out of the CBD you will find mostly convenience stores that is until you get to the shopping centres. The effect this has had on shopping patterns is that shoppers are travelling further to Princess Street.
We were given an outline of the Gyle by our teacher and asked to fill in the shops that were there. From this we could identify the types of shop they were - convenience, service, or comparison.
From our map of the Gyle, outline filled in with names of shops, we can see that there are many large stores such as Gap, Safeway, Boots and Marks and Spencer’s. The best example of a large convenience store is Safeway. At the Gyle there is a very big Safeway, this is the main anchor shop. It has two doors one that opens into the Gyle and another which is its own and opens out into the car park. It has large sign’s and supported by lots of advertising, also includes lots of offers. It has lots of space, large isles, can contain lots of people and lots of goods. You can buy your lunch there at the café, you can have your laundry done, photos developed and have pizza’s made at the pizzeria. This takes business away from specialist shops and services in the CBD because of the recent uprising of specialist services in large convenience stores situated in out-of-town shopping centre. In result this has helped to promote themselves as ‘family day out destinations’.
At the at the Gyle there are also many specialist shops for example jewellers and clothes shop’s that are not chain stores.
The shops on Princess Street tend to be mainly specialist, comparison
And services such as financial and specialist. The main chain stores seem to be either situated along the front of Princess Street or on the corners of the streets. These shops include shops such as Marks and Spencer’s, French connection, Footlocker and Super drug. Most of theses shops consist of large comparison and convenience stores. The smaller shops in-between these shops tend to be services or small specialist shops like these include opticians, Lunn poly and Lloyds TSB. These shops are small and have little staff. There are also smaller chain stores that locate themselves along Fredrick and Hanover Street. Here the rent is cheaper, these shops consist of, Lunn Poly, JD sport and pizza hut.
This is a picture taken from Princess Street of a large chain store. You can see the similarity between this shop and the shops at the Gyle. Large window to see in, large sign outside that you wouldn’t miss and lots of space inside.
- How does the environment differ?
The reason why this question is relevant is because by seeing the difference in environmental survey we can see the quality
Results & Analysis:
Graph
The difference in environments could be very significant in whether people want to visit the two areas or not. I went to each location and did some environmental surveys and I included two of these sample environmental surveys in the back of my project plus a blank environmental survey. These show the quality of the environment in the two different areas. As is shown by the bar charts on the environmental surveys George Street actually came out with better results that the Gyle accumulating 10 points against the Gyle's minus five which should make it a more pleasant place to be. This is a very major factor in how has been able to survive and compete against The Gyle.
In my opinion my findings where that princess street was a cleaner better kept and maintained facility for shoppers than The Gyle centre.
One of the main differences between the Gyle centre and is that is and out of doors shopping experience so shoppers are more exposed to the elements than in the Gyle. This is a major cause for concern especially on day when the weather is not to great. For instance rain wind and cold temperature’s can make people want to either stay at home or seek a indoor shopping centre such as the Gyle centre where they can shop in warmth out of the rain.
When out on the weather was generally temperate which could have had a huge effect on my results if I was to go out and do more research in different weathers? I think this is one of the more significant limitations in my results if I was to do it again I would try and collect results in a more varied climate range to compare the results in different weathers. I think that this would also work for the Gyle in a different way because if the weather was hot and sunny on a day more people might be more inclined to go shopping outside in the nice weather than be stuck inside.
- What are the spheres of influence?
From this question we will be able to see where people are coming from to shop there and why that place is so appealing to the shopper who is travelling big distances.
Results & Analysis:
Map
At princess street shoppers travel long distances partly because of the fact that there are many specialist shops and specialist services that you will not get at your local shopping centre. Shoppers travelling big distances, for example people from Aberdeen or Perth will include their shopping trip as a day out. Have lunch in a nice restaurant and visit an art gallery or botanic gardens.
At the Gyle shoppers do not travel as far as shoppers would to go to Princess Street. This is simply because at the Gyle there are mainly convenience stores. This means you go to the Gyle to get everything that is necessary, e.g. food, some clothes or lunch. Therefore you can get all your shopping in one trip, unless there was anything else, in that case go to princess street. This is why we are seeing shopper travelling long distances to have this luxury. This is also helped by the increasing amount of freezers, meaning people will have to do less shops in a week.
- Are there socio-economic differences - work / don’t work; car / no car; child / adult?
From the question we will be able to see what quality of shopper has been attracted to d
Results & Analysis:
At each site we took many questionnaires we were given question sheets showing the questions, which were to be asked. This data will come in helpful when identifying the socio-economic differences.
From my questionnaire results I found that a higher percentage of wealthier people shop at Princess street. This is because there are a lot of wealthy people who live in the new town and therefore it is easier to shop at Princess Street as it is closer, this is the case with an exception to Pilton. On the other hand there are a lot of poorer people who live on the outskirts of the city and find it easier to shop at the Gyle. This explanation will not be the case for most cities but only Edinburgh.
- QFI4. How do people get to princess street and the South Gyle?
From this question we are able to see how people have got to the South Gyle and what form of transport is most convenient to the shopper.
Results & Analysis:
Each location has great access via public transport
We took are results from the questionnaire, it shows us that people mainly travel to the Gyle and Princess Street either by car or by bus
Conclusion:
For my conclusion to my project I would like to look at several things:
Firstly the attractions to both sites are very numerous and in a project like this on this scale it is impossible to weigh up all the factors that go into the question. This is a very large limitation of the project, to do this very accurately I would need a lot more time to do more research and visit the field area’s more over an extended period of time to see what different factors like weather, time of year, financial state of economy and other things do to the results.
As it is the results could be very inaccurate and peoples responses could have been given without forethought and really completely based on the now and present if it was raining at the time then they would say that they would prefer to be inside and that would maybe change if it wasn’t and so on there are very many possibilities.
One of the main points I saw in my study was the comparison of the two land use surveys, these had a lot to say in terms of what sort of business’ and company’s had chosen that particular site to set up a store. One of the main things I saw was the large amount of professional offices on compared to the Gyle which largely contained mostly retail outlets, this means that although might not be the most popular shopping choice it does have a bigger commercial influence this can be indicated by the number of banks on compared to the Gyle, and banks generally tend to have main headquarters near busy business area’s which points to moving more towards the central business district role in the city rather and it’s retail influence moving away into out of town developments such as the Gyle.
My final conclusion is that has a very specialised set of shoppers which helps it maintain it’s popularity even with competition posed to it by the Gyle centre, this is not what should happen compared to what should happen predicted by my wider issue’s but the type of shop seems to be for a specialised shopper looking for a specialised product or service. Also is parallel to another major shopping street of Edinburgh (Princess Street) and so benefits a lot from that by people who are visiting Princess Street and who also pass through while they are there. This will give a big advantage as most a lot of shoppers will stop at a shop there on their way to Princess Street, this could also give it a false impression for the results that I took. People counts and questionnaire’s could have been offset by the fact that I was asking people who were no really going to but where just passing through to another destination or using just to park their cars while they went off somewhere else such as Princess Street or St Andrews square which has just had a Harvey Nichols store added to it. The only developments that are really around the Gyle are the addition of a huge business centre which is about 5 minutes drive up the road but nor really accessible from the Gyle itself.
Traffic going to the different places should vary significantly from the different sites. in Edinburgh is always slightly congested at most times and the traffic can get very heavy but the Gyle doesn’t suffer from traffic congestion greatly and there are usually area’s for parking. Parking should have a massive effect on how my geography course work turns out as trying to park in can be somewhat a bit of a nightmare and the easy access easy parking of the Gyle centre is something that is helping it greatly in competing against the CBD.
Evaluation:
Limitations:
There are major limitations in my project. Weather when collection my mistakes are a huge factor for the quality of my data, the time of day that I took my results. I tried to take my results at different times of the day and then repeat that at the other location by taking results at the same time.
The time of year that I took my results also affects this as there are different times when the shops are busier or less busy so if I was to do it again a longer time period would and taking more results and surveys would make a more accurate report.
- Doing the project again at Christmas time would probably have a massive effect on the results as more people would be out in the mad rush to buy Christmas presents. In this situation I think that the Gyle centre might gain more support from the shoppers as it is a very easy location for people to go in and buy a load of shopping at one time.
My questionnaire was a bit of a failure as I tried to get as many people as possible to fill it out for me; first off most people did not have the time or could not be bothered to help me fill it out. Then when I did get someone to fill it out a lot of the questions where left blank or in some cases especially in the Gyle people did not fully understand the questions. So if I was to do it again I would try and simplify my questionnaire and be more persistent in trying to get people to fill it out properly.
- If I were to do it again I would use simpler questioning methods to try and get more accurate and sensible results.
Over all I think that the project was a success I did not get the result that I originally thought that the Gyle would have taken over the shopping industry from but I found that is very much holding it’s own against this out of town shopping centre which is totally against the evidence suggested in my wider issues section but this I think a good thing that the way operates and means that It is still against all of it’s restrictions a very successful centre of commerce for Edinburgh.
Bibliography:
www.gyleshopping.co.uk
www.mutimap.com
Name of yellow textbook
Name of 3rd form text book
Aerial photography book
Book from which wider issues sheets were taken
Book from which questionnaires/environmental studies etc. were taken