This coursework is a study of the out of town shopping centre - The Trafford Centre.

Authors Avatar

This coursework is a study of the out of town shopping centre

– The Trafford Centre.

Introduction

The main aim after visiting the Trafford Centre is to answer all three hypotheses of the enquiry on the Trafford Centre. We do this by mainly studying the interior and the patterns shown by shoppers (at different times and places) inside the Trafford Centre.

Hypotheses

This piece of coursework is divided into three hypotheses about the Trafford centre which will be answered and analysed in detail

1.        There are a broad variety of retail outlets within the Trafford centre

To answer this hypothesis, a landuse survey was carried out to determine the range of retail outlets found in the Trafford Centre. Once the fieldwork was completed, the results are displayed using a landuse map and a range of graphs.

2.        Pedestrian numbers vary within the Trafford Centre depending on location and time of day

Pedestrian counts were conducted at a number of locations and were done at 11.30am and 1.30pm. The results were all recorded on an appropriate sheet. When the fieldwork was completed, the information was represented using pedestrian flow charts.

3.        Environmental quality is high throughout the Trafford Centre

An environmental quality survey was completed in order to address the hypothesis. The results were represented by means of a variety of graphs.

The Trafford Centre

The Trafford Centre is the last out-of-town shopping centre to be given planning permission as the present government is trying to re-establish the Central Business District of the cities as the main shopping district.

The CBD is no longer at the top of the shopping hierarchy. It has been superseded by regional shopping centres such as the Trafford Centre, The Metro Centre and Merryhill. Due to increased mobility which is the result of increased car ownership, people can travel further to shops, visit shops with a wider range and volume of stock and buy in bulk.

In some areas CBDs have declined due to competition with regional shopping centres. Dudley is an example of this. The construction of the Merryhill Shopping Centre has caused huge problems in Dudley in the local CBD. Many shops have closed or moved to the shopping centre.

Join now!

More Background Information

The Trafford Centre was conceived in 1984. Planning permission was sought in 1986 and the approval was finally upheld by the House of Lords in 1995. It took 27 months to build and was opened on September 10th 1998.

The Trafford Centre catchment area is larger and more populous than any other regional shopping centre in the UK and comprises 5.3 million people within a 45-minute drive-time band, with a total potential retail expenditure

of £13 billion. There are 10,000 free parking spaces, ...

This is a preview of the whole essay