An assessment of the factors, which affect the catchment area and popularity of shopping centres.

  The first site chosen is Bracknell (field trip day) and the second site Woodley (independent research). I have chosen these two sites, as they are both very different, Bracknell being a large shopping area in the town centre and Woodley being a small towns shopping precinct. Both shopping centres show contrasts in different areas of the investigation e.g. a difference of high order and low order shops. Having two different types of shopping centres is important so that when the data has been collected a suitable conclusion to the question: ~

‘Will people travel further to buy high order goods than they will to buy low order goods?’- Can be answered.

Chosen sites

Site 1~

• Name: Bracknell.
• Location: South-east England approx. 50km from The City Of London.
• Information & history: In 1949 Bracknell was developed as one of London’s eight new towns. The greater London plan was drawn up to build these new towns, each separated from London by a green belt and each with a population of 25 000 - 80 000. The seven other towns developed are Hemel Hempstead, Stevenage, Welwyn Garden City, Harlow, Hatfield, Basildon and Crawley. By 1982 Bracknell had two residential areas, three industrial areas and one town centre. Every neighbourhood was self-contained with an efficient road system. The Town Centre was mainly developed in the 1960’s and The Princess Square developed in 1984. Today 1/2 a million people live within the 10-mile radius of the town centre. Bracknell has many facilities for example ‘The Meteorological Centre’, many shops (low and high order), travel facilities (public transport) and leisure facilities including various gym’s and health clubs, cinema’s and a bowling complex.

Features that are common in town centres ~

• Land is expensive so it is often more successful and larger company’s that will be located in the middle of the town centre as they can afford to pay the high costs.
• ‘High-rise’ buildings may have 3 or 4 storey in a smaller town or up to 30 in a large city.
• Many buildings are multi functional, with a different use on each floor.
• Traffic is congested and the speed of travel is slow, explaining why people are less likely to visit a large town shopping centre as frequently as they would a small town.
• There are many places where people can find food (restaurants & fast food) drink (pubs & wine bars) and entertainment (cinema, theatre, clubs and gyms)

A variety of shops, easy access, lots of parking spaces, a good environment to shop and good surroundings can all increase the popularity of a shopping centre.

Prediction – I predict that the catchment area will be larger when the shopping area, quality and environment are increased. I also predict that people will be going to the small town centre for mainly convenience goods and large town centres for comparison goods. This is because people are prepared to travel further for specialist items.