イギリス，シェフィールド市における地域ショッピングセンター開発後の中心商業地とセンター体系の変化

抄録

In England, the 1980s were a period in which the central government adopted a stance favorable to retail developments. Many out-of-center large scale retail developments opened and they have caused or accelerated the decline of existing centers. In Sheffield City, the Meadowhall regional shopping center opened in 1990. It is by far the largest individual scheme in the revitalization of the Lower Don Valley in Sheffield’s old industrial heartland. Some papers claim that Sheffield’s central shopping area declined drastically within a few years after the Meadowhall center opened. But those papers ignored the effect of the Meadowhall center on district shopping centers in Sheffield. This study presents the trend in development of regional shopping centers in England and examines the changes of the central area and district shopping centers in Sheffield after the Meadowhall regional shopping center opened.

In Japan, through the deregulation of the Large Retail Store Law since 1990, many large-scale stores were developed in greenfields or the countryside. By contrast, in England, regional shopping centers focused on urban areas for regeneration of the deprived inner city in the 1980s. Therefore, many proposals for large-scale retail development in greenfields were rejected in the UK.

Sheffield’s Unitary Development Plan, which was approved in 1998, establishes a three-fold classification of centers and presents retail parks and the regional shopping center (Meadowhall shopping center) in its proposals map. Retail parks and the Meadowhall shopping center are not maintained and enhanced by the local planning authority in accordance with the Planning Policy Guidance of the central government. Therefore, the retail development in retail parks is limited to retail warehouses and the large-scale expansion of the Meadowhall shopping center was not allowed. That is why they are likely to result in serious harm to the vitality and viability of the central shopping area and district shopping centers.

Meadowhall shopping center attracts shoppers from a much wider catchment area than did the central shopping area. Though the central shopping area and the Meadowhall shopping center are situated as regional shopping centers in UDP, the central shopping area may be the focus of the inner city. Retail warehouses located at the fringe of the central shopping area and the number of stores selling fashion goods have decreased rapidly in the central shopping area since the Meadowhall center opened. Many multiple retailers moved from the central shopping area to Meadowhall center. Now the Sheffield City Council has a plan for redevelopment to enhance the status of the central shopping area as a regional shopping center.

The district shopping centers provide high levels of accessibility to a broad range of services and facilities for all the community as well as shopping facilities for local residents. Food retail development is promoted within district shopping centers. There are some district shopping centers in which superstores or retail parks have been developed. District shopping centers without large-scale stores are very small scale and have higher vacancy rates.

In Japan, the City Planning Act establishes two types of commercial zones, Commercial Zones and Neighborhood Commercial Zones. But there are some cities that have established some Commercial Zones outside of the central area, and any type of large-scale store can be located in Neighborhood Commercial Zones. And there are many zones in which large-scale stores under 10,000 square meters of floor space can be built outside of Commercial Zones. Therefore, the City Planning Act does not assume the hierarchy of retail areas with the Commercial Zone in the central area at the top. The Large-scale Retail Store Location Act aims to harmonize large-scale retail stores with the local community.

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