Impact on pedestrian volume associated with opening a large-scale shopping center in city center

Abstract

Three laws on city planning revised in 2006 have encouraged city center opening of large-scale shopping centers, which had before been opened in suburbs. Targeting a shopping center that has newly opened in center of Okayama City, this study examined estimation of the pedestrian volume change in city center area. Results of the analysis suggest that a similarity of kind or target customers strongly affects pedestrian volume for existing shops. In other words, even if a large shopping center opens, they can differentiate to avoid being adversely affected. However, results show that, as visitors to a large-scale shopping center have become younger, passengers near an existing shopping street have become older.