The widely accepted view of enclosed shopping centres, advanced for example by William Whyte, is that they diminish street life by displacing it indoors and purging it of behaviour unconnected with consumption. The resulting negative impacts on surrounding areas are a direct consequence of the interior and exterior design of the centre. In contrast, this study of an enclosed festival market shows that area revitalisation followed its opening and that the market itself contributed significantly to a revival of pedestrian activity in a large area of the downtown. Its location at some distance from existing commercial centres supported the extension of the walking environment at street level. Visitors to the market are made up of particular groups of city residents who return frequently to shop and to socialise and who express a preference for the gregariousness of the market over available alternatives. (Author/publisher)
Abstract