Path and place : a study of urban geometry and retail activity in Cambridge and Somerville, MA

This dissertation investigates retail location patterns in urban settings -- a domain that has received relatively little attention in recent decades. We analyze which land use, urban form, and agglomeration factors explain observed retail patterns in an empirical case study of Cambridge and Somerville, MA. We are particularly interested in whether and how the distribution of retailers is affected by the spatial configuration of the built environment -- the physical pattern of urban infrastructure, the spacing and sizes of buildings, and the geometry of circulation routes. We argue that understanding retail location patterns in urban settings is not only important for improving retail location theory, but also essential for designing economically, socially, and environmentally sustainable urban neighborhoods. The dissertation proposes a novel graph-analysis framework in which retail location patterns can be represented under realistic constraints of urban geometry, land use distribution, and travel behavior. A series of spatial accessibility metrics, which we hypothesize to affect retail location choices, are introduced and applied in this framework using individual buildings as units of analysis. In order to test the statistical significance of these different metrics on retail location choices, we adopt the strategic interaction methodology from spatial econometrics and apply it for the first time in the context of location studies. We specify a linear probability model with a binary dependent variable and estimate how buildings' probabilities to accommodate retail establishments relate endogenously to other retailers' location choices and exogenously to both land use and urban form characteristics around each building. We apply the model to all retail and food-service establishments as a group and to different three-digit NAICS establishment categories individually. The results confirm that retail location choices in our study area are significantly related to both other retailers' endogenous location choices and exogenous land use characteristics around each building. However, controlling for both of these factors, we find that the spatial distribution of retail activity is also significantly related to the geometry of the built environment. By setting constraints on accessibility, visibility, adjacency, and density, the geometry of the built environment produces a rich landscape of information that appears to guide opportunities for business from building to building. The findings inform economists and planners about factors that attract retailers in urban settings, and urban designers about how the seemingly basic act of laying out streets, parcels and buildings can affect the location choices retail and service land uses, thereby shaping the economic structure of the city in important ways.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2010

Author dc:creator

• Sevtsuk, Andres

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• William C. Wheaton, John P. De Monchaux, Philip Steadman and William J. Mitchell.

• Urban Studies and Planning.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/62034

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/62034