Consumerscapes y la lógica cultural en lugares de consumo

This paper sketches a consumer-centric approach of urban retailing, broadening the conceptual framework of the Consumer Culture Theory (CCT) developed by Eric Arnould for stores to the shopping districts. We intend to show why consumerscapes matter for understanding the cultural dimension of urban retailscapes and the role they play in the consumers’ daily-lives. In this context we briefly describe the CCT and its potential for the assessment of shopping places as fields of resources. The discussion will be conducted both in a theoretical and empirical way, supported by a case study analyzing consumers’ perceptions of Colinas do Cruzeiro, a quarter situated in the outskirts of Lisbon.En este artículo se presenta una aproximación al comercio urbano centrada en el consumidor, ampliando el marco conceptual de la Teoría de la Cultura del Consumo (TCC), desarrollada por Eric Arnould para las tiendas para las áreas comerciales de la ciudad. La intención es de demostrar por qué la percepción de los paisajes de los consumidores es importante en la comprensión de la dimensión cultural de los lugares de compras, así como su papel en la vida cotidiana. En este contexto, se describe brevemente la TCC y su potencial para la evaluación de los espacios comerciales como fuentes de recursos. La discusión será tanto teórica como empírica, apoyándose para el efecto en las percepciones del barrio de las Colinas do Cruzeiro, ubicado en los suburbios de Lisboa.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Consumerscapes and the resilience assessment of urban retail systems

Despite the plethora of studies on the behavior and values of consumers, research in the social sciences tends to sideline the role of the cultural dimension of consumption in the assessment of vitality and resilience of urban retail systems. However, given the tendency for retailers to make consumers a key element in their strategies, the cultural approach seems to be a valuable alternative to firm-centric analysis. This paper seeks to face this challenge mobilizing the lens of Consumer Culture Theory (CCT). The aim is to show why consumerscapes matter in the assessment of urban retail resilience. According to Arnould (2005), CCT allows us to capture the motivating social and cultural contexts of retail patronage and purchasing behaviors and the myriad of motivating factors behind the retail purchase decision. People have a variety of projects that they tend to realize through shopping practices and consumption, and retailers offer the range of resources they need to accomplish such projects. Bearing these ideas in mind, we suggest that in order to assess the resilience of urban retailing we need to know the extent to which the different shopping districts provide consumers with the range of resources they want so as to fulfill their projects, and how retailers and public authorities can, in the long term, sustain or improve the levels of consumer satisfaction. These ideas are discussed both in a theoretical and empirical way supported by the data collected from consumer surveys carried out in three neighborhood shopping districts in Greater Lisbon.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

CONSUMERSCAPES AND THE CULTURAL LOGIC OF SHOPPING PLACES

This paper sketches a consumer-centric approach of urban retailing, broadening the conceptual framework of the Consumer Culture Theory (CCT) developed by Eric Arnould for stores to the shopping districts. We intend to show why consumerscapes matter for understanding the cultural dimension of urban retailscapes and the role they play in the consumers’ daily-lives. In this context we briefly describe the CCT and its potential for the assessment of shopping places as fields of resources. The discussion will be conducted both in a theoretical and empirical way, supported by a case study analyzing consumers’ perceptions of Colinas do Cruzeiro, a quarter situated in the outskirts of Lisbon

Cidades & pandemia: questões, conceitos e problemas

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Desafios da Formação em Geografia e na Educação Geográfica, Conhecimento Poderoso e Conceitos Liminares

Neste ensaio discutem-se os reptos da formação em Geografia e na Educação Geográfica, na sociedade contemporânea, bem como algumas mudanças conceptuais e metodológicas que se devem operar nos programas de estudos e nas práticas pedagógicas, para que os formandos adquiram os conhecimentos e desenvolvam as capacidades adequadas ao desempenho eficiente das sua profissão, e a ciência geográfica incremente a sua visibilidade e relevância social. Duas questões de fundo servem de âncora à nossa discussão: Será que os caminhos trilhados pela formação em geografia potenciam o desenvolvimento dos pilares da resiliência, da inovação e da sustentabilidade? E os professores de geografia, será que estão a ser formados para educarem geograficamente os jovens? Reconhecendo os esforços que têm sido feitos, mas também as limitações dos atuais programas de estudos e dos métodos de ensino dominantes nas instituições de formação, das escolas de ensino médio e fundamental às universidades, defendemos a ideia que itinerários formativos mais consistentes com os reptos da sociedade contemporânea passam por uma recentragem da formação e das práticas de ensino na aquisição do “conhecimento poderoso”, na mestria de “conceitos liminares” e no desenvolvimento de experiências de “aprendizagens transformadoras”. Devido à sua dimensão estratégica, o investimento da educação nestes domínios constitui um contributo importante para formar profissionais mais comprometidos com a mudança e a configuração de um futuro para o mundo mais resiliente e sustentável, em termos sociais e ambientais. Palavras-chave: conhecimento poderoso, conceitos liminares, capital espacial, aprendizagens significativas, educação geográfica.   Abstract This essay discusses the challenges of training in Geography and Geographic Education in contemporary society, as well as some conceptual and methodological changes that must be operated in the study programs and pedagogical practices, in order to trainees can acquire knowledge and develop the capabilities for the efficient performance in their profession, and geographic science increases its visibility and social relevance. Two key questions anchor our discussion: Do the paths of geography training enhance the development of the pillars of resilience, innovation and sustainability? And the geography teachers are they being trained to educate young people geographically? Recognizing the efforts that have been made, but also the limitations of current curricula and teaching methods prevailing in training institutions, from elementary and high schools to universities, we advocate the idea that formative itineraries more consistent with the challenges of contemporary society require a refocusing of training and teaching practices on the acquisition of "powerful knowledge", the mastery of "threshold concepts" and the development of "transformative learning" experiences. Because of its strategic dimension, investment in education in these fields is an important contribution to training professionals who are more committed to change and shaping a future for a more resilient and sustainable world. Keywords: Powerful knowledge, Threshold Concepts, Spatial Capital, Significant Learning, Geographic Education

Places of Phygital Shopping Experiences? The New Supply Frontier of Business Improvement Districts in the Digital Age

Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) have flourished as local governance structures to foster the vitality and viability of traditional shopping districts that have struggled to adapt to retail changes. This paper examines the evolution of placemaking activities that former UK governmentfunded pilot BIDs have delivered over the last 15 years. Drawing on an exploratory sequential research design that combines a qualitative and quantitative thematic analysis of 72 BIDs’ business plans, the findings suggest that UK BIDs have described a non-hierarchical operational framework as services providers considering that: (i) elementary placemaking services, such as ‘clean, green and safe’, have regained thematic relevance due to recent environmental sustainability concerns; (ii) higher-tier lobbying and advocacy services have been an operational priority since BIDs’ inception; (iii) while consumer and place marketing/branding services have seen continual thematic reductions, digital presence and marketing services have emerged as a new category of operational activities. These results extend place management and BID-related literature by discussing the growing role that digital marketing services may perform in the management of town centers and high streets and are relevant to practitioners as it discusses how place management organizations should reposition their operational strategies towards the creation of places of phygital shopping experiences.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Science Mapping the Academic Knowledge on Business Improvement Districts

Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) are a contemporary urban revitalization policy that has been set in motion through international policymaking circuits. They have been presented as a panacea to the economic and social challenges facing many cities and traditional shopping districts. However, a comprehensive overview of the academic literature on this form of local governance remains to be conducted. Drawing on bibliometric methods and bibliometrix R-tool, this paper maps and examines the state-of-the-art of academic knowledge on BIDs published between 1979 and 2021. Findings suggest that (i) scientific production has increased since the early 2000s, has crossed US borders but remains highly Anglo-Saxon-centered; (ii) academic knowledge on BIDs is multidisciplinary and has been published in high-impact journals; (iii) influential documents on BIDs have centered on three issues: urban governance/politics, policy mobilities–mutation and impacts assessment and criticisms; (iv) while author collaboration networks exist, the interaction between them is limited; (v) the conceptualization of BIDs has changed over time, both in thematic and geographical focus. These results constitute the first science mapping on the academic literature on BIDs, and we argue they should inform future scientific debates about the studying of this form of local governance.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Business Improvement Districts: conceito e experiências

Ao longo da segunda metade do séc. XX a passagem para uma economia baseada no consumo em conjunto com alterações societais trouxe novos desafios à governação das cidades e dos seus centros. Neste período, novos modelos de governança urbana começaram a surgir no contexto norte-americano. Neste artigo debruçarmo-nos sobre os Business Improvement Districts (BID), um modelo de gestão de áreas urbanas, baseado em parcerias público-privadas e cuja actividade é executada através de financiamento compulsório dos empresários com actividade numa área delimitada. O objectivo deste artigo é elaborar o estado da arte sobre os Business Improvement Districts. Para tal, utilizamos a revisão sistemática enquanto instrumento metodológico. A revisão bibliográfica incidiu em duas vertentes. Na primeira procuramos compreender os BID enquanto novo modelo de governança urbana, o seu contexto de criação e os principais eixos de actuação. Na segunda procuramos apreender o processo pelo qual o conceito se tem expandido por um conjunto muito alargado de países. Nesta vertente procuramos aferir a dimensão desta disseminação, os elementos cruciais para tal evolução e a forma como a transferência internacional do conceito responde às especificidades de cada um dos países que adopta este modelo. A investigação que serviu de base para este artigo foi realizada no âmbito do projecto PHOENIX (Retail-Led Urban Regeneration and the New Forms of Governance) actualmente em execução por investigadores da Universidade de Lisboa e da Universidade Nova de Lisboa. Concluímos que os BID se enquadram num conjunto alargado de instrumentos de políticas que procuram responder a novos desafios que surgiram pelo declínio de várias áreas centrais das cidades e também espelham orientações políticas no sentido da descentralização e neoliberalização da governação urbana, implicando uma diversidade de stakeholders da esfera pública e privada. Com actividades diferenciadas consoante o país em causa, os principais eixos de actuação centram-se em actividades de promoção, manutenção e desenvolvimento da área abrangida pelo BID. Ainda que tenham surgido na América do Norte, os BID encontramse disseminados internacionalmente, sobretudo pela influência de alguns agentes que promoveram a sua criação. Esta transferência dá-se sobretudo através do princípio inerente a este modelo, o financiamento obrigatório que permite a execução das suas actividades e facilita a sua adaptação às especificidades dos contextos culturais.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio