September 21, 2014  by

Retail Centers: The Future of Community

Retail centers have evolved from a convenient collection of your favorite shops to become THE social and cultural hubs of cities by providing equal access to people from all backgrounds.

Beyond leasing strategies, retail centers now have other forces at play. Mass transit access, pedestrian approachability, urban integration, and smaller sites are changing design standards, and the role that retail centers play in the community.  Traditional, enclosed centers are now opting for a permeable urban model with sidewalk appeal.

We see this trend across the globe. In North America suburban retail centers are being redeveloped into multi-level, mixed-use urban centers, often anchoring new mass transit development. From China to the Middle East, where retail centers organize and often physically provide a foundation to large scale, mixed-use developments, we now see these spaces providing community activation for visitors, residents, employees and customers alike.

In Dubai, Callison participated in a six-week design competition for what will become one of the world’s largest malls, which will boast an impressive 5,000,000 sq ft of retail. Sited at the heart of an extensive master plan, our proposal weaves public realm and a viable commercial center across two and a half levels, creating multiple distinct environments and community building opportunities through (or utilizing) state-of-the-art entertainment, physical and visual ties to neighborhoods, and multiple versions of mass transportation (including a sky gondola and an internal streetcar). This retail center will serve as far more than a large collection of stores in the new community – it will provide safe, engaging indoor and outdoor environments for families and friends to collect and experience together.

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Callison provided landscape, retail planning, architectural branding, and ideation services to push design to the next level. Our process highlighted the power of innovative groupthink in which the entire Callison team is operating in parallel instead of sequential design tracks. By pushing industry standards from every direction, we simultaneously generate internal energy and a high concentration of innovation within the tight timelines proposed by our clients.

Within the retail center industry, the ability to design spaces that are at once commercially viable and, more importantly, integrated, vital urban cores that serve communities IS the future. No longer “just” a shell and core for the retail tenants within, retail centers now act as the cultural space where communities gather, interact, coexist, and aspire to see what’s next.

CallisonRTKL

CallisonRTKL

For more than five decades, Callison and RTKL have created some of the world’s most memorable and successful environments for developers, retailers, investors, institutions and public entities. In 2015, our two practices came together under the Arcadis umbrella, expanding our sphere of influence and the depth and breadth of our resources. Our team is comprised of nearly 2,000 creative, innovative professionals throughout the world who are committed to advancing our client’s businesses and enhancing quality of life.
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