Changes in Retail services

Today the distribution of shops and shopping centers is more complex. Improvements to infrastructure means shopping centers can be built out of town (away from congestion and built up areas) Also there is online shopping!

Things that have effected shopping patterns 

• More people have more money
• More families have a car - transport
• Bulk buy food because of freezers and fridges
• More women work - can't shop everyday

Today many cities have:

• SUPERSTORES
• Retail parks out of town - everything you need in one place
• Out-of-town shopping centers 

Generally these developments are on outskirts of city because of; CHEAPER LAND and ROOM TO EXPAND. It is also important to be close to motorways and main roads so it convienant for people to get there. 

When cities grow they spread out to surrounding countryside! There is now something called a green belt to stop this happening! The aims of the greenbelt are to:

• Stop urban sprawl 
• To prevent towns and cities merging
• to protect countryside
• to encourage delevopment within a town not around it

A green belt can be built on. If the developer can prove land is needed it can be used. Today the need for houses has meant that some of the green belt land has been built on. Britan will need 3 millions homes by 2020! 

BROWNFIELD SITES: land which has been built on before. 

Cities in LEDC's are growing rapidly due to:
NATURAL POPULATION INCREASE - Higher birth rates cause a growing population and are higher than death rates.
RURAL-TO-URBAN MIGRATION - People moving away from countryside to towns and cities.

MEGA CITIES= cities with over 10 million inhabitants
MILLIONAIRE CITIES = cities with more than 1 million inhabitants  

In many countries people are living longer - more older people, this can be called a greying population. This is a problem! More older people relying on the smaller working population. 

Resons

• Increasing life expectancy 
• Low birthrates - birth rates that are lower than death rates

Consequences

• Growing market for lesuire industries
• House prices in popular retierment places may rise
• Cost of state pensions is increasing
• Greater demand on medical serives 

Solutions for an ageing population

• Raising the age of retierment - people working longer and pensions paid later
• Raising taxes on working population to pay for care of the elderly
• Providing incentives to encourage people to have more children
• Encouraging immigration of young skilled adults to fill the gaps in the labour market.

At the heart of the city. Its dominated by high-rise buildings, occupated by shops, offices, banks, and other commercial functions. Also lesuire facilities - night clubs, cinemas, pubs and restaurants.  These things group together because the CBD is the most accessable part of the city. Vaule of land is expensive - which means no housing is here and not  much open space.

CHANGING LAND USE IN THE CITY CENTRE
The CBD is always changing. Some buissness move away and some move in. If too many buissness move away from the city centre than it will leave a 'dead-heart' in the centre of the city. THE DOUGHNUT EFFECT 

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