SHOPPING MALL

Westfield Garden State Plaza is an upscale shopping mall in Paramus, New Jersey, United States.

The interior of the Aviapark in Moscow, Russia.

The interior of the Toronto Eaton Centre in Toronto, Canada.

A shopping mall is a modern, chiefly North American, term for a form of shopping precinct or shopping center, in
which one or more buildings form a complex of shops representing merchandisers with interconnecting walkways
that enable customers to walk from unit to unit. A shopping arcade is a specific form serving the same purpose.
Many early shopping arcades such the Burlington Arcade in London, the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II in Milan and
numerous arcades in Paris are famous and still trading. However, many smaller arcades have been demolished,
replaced with large centers or "malls", often accessible by vehicle. Technical innovations such as electric lighting
and escalators were introduced from the late 19th century. From the late 20th century, entertainment venues such as
movie theaters and restaurants began to be added. As a single built structure, early shopping centers were often
architecturally significant constructions, enabling wealthier patrons to buy goods in spaces protected from the
weather

Components
The layout of a mid-sized shopping center Babilonas in Panevėžys, Lithuania (with main stores marked in text).

Food court

A common feature of shopping malls is a food court: this typically consists of a number of fast food vendors of
various types, surrounding a shared seating area.
Department stores

When the shopping mall format was developed by Victor Gruen in the mid-1950s, signing larger department stores
was necessary for the financial stability of the projects, and to draw retail traffic that would result in visits to the
smaller stores in the mall as well. These larger stores are termed anchor store or draw tenant. In physical
configuration, anchor stores are normally located as far from each other as possible to maximize the amount of
traffic from one anchor to another.

Stand-alone stores

Frequently, a shopping mall or shopping center will have satellite buildings located either on the same tract of land
or on one abutting it, on which will be located stand-alone stores, which may or may not be legally connected to the
central facility through contract or ownership. These stores may have their own parking lots, or their lots may
interconnect with those of the mall or center. The existence of the stand-alone store may have been planned by the
mall's developer, or may have come about through opportunistic actions by others, but visually the central facility  –
the mall or shopping center – and the satellite buildings will often be perceived as being a single "unit", even in
circumstances where the outlying buildings are not officially or legally connected to the mall in any way.

Site Design, Parking and Zoning for Shopping Centers

Suburban shopping centers have come into existence, grown in size, and increased in number not because they offer
new products or better stores than are to be found in central business districts, but because they are convenient.
Metropolitan areas have grown rapidly in recent years, but the growth has taken place for the most part outside of
the central city. Central business districts which were relatively adequate to handle the number (taking their income
into account) of people in metropolitan areas a decade and a half ago, are now cramped, crowded and clogged with
street traffic.

Shopping centers in suburban areas are nearer the population they serve (in driving time), offer a relatively large (if
sometimes inadequate) amount of conveniently located off-street parking, and fit in with the patterns of suburban
living described by Burgess and other urban sociologists as long as twenty-five years ago. The farther out from the
center of the city that a family lives, the less time the man of the family spends at home. Whatever the social
consequences of this situation, it results also in greater dependence on the woman to maintain the day-to-day life of
the family. She must run the household and do the shopping, and cannot afford the longer trip to the center of the
city — a trip which may have to be taken on slow and crowded public transportation, or by car over congested and
hazardous roads with no guarantee that there will be a place to park the car once the central business district has
been reached. Shopping center business is drawn almost entirely from people who live within a maximum of thirty
minutes driving time over local roads, and most customers live closer.

General definition of a shopping center

A shopping center is a group of retail stores planned and designed for the site on which they are built, located away
from the central business district, to serve the shopping needs of new suburban and fringe growth. Every shopping
center that we know of has a supermarket (a large retail grocery) in it, and the supermarket is either the largest
traffic generator of the shopping center, or is secondary only to a department store in the center. Shopping centers
may be distinguished between those that are dominated by a supermarket or retail grocery, and whose secondary
store is a drug store or variety store; and those that are dominated by a department store, and whose secondary store
is a supermarket, or another department store.

The two types of shopping centers will differ considerably in their area requirements, the number and types of
stores, and the annual gross business. They differ also in the trade area served, and the types of shopping needs
fulfilled. PLANNING ADVISORY SERVICE Information Reports Nos. 44 and 47 have covered market area
analysis for shopping centers and criteria and standards for shopping center stores. The present report shows how the
analysis previously described relates to the gross acreage, parking and site design requirements of a shopping center.

Finally the report describes some of the zoning provisions already enacted for shopping centers and comments on
some of the problems for city planners raised by shopping centers.

A Shopper's View of the Shopping Center

The planner is concerned primarily with the shopper and his (her) trip to the shopping center only after the shopper
is driving on the road and up to the time that he enters one of the stores in the center. After that, we leave him to the
world of stretchable hose and non-stretchable budgets. The planner is most concerned with four stages of the
shopper's trip — the road he travels to get to the center, the point at which he leaves this road and enters the center,
the search for an unoccupied parking space, and the walk to the stores.
Shopping center developers, as shown in the earlier reports, must consider many facts which are not strictly within
city planning jurisdiction, such as the trade potential of the area surrounding the shopping center, and the types of
stores that should be located in a particular shopping center. As final plans for the shopping center begin to emerge,
showing the size and layout of the stores, parking area, and service areas, the planner becomes vitally concerned. In
fact, we believe there is enough information available on the principles and practices of shopping center
development for the planner to be concerned about possible zone locations for shopping centers even before a
shopping center is proposed for his area.

This report tries, therefore, to cover the stages of the shopper's progress that concern the planner and indicate the
difficulties encountered along the way.

Stage One: The Trip to the Shopping Center

Thirty minutes driving time is currently the accepted limit of the market area of a major regional shopping center,
which might serve up to 500,000 people. The area enclosed within the thirty-minute driving time has to be
calculated according to the condition and congestion of the streets and is not always in direct ratio to linear distance.
Five miles of expressway may be traversed more quickly than five blocks of crowded business section.

Shopping center developers recommend traffic counts of the major streets serving the center, not so much as an
indication of the business potentiality, but as a check on the congestion already existing and an aid in predicting the
traffic situation after the center is opened. As a matter of self-preservation, developers and architects recommend
further studies, including the future road-construction programs in the area, and future housing developments and
population movements in the area, so that other effects on business and traffic may be determined.

Once the gross annual volume of business of the center has been estimated, the average number of cars using the
center daily may be estimated. Also the peak traffic, in and out, may be estimated, and the time of day at which peak
loads will occur may be determined (see below: Stage Two). To the normal present and future traffic loads of the
roads serving the center must be added the traffic generated by the center, and the totals must be compared with the
capacity of the roads. If the roads do not have the extra capacity to handle the future traffic loads, new road
construction should be in the offing, or the center should be located elsewhere. If possible, the site selected for a new
shopping center should be adequately serviced by existing public roads.

Stage Two: Off the Road and Into the Center

Crowded highway intersections have long been considered good commercial locations, but the problem of access to
the shopping development is receiving much fuller consideration in modern shopping center planning. The key to
the access problem is not the volume of traffic passing the center, but the density. As traffic surveys have often
shown, the total number of cars passing a given point on a road (the volume) eventually drops as the density gets
close to the saturation point. The reason for this relationship is simple. The closer the cars are packed together, the
slower they must go. In such dense traffic, as might be said to characterize the rush hour traffic of some Los Angeles
freeways or the Chicago Outer Drive, tie-ups and delays are also more frequent, and more costly in terms of
highway efficiency. The roads having highest volumes are those on which the cars are spaced further apart and
travel at higher speeds with relative safety.

Both the high-density and high-volume roads offer problems of access to the shopping center. On the high-density,
fairly slow-moving road, it will be difficult for drivers to maneuver into position to turn off. On high speed roads,
ample warning must be given the driver that he is approaching an exit, and the exits into the center must be designed
with safety features that take the higher speeds into account.

Few shopping centers will be served by high-speed, limited-access roads. Shopping centers being constructed in
developing areas will be served by an existing road network which may not be adequate to handle the traffic that
will arise when the shopping center is completed and the area is built-up.

The points of access from the roads to the shopping center should be adequate to accommodate traffic at the busiest
hours of the center. Victor Gruen, architect and designer of shopping centers (in "Traffic Impact of the Regional
Shopping Center," see biblio) estimates that an exit or entrance with continuous flow can handle up to 750 cars per
hour. The peak load of a shopping center can be estimated on the basis of the annual gross income of the center. The
problem is three-fold: first, to determine the largest single-day gross business; second, (on the basis of the average
purchase per car) to determine how many cars will be in and out of the center on that day; and third, to estimate the
number of cars that will enter and leave the center during the busiest hours of that day.

Gruen estimates that a large regional shopping center may expect a peak volume at the rate of 3,000 cars per hour. In
such a case, it would seem that four exits are needed to discharge the 3,000 vehicles.

Stage Three: Parking the Car

Parking is the prime convenience advantage of the shopping center over the central business district. In spite of the
repetitive statement of this fact, the shopper may not always find the parking space he wants. The shopper wants a
space he can find easily, with a minimum of difficulty in moving around the parking area, and one that is located
near the store or store group in which he is going to shop. The fault is sometimes with the developers who have
underestimated the need for parking space or found the land too valuable to be devoted to parking. Sometimes there
are too few parking spaces simply because there are too many people with cars looking for them.

Parking in the shopping center is seen by the shopper as a series of steps:

1. maneuvering the car around the lot until he finds a space;

2. getting the car into the space;
3. walking from the space to the stores.

Leaving the center, he must go through approximately the same steps in reverse, including finding his car which
occasionally seems more difficult than it was to find the space originally.

1. Finding the space. Whether the customer finds a space at all depends on the amount of parking space originally
provided. The quantity of space is discussed below. Otherwise, the key factors in moving cars around the parking lot
are the lay-out and width of the aisles between the rows of parked cars, especially near the most attractive stores, the
department store(s), the supermarket(s), and the drug store(s). How wide the aisles should be depends mostly on
whether they will be one-way or two-way. A survey made by the Eno Foundation (Parking Lot Operation), showed
that the aisle widths of eight parking lots with one-way aisles averaged 14 feet, and ranged from 7.5 to 21 feet. The
low figure of 7.5 is amazing when you consider that the largest 1947 car was over 6 feet, 10 inches wide. For two-
way aisles, the width in about twenty parking lots averaged 23.7 feet, and ranged from 16 feet to 37 feet.

Figure 1

The narrower aisles (a) are the pedestrian walkways sometimes provided, and the wider aisle (b) between rows of
spaces is the aisle for maneuvering the cars. The lay-out may be varied for several types of angle parking, thus:

Figure 2

Figure 3
Figure 4

The total parking lot area per car space (including aisles) affects the customer in terms of his difficulty or lack of
difficulty in getting into a parking space. The Eno study showed that, for head-in, 90 degree parking, the lots studied
averaged 246 square feet per car, with a minimum of 192 square feet and a maximum of 307 square feet. Now 250
square feet per car is considered too small an area for shopping center lots, and 300 is a more commonly accepted
figure. Baker and Funaro in Shopping Centers: Design and Operation state that 350 feet is the minimum that can be
considered satisfactory. Whatever figure is taken, not more than 200 square feet need be devoted to the space itself.
Baker and Funaro recommend a space 9 by 18 feet, and one 10 by 20 feet should be ample. The rest of the area (150
square feet per car by their standards) will be used up in aisles, exits and entrances, and landscaping. No land will be
saved by making spaces less than 9 feet wide. Since cars are about 7 feet wide, a smaller space will encourage
straddling the dividing lines, and the result will be even fewer usable spaces than if they were 9- or 10-feet wide.

3. Walking from the space to the stores: Once the shopper has safely gotten his car into the best available space, he
has only to walk to the stores. We have been assuming that parking would be laid out around the outside of the store
group, with the interior mall reserved for pedestrian movement. (See Figures 5–11 below for design of the parking
areas in relation to the possible types of store grouping.) Some parking lots have concrete sidewalks between the
rows of parked cars (aisles marked "a" in figures 1, 2, and 3). If they are installed, they should be at least 7 feet wide
to allow for the overhang of the front ends of the cars, and to allow room for two people carrying packages to pass
each other without difficulty.

The Parkington Shopping Center, which is served by a five-story self-parking structure in the interior of the store
grouping, is able to boast that no shopper need walk more than 110 feet from his parked car without being under
some cover. Covered walkways for shoppers can be an important feature, especially where the parking is spread out
considerably, and the weather often inclement.

Multi-story parking garages, because of the relatively high cost per parking space, are not usually recommended by
shopping center developers, except where the amount of land is limited and its cost per square foot is high. For
shopping center purposes, it is almost necessary that the structure be a self-service parking garage, and this fact
raises some problems of design in a multi-level garage, particularly in the size of the spaces and aisles on each floor,
and the width and design of the ramps leading to the floors. The Parkington self-parking structure has separate
ramps leading directly from each floor to the ground.

How much space?

The quantity of parking space is measured in two ways. The older method is to compare the total area devoted to
parking with the net retail area of the stores. Thus, if 50,000 square feet of floor space is devoted to retailing, and
150,000 square feet to parking area, we would say the ratio is 3:1. A more recently used measure is to compute the
number of parking spaces per 1,000 square feet of store space. If we assume that each space takes up a total of 300
square feet of parking lot area (including aisles, landscaping, etc.) then 3.3 cars can be parked for each 1,000 square
feet of parking area.

By the old method, a ratio of 3:1 meant that there were three square feet of parking for every square foot of retail
space. So, for 1,000 square feet of retail space, we have 3,000 square feet of parking. At 300 square feet a space, 10
cars can be parked in that 3,000 square feet. Therefore, a ratio of 3:1 by the old method, is equivalent to saying 10
spaces per 1,000 feet of retail floor area. Table 1 illustrates the relationship between these two methods of
calculating parking in relation to sales area.

With these measures in mind, we can talk about the parking area actually needed for a shopping center. Gruen and
Smith have worked out a parking "demand" for a proposed shopping center having 800,000 square feet of floor
space and described in Shopping Centers: The New Building Type.

Figure 5

This design is similar to Shopper's World, Framingham, Mass., which is experiencing financial difficulty apparently
because no second major store has located at the open end of the mall.

Figure 6

(Similar to Northland, Detroit, Michigan)

Figure 7
Figure 8

Figure 9

Figure 10

(Similar to Evergreen Plaza, Chicago, Illinois)

Figure 11

Table 1

Parking Ratio Comparison

Square feet of parking area to one square foot of Auto spaces per 1,000 square feet of floor space (at 300 sq ft
floor area per auto)

1:1 3.3

1.5:1 5.0

2:1 8.7

2.5:1 8.3

3:1 10.0

3.5:1 11.7

4:1 13.3

An example of how to read this table would be: a ratio of three square feet of parking area to one square foot of
floor space is the same as saying 10.0 auto spaces (at 300 square feet per auto) per 1,000 square feet of floor space.

 They calculated the number of cars per 1000 square feet of rental area from observed traffic in an existing center for
the six business days. Then they calculated the number of cars daily for a center of 800,000 square feet with 20 per
cent more business than the observed center. Finally, an hourly schedule for Friday (open until 9:30 P.M.) was
worked out.

While a careful and scientific approach to the problem is to be applauded, it is still questionable whether any more
accurate results can be obtained by such a method, after all of the "estimates" and "reserves for unusual conditions"
are thrown into the figure, than can be obtained by general observation of existing centers and the adequacy of their
parking facilities. While the Gruen and Smith study was based on observation, it was extremely detailed, and the
question remains whether one can improve on the simple ratios generally offered.

Two general statements seem to hold true for parking facilities at shopping centers. The first is that there seems to be
no record of any parking facility having too large a capacity for the center (see below, Can you have too much
parking?). The second statement on parking spaces is that there will be more walk-in business in a neighborhood
shopping center than in a community or regional shopping center, and therefore the smaller center will not require
proportionately as much off-street parking space as the large center. Table 2 lists and describes the parking facilities
at a number of shopping centers throughout the United States. We must disabuse the reader in advance of any hope
of great accuracy in the statistics. The number of parking spaces, and the rental sales area were checked in two
sources for a few of the centers. The figures which were checked varied from 10 to 90 per cent.

Table 2

Parking Facilities in Some Existing and Proposed Shopping Centers

Store Selling Space Total Parking (auto Ratio of car spaces per
(sq.ft.) spaces) 1000 sq.ft.

Old Orchard, Chicago, Ill. (prop.) 1,500,000 6,000 4.0

(J. L. Hudson) Detroit, Mich. (prop.) 1,000,000 11,000 11.0

Stonestown, San Francisco, Calif. 1,000,000 ** 2,500 2.5

Fresh Meadows, Long Island, N.Y. 800,000 * 2,500 3.2

Northgate, Seattle, Washington 650,000 5,000 7.7

Westchester, Los Angeles, Calif. 644,200 3,300 5.1

Evergreen Plaza, Chicago, Ill. 500,000 2,200 4.4

Shoppers World, Framingham, Mass. 497,000 6,000 12.1

Highland Village, Houston, Texas 360,000 ** n.a. 5.0

Kanns, Virginia & Virginia Sq., Va. 264,300 * 1,000 3.8

Parkington, Arlington, Va. 250,000 * 2,500 10.0

Wynnwood, Dallas, Texas 250,000 * 2,400 9.9

Clearview, Princeton, New Jersey 227,625 1,900 8.4

Broadway-Crenshaw, Los Angeles, Calif. 222,950 2,750 12.3

Atlantic Center, Los Angeles, Calif. 180,000 1,500 8.4

San Lorenzo Village, San Lorenzo, Calif. 174,750 452 2.6

McCreless Shopping Village, San Antonio 163,000 1,989 12.2

Hutzlers, Townson, Md. 155,000 1,600 10.3

Cameron Village, Raleigh, N. C. 147,340 2,000 13.6

Bellevue Square, Bellevue, Wash. 125,000 1,000 8.0

Edmonson Village, Baltimore, Md. 123,000 550 4.9

Ridgeway, Stamford, Conn. 108,800 1,000 9.2

Wanamaker's,Wilmington, Delaware 105,000 1,000 9.5

La Grange Park, Chicago, Ill. 102,000 1,050 10.3

Lincoln Village, Chicago. Ill. 94,910 1,300 13.7

Lakeshore Plaza, San Francisco, Calif. 83,532 497 6.0

Village Shopping Center, San Angelo, 73,000 1,000 13.7

Texas

Town and Country, Sacramento, Calif. 70,095 900 12.8

Woodward and Lathrop, Chevy Chase, Md. 70,000 1,002 14.3

Edgemont Park, Lansing, Mich. 68,000 680 10.0

Prairie Village, Kansas City, Mo. 64,000 400 6.3

Casey's, Bismarck, North Dakota 60,000 ** 400 6.7

Manor Park, Chicago, Ill. 56,200 ** 400 7.1

Windsor Hills, Los Angeles, Calif. 54,750 250 4.6

Hoffmans, Aurora, Colo. 52,614 950 17.0

Wanamakers, N. Shore Mart, L.I., N.Y. 51,000 * 600 11.7

Jefferson Village, San Antonio, Texas 48,520 190 3.9

Broadmoor, Shreveport, La. 48,020 350 7.3

Nob Hill, Albuquerque, New Mexico 42,800 100 2.4

Fairway, Kansas City, Mo. 40,250 450 10.3

Lincoln Center, Stockton, Calif. 40,000 400 10.0

Merrionette, Chicago, Ill. 35,110 400 11.4

University Hills, Denver, Colo. 34,000 850 25.0

Mayfair, Fresno, Calif. 33,000 808 24.0

Regenstein's, Buckhead, Ga. 28,000 * 300 10.7

Hometown, Chicago, Ill. 26,310 372 14.0

Naylor Road, Washington, D. C. 21,840 74 3.4

Krameria, Denver, Colo. 21,000 160 7.6

Fresh Meadows, Neighborhood Center, 20,720 175 8.5

New York City
* Gross building rental area

** Gross building floor area

Compare the data in Table 2 with the recommended standard of 10.0 car spaces per 1,000 square feet of net retail
area (or a parking ratio of 3:1, i.e., three square feet of parking area for every one square foot of retail sales area).

Perhaps the final accurate statement is given in the following extract from a letter:

February 14, 1953

...It is doubtful if any two planners or architects could agree on the number of square feet of parking space required
for a shopping center or individual store. There is a question in my mind if there ever will be a correct answer.

My rule of thumb for providing parking space for stores and shopping centers is to guess a number of stalls and
invariably I provide either too many or not enough. One of my clients who has made a study of parking believes that
space should be provided for all the cars that go to a plaza or shopping center during the rush hour on the day before
Christmas. Figure that one out…

In checking over some of the plaza parking areas that I have designed during the past few years, I find that one car
space has been provided for each 120 square feet of gross floor area for one plaza and 160 square feet for another of
about the same size. The one with the fewer parking spaces is doing about twice the volume of business at the one
with the greater number.

 ...We have found that when there is a consistent shortage of parking stalls at a shopping center at the peak trading
hours, that a great many customers knowing of the shortage, arrange to do trading at times when there is a good
chance to find space and some of the plazas I have designed with a limited amount of parking have been very
successful because the trading is distributed over a longer period than some plazas that have a large amount of
parking stalls. Many housewives have set times to do their shopping and will not vary more than half an hour from
day to day because of parking conditions.

Many years ago it was considered good practice to provide as much parking area as the total area of the building.
This was increased to two times the area and is on the upward swing now from 3 square feet parking area to each
square foot of building.

 ...I...must confess that I just do not have a formula. Have designed a dozen or more shopping centers or plazas
ranging in size from 10 to 30 stores. If I were asked tomorrow how much space I would suggest for a shopping
center of 20 stores, would guess a certain number and be reasonably sure that my guess was either too high or too
low and that guess would be about 1 car for each 130 square feet of gross floor area for a minimum volume of 10
million and having at least 2 large markets and 2 large department stores.

Sincerely yours,

G. Morton Wolfe
Architect and Engineer
1377 Main Street
Buffalo 9, New York

Can you have too much parking?

We know of no existing center that has too much parking. Some parking spaces it is true are not economically used,
due to their distant location from the stores. The poorly located spaces would be used more frequently if they were
more conveniently located. The limit on parking area is for the most part determined by the distance that people
have to walk to get from their cars to the stores. In a shopping center which offers only an uncomfortable walk
through a sea of parked cars, the limit that people can reasonably be expected to walk is about 350 feet. On the other
hand, if you can offer the shopper something other than cars to look at, he will most likely walk further. Arcades
with window displays, or pleasantly landscaped areas to walk through might permit the extension of the parking
area.

Gasoline service stations in the site plan

The larger centers will often include a gasoline service station (but not a commercial garage or repair shop or
automobile laundry). The gas station is put in as a service to the customers and not as one of the drawing cards, and
therefore should offer only a limited amount of service. For regular check-ups, repairs, and car washing, people will
take their cars to neighborhood garages, or to larger service stations located in smaller shopping centers.

The first requisite of the location of a gas station in a regional shopping center is that it should not disturb the flow
of traffic using the center for its major shopping purposes. The recommended location, therefore, is one that is
separated from the store group by parking area. It probably should be located near the major exits, with access to the
gas station so designed that traffic flow in and out of the shopping center is unimpeded.

Truck loading and unloading facilities

The dimensions and over-all size of truck loading berths, and the number required is described in the section on
zoning regulations below (see especially the zoning provisions for Bismarck and Kansas City). The design of truck
loading facilities and their location offer more serious problems.

If the center is very large, the stores may be served by an underground tunnel in which all the stores have loading
berths. Such a facility might cost about $800,000 according to one estimate, and few shopping centers will be large
enough to be able to afford the expense. A more common practice is to have the loading and unloading berths at the
rear of the stores, which raises a new problem. Often, the stores in a shopping center do not have a clear-cut "front"
and "rear."  Two sides face other stores, one side faces a mall, and the fourth side faces the parking area. The side of
the store facing the mall must be attractive, obviously. The side facing the parking lot cannot be ignored in design
merely because it might be considered the "rear." For one thing, people driving by on the road, and shoppers leaving
their parked cars will see only this side at first. For another, the shopper may, for convenience, enter the store from
this "rear" side. If entrances do face the parking lot, then they must be so designed that they are pleasing, and are
separated from the truck loading docks, and also so that pedestrian and vehicle movement is separated.

One possible solution is to have depressed loading spaces, that is, to have the trucks parked in a slight depression so
that the floor of the store is on a level with the part of the truck in which goods are carried. Thus the truck can be
backed right up to the loading dock (which is on ground level) and the goods moved off the truck without lifting or
lowering. With such depressed loading spaces, pedestrian movement may be more easily separated from the
movement of trucks and their cargoes.

Whatever type of loading facilities are used, their sizes should be keyed to the dimensions of the trucks that will use
them. David R. Levin, in Zoning for Truck-Loading Facilities (see biblio.) concludes:

...it is recommended that the size of an off-street truck-loading berth be designated as at least 45 ft. in depth, 12 ft. in
width, with an overhead clearance of 14 ft. Truck berths for use by trucks of smaller size could be reduced in size to
accommodate the trucks they are designed to serve.

Zoning Regulations for Shopping Centers

Important zoning ordinance provisions for shopping centers have been added to a number of existing or proposed
zoning ordinances. Two major provisions have come to our attention recently, one in the zoning ordinance of
Bismarck, North Dakota, adopted in 1953, and the other a provision proposed for Kansas City, Missouri zoning
ordinance in 1953. These two provisions are reproduced in full at this point because they are among the few
attempts to deal comprehensively with shopping centers in the zoning ordinance, and because a reading of them now
will make clearer some of the zoning problems raised by shopping centers.

BISMARCK, NORTH DAKOTA (1953)

In any CC Commercial district the following regulations shall apply:

1. General description. A CC Commercial district is established as a district in which the principal use of land is for
commercial and service uses to serve the surrounding residential districts and in which traffic and parking
congestion can be reduced to a minimum in order to preserve residential values and promote the general welfare of
the surrounding residential districts. For the CC Commercial district in promoting the general purposes of this
ordinance, the specific intent of this section is

(a) To encourage the construction of, and continued use of land for neighborhood, commercial and service purposes;

(b) To prohibit residential, heavy commercial and industrial use of the land, and to prohibit any other use which
would substantially interfere with the development or continuation of the commercial structures in the district;
(c) To discourage any use which, because of its character or size, would interfere with the use of land in the district
as a shopping and service center for the surrounding residential districts.

2. Uses permitted. The following uses are permitted:

a. Retail group A
b. Service group A
c. Filling station
d. Office-bank group
e. Commercial recreation group
f. Health medical group

3. Lot area. No CC Commercial district shall contain less than two acres. No zoning lot on which an individual
building is placed shall contain less than 5,000 square feet. Provided, however, that a building having one or more
party walls and a common roof with one or more similar buildings, but individually owned, may be on a lot of any
size so long as all other provisions of this ordinance, including all provisions for off-street parking and loading are
fully complied with on that lot.

4. District width. Each CC Commercial district shall have an average width of not less than 200 feet, and shall have
no boundary line less than 100 feet in length.

5. Floor area ratio. The floor area ratio of the principal building and all accessory buildings shall not exceed 0.25
for single-story buildings, nor shall it exceed 0.35 for buildings of more than one story. The ground area occupied by
the principal and accessory buildings shall not exceed 25 per cent of the total area of the lot.

6. Yards. No building shall be less than 50 feet distant from any lot line.

7. Height limits. No building shall exceed two stories, not shall it exceed 25 feet in height.

8. Divided district. For the purposes of calculating the minimum area, lot width, lot dimension, floor area ratio,
percentage of lot covered by building, and yard requirements established by this section, a single CC Commercial
district cannot lie on two sides of a public street or alley. Any area designated as being zoned CC Commercial and
lying on both sides of a public street or alley shall be deemed to be two CC Commercial districts, and all minimum
requirements shall be met by buildings on each side of said public street or alley as separate districts.

9. Nonconforming uses. It is the intent of this ordinance and this section to designate no area as a CC Commercial
district in which there is at the date of adoption of this ordinance any residential or other nonconforming use. It is
the further intent of this ordinance and this section that insofar as possible all neighborhood commercial and service
areas in newly-developed portions of the city shall take place in a CC Commercial district, in order to decrease
traffic and parking congestion and to preserve the residential values of the city. The City Planning Commission shall
refuse to approve any request for an amendment rezoning any portion of the city to a CC Commercial district if
there is in that district any use which would be a nonconforming use upon the passage by the Board of City
Commissioners of the proposed amendment.

Off-street Parking and Loading Requirements in CC Commercial Districts.

Notwithstanding any other requirements of this section, one off-street parking space for each 100 square feet of floor
space, not including basement storage space, shall be provided for all buildings erected in a CC Commercial district;
and one off-street loading berth shall be provided for each 25,000 square feet of aggregate gross floor space for all
buildings in a CC Commercial district.

KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI (proposed 1953)

District C-S

General Conditions
This district shall be further divided into C-S1, C-S2, and C-S3 districts, with requirements as listed below.

A District C-S may be established adjoining and including portions of Districts C-1, C-2, or C-3, or in an area which
is being newly developed, upon a tract of land in single ownership, provided that a detailed and specific plan for its
development has been approved by the City Plan Commission after a public hearing. The detailed plan shall comply
with Rules and Regulations adopted by the City Plan Commission, for the submission, approval and development of
Planned Shopping Centers.
If adjoining and including portions of a C-1 District, the tract of land included for such planned development shall
be at least one and one-half (1-1/2) acres in size and, if developed in conjunction with a District C-2 or C-3 (or in an
area under development), it shall be at least five (5) acres in size, the net area not including any areas of dedicated
streets, highways or alleys.

The area occupied by buildings in this district shall be twenty-five (25) per cent or less of the net area of the district.

The location of the C-S District shall be on property which has an acceptable relationship to major thoroughfares.
The Commission must satisfy itself as to the adequacy of the thoroughfares to carry the additional traffic engendered
by the development, and may request a report and recommendation of the Director of Traffic.

The plan for the proposed development must present a unified and organized arrangement of buildings and service
facilities which shall have a functional relationship to the properties comprising the planned development, the
properties and the uses of properties immediately adjacent to the proposed development.

The developer must satisfy the City Plan Commission of his financial ability to carry out the proposed plan and shall
prepare and submit a schedule for construction, which construction shall begin within a period of one year. Failure
to carry out construction as scheduled shall void the plan as approved, unless an extension is approved by the
Commission.

The proponents of a Planned Shopping Center shall prepare and submit a preliminary plan and supporting data for
review and tentative approval of the City Plan Commission, upon which plan the City Plan Commission will hold a
public hearing. Upon approval of the Preliminary Development Plan, the proponents shall prepare and submit a
Final Development Plan, which shall incorporate any changes or alterations requested by the City Plan Commission.

The City Council shall approve the Preliminary and Final Plans before the area included is changed to a C-S
classification.

Details of the plan may be varied slightly upon the approval of the City Plan Commission. The Commissioner of
Buildings and Inspections shall be notified of such approval.

 The plan shall meet the following requirements as to use, height, yard space, off-street parking and loading, and all
driveways or public access ways.

Use Regulations

The following uses are permitted in a District C-S:

(a) When in conjunction with a District C-1; any use permitted in District C-1, except buildings for municipal and
governmental purposes and greenhouses.

(b) When in conjunction with a District C-2;The same as for District C-1 and C-2,except used car lots, billboards
and pole signs, animals raised for sale, cabinet shops, children's amusement parks, commercial radio and television
broadcasting stations and towers, miniature golf courses and trains, pony tracks and rings, skating rinks, storage
warehouses and street car or bus barns.

(c) When in conjunction with a District C-3; The same as for District C-1, C-2 and C-3, except used car lots,
billboards and pole signs, animals raised for sale, cabinet shops, children's amusement parks, commercial radio and
television broadcasting stations and towers, miniature golf courses and trains, pony tracks and rings, skating rinks,
storage warehouses, street car or bus barns, armories and drive-in theatres.

Note: (In final draft, all allowable uses will be enumerated.)

Height, Yard and Area Regulations

Height:
In a District C-S1, the height shall not exceed three (3) stories and shall not exceed thirty-five (35) feet.

In a District C-S2, the height shall not exceed three (3) stories and shall not exceed forty-five (45) feet.

In a District C-S3, the height shall not exceed six (6) stories and shall not exceed seventy-five (75) feet.

For certain individual buildings, the City Plan Commission may permit an additional height, if such height does not
adversely affect the development of surrounding properties.
Yards:
In any C-S District, there shall be a setback from any street of at least twenty (20) feet for any building or parking
lot.

Along any other property line within or adjoining an established Commercial District, there shall be a setback of at
least ten (10) feet. This requirement may be modified or waived if, in the judgment of the Commission, a fire lane is
not considered to be necessary.

Along any other property line abutting or adjoining a residentially zoned district, there shall be a setback of at least
twenty (20) feet and the area between this setback and the property line shall be sodded, planted and shrub bed in
such a way as to form a permanent screen.

Area:
Any residential use within District C-S shall comply with the lot area per family requirement of District R-4. One-
and two-family dwellings shall not be allowed in this district.

Parking and Loading Regulations

There shall be provided off-street customer parking space within a C-S District in the ratio of eleven (11) parking
spaces for each 1,000 square feet of gross floor space. This space shall be in addition to any space used for a
commercial parking lot, taxi-cab stand, or truck and bus parking or loading space.

Ample off-street space for standing, loading and unloading shall be provided within the development. Each space
shall consist of a ten (10) foot by twenty-five (25) foot area for small trucks, such as pickup trucks, and a ten (10)
foot by forty-five (45) foot space for larger trucks, including tractor-trailer type trucks. The height clearance in both
cases shall be at least fourteen (14) feet.

The location of any driveway shall be in accordance with the regulations of the Traffic Department and shall be
subject to review by that department.

*****

Table 3 compares the major provisions of the Bismarck and Kansas City zoning regulations. Two types of
regulations predominate: height, yard, and area regulations; and off-street parking and loading regulations.

Table 3

Comparative Standards for Shopping Center Districts

Standards Bismarck (adopted 1953) Kansas City (proposed 1953)

Maximum building height 2 stories (25 feet) varies from: 3 stories (45 feet) to: 6
stories (75 feet)

Minimum yards 50 feet 20 feet (may be 10 feet adjoining an

established commercial district or
may be waived if fire lane deemed
unnecessary.

Minimum area of the entire district 2 acres (86,500 square feet) 1-1/2 acres with C-1 district; 5 acres
with C-2 and C-3

Minimum lot area 5,000 square feet No provision for commercial lots;
Residential lots same as R-4 3- & 4-
family dwelling: 1,500 sq. ft. per
unit apartments - 1,000 sq. ft. per
unit.

Maximum lot coverage 25% of the lot Total area of buildings 25% or less
of the net area of district

Maximum floor area ratio 0.25 for one-story; 0.35 for two-story None
 buildings

Uses Permitted * Retail Group A; Service Group A; In C-S1: all C-1 uses except two; In
Filling Station; Office-bank group; C-S2: C-1 and C-2 uses with
Commercial recreation group; Health exceptions: In C-S3: C-1,C-2; and
medical group C-3 uses with exceptions.

Off-street parking spaces required 1 space per 100 sq. ft. of floor space 11 spaces for each 1,000 sq. ft. of
floor space

Minimum size of a single space 200 square feet plus safe & adequate 144 sq. ft. plus access (8 ft. by 18
maneuvering space ft.)

Loading space required 1 space for each 25,000 sq.ft. of "Ample"

aggregate gross floor space

Minimum size of a loading space minimum 10 feet by 50 feet; 14 foot 10 feet by 25 feet for small trucks;
clearance 10 feet by 45 feet for large trucks.
At least 14 foot clearance

* See Table 4

Table 4 compares the uses permitted in the CC Commercial district of Bismarck with those permitted in the CS
Shopping Center districts (C-S1, C-S2, C-8S) of the Kansas City proposal.

Table 4

Uses Specifically Identified as Permitted in the Shopping Center Districts of Bismarck and Kansas City 1

CC C-S1 C-S2 C-S3

(Bismarck) (Kansas City)

Antique store yes - - -

Appliance, radio and television store yes - - -

Artists studios - yes yes yes

Art supply store yes - - -

Auto accessory store yes - - -

Auto laundry no no yes yes

Auto repair garage no - - -

Automobile or trailer sales rooms - no yes yes

* Bakery (retail) yes yes yes yes

* Bank yes yes yes yes

Bar yes no yes yes

Barbecue stands - no yes yes

* Barber shops yes yes yes yes

* Beauty shops yes yes yes yes

Bicycle repair shops - yes yes yes

Billboards (See Outdoor Advertising)

* Book, magazine, newspaper store yes yes yes yes

Bowling alley yes - - -

Bus stations - no yes yes

Business or commercial schools no no yes yes

Butcher shop yes - - -

Camera store yes - - -

* Candy store yes yes yes yes

Cat and dog hospitals no no no yes

* Clinics yes yes yes yes

* Clothing, clothing accessories store yes yes yes yes

Commercial school yes no yes yes

Dance hall yes no yes yes

Dancing schools - yes yes yes

* Delicatessen yes yes yes yes

Department store yes - - -

Diaper services no no no yes

Drive-in businesses (exc. restaurants & no no no yes

theaters)

Drive-in restaurants - no yes yes

* Drug store yes yes yes yes

Dry cleaning, dyeing - yes yes yes

Electrical shops - yes yes yes

Feed stores (no grinding) - no yes yes

Fiestas and street fairs - no no yes

Film exchanges - no no yes

Five and ten cent stores yes - - -

Fix-it, radio or television repair shops - yes yes yes

* Flower shop yes yes yes yes

Frozen food lockers (not commercial) yes no yes yes

* Furniture store yes yes yes yes

Garage no yes yes yes

* Gasoline filling station yes yes yes yes

* General office yes yes yes yes

* Gift shop yes yes yes yes

Governmental office yes no - -

* Grocery store yes yes yes yes

* Hardware store yes yes yes yes

Hobby store yes - - -

Ice cream parlor yes - - -

Ice delivery stations - no yes yes

Insurance office yes - - -

* Jewelry store yes yes yes yes

Job printing, publishing, etc. - no yes yes

* Launderettes yes yes yes yes

Laundries - no yes yes

Laundry collection offices - yes yes yes

Liquor store (package) yes no yes yes

Meat markets - yes yes yes

Motels no no no yes

* Music store yes yes yes yes

* Notion, variety store yes yes yes yes

* Office (general) yes yes yes yes

* Office supply store yes yes yes yes

Outdoor advertising sign no no no no

* Parking lot (commercial) yes yes yes yes

Personal loan agency yes - - -

Pet shops - no yes yes

* Photographic studio yes yes yes yes

Plumbing shops (no tin work or outside - yes yes yes

storage

Pool or billiard parlor yes no yes yes

Professional office yes - - -

Public utility stations - no yes yes

Real estate office yes - - -

RESIDENTIAL USES no yes yes yes

Roller skating rink yes no no no

Saloon yes no yes yes

* Shoe store yes yes yes yes

Shooting galleries - no no no

Sign painting and sign shops - no no yes

Sporting goods store yes - - -

Sports arena yes no no no

* Stationery store yes yes yes yes

Steam bath no - - -

Tavern yes no yes yes

Taxicab office yes - - -

Taxidermy - no no yes

Telephone exchange yes no yes yes

Theater yes no yes yes

Tire and battery repair no no yes yes

Tourist camps no no no yes

 Toy store yes - - -

Trade schools yes no no yes

Undertaking establishment no no yes yes

Utility office yes - - -

* Variety store yes yes yes yes

Warehousing no no no yes

Wholesale sales office, sample rooms no no yes yes

1. Blank spaces indicate that the use is not specifically or clearly permitted or prohibited in the district.

* Indicates permitted in all four districts

Also permitted in CC Commercial Districts: hospital for human beings, nursing or convalescent home, old people's
home, orphans home and sanitarium.

The "Intent" or "Idea" of the Shopping Center Provision

To write laws that take "everything" into account is out of the question. Often, problems will arise in connection
with legislation, such as the zoning ordinance, which were not foreseen by the authors of the law. Such matters
sometimes find their way into the courts, and the courts sometimes judge these matters in terms of the "spirit" of the
law or the "intent" of those who enacted the law. Therefore, the Bismarck ordinance includes a number of specific
statements detailing the intent of the law so clearly that a court reviewing the ordinance could hardly be in doubt
about the purposes of the law. Note that under "1. General Description" the ordinance states that the purpose of the
CC Commercial district is:

(a) To encourage the construction of, and continued use of land for neighborhood, commercial and service purposes;

(b) To prohibit residential, heavy commercial and industrial use of the land, and to prohibit any other use which
would substantially interfere with the development or continuation of the commercial structures in the district;

(c) To discourage any use which, because of its character and size, would interfere with the use of land in the district
as a shopping and service center for surrounding residential districts.

Note also that under Section 9, "Nonconforming Uses" the ordinance clearly states its intent. No area can be
designated as a CC Commercial district if there is any pre-existing residential or other use which would be
nonconforming in a CC district. The ordinance also gives a clear directive to the City Planning Commission not to
approve any request to rezone any portion of the city to CC Commercial if there is any use that would thereby
become nonconforming.

The Zoning Ordinance of Niagara Falls, New York (1951) contains the following provision with respect to shopping
centers:

NIAGARA FALLS, NEW YORK (1951)

Shopping Center District

The regulations for C-D districts are intended to assure the grouping of buildings on a parcel of land in such manner
as to constitute a harmonious, efficient, and convenient retail shopping center, and to provide a means for permitting
the establishment of such centers as a part of the development of parts of the city that at the time of the adoption of
this ordinance consist of open acreage, such districts to be established from time to time by amendments of this
ordinance consisting of appropriate changes in the boundaries of districts established by this ordinance in such a
manner as best to fit the general pattern of land use established by this ordinance, in relation to residential
development as it may occur in the aforesaid open acreage areas and to further the purposes set forth in Section 1 of
 this ordinance. In any C-D district the location of main and accessory buildings on the site and in relation to one
another, the traffic circulation features within the site, the height and bulk of buildings, the provision of off-street
parking space and loading space, the provision of other open spaces on the site, the designation of certain uses as
specified for C-D districts in 1(b) under "Uses" in the above schedule, and the display of signs shall be in
accordance with a site plan or plans or subsequent amendment thereof, approved in any case by the planning board
in accordance with the same procedure as that specified by law for approving subdivision plats. In approving site
plans the planning board may act on site plans submitted to it or may act on its own initiative in proposing and
approving a site plan. A site plan may include landscaping, fences and walls designed to further the purposes of the
regulations for C-D districts, and such features shall be provided and maintained as a condition of the establishment
and maintenance of any use to which they are appurtenant. In considering any site plan for a C-D district, the
planning board shall assure safety and convenience of traffic movement, both within the shopping center covered by
the plan and in relation to access streets, harmonious and beneficial relations between the center and contiguous land
and adjacent neighborhoods.

The Niagara Falls provision is altogether a statement of intent, giving direction to the planning board in its
consideration of any site plan for a shopping center. The planning board, according to the ordinance provision, "shall
assure safety and convenience of traffic movement, both within the shopping center covered by the plan and in
relation to access streets, harmonious and beneficial relations between the center and contiguous land and adjacent
neighborhoods." (Emphasis furnished)

The Niagara Falls provision raises an important question: Are the regulations sufficiently specific so that the
planning board has a clear guide in making its decisions? If they are not specific enough in the eyes of a court, the
court may rule that the provision represents an unlawful delegation of the legislative power.

The Cleveland, Ohio, Zoning Ordinance (1951) also has a relatively general, though comprehensive, shopping
center provision. In Cleveland, the planning commission is given the discretion to decide whether the proposed
center has adequate parking, loading, landscaping and so forth. The provision in full:

CLEVELAND, OHIO (1951)

Shopping Center Districts

Definitions. For the purpose of this Chapter a shopping center district is defined as a retail business area within or
adjacent to a residence district, characterized by a concentrated grouping of stores, shops and other uses herein
permitted, ordinarily planned as a unit and built according to such plan. The designation "shopping center districts"
shall apply to all areas so designated on the Building Zone Map by appropriate symbol and to all Local Retail
Business Districts more than 200 feet in lot depth and more than one acre in area, and, where such Local Retail
Business zone is separated from a street line by an adjoining General Retail Business zone, the Shopping Center
District shall include such General Retail Business zone.

The Shopping Center District is hereby created in order to secure in such store groupings, so located, traffic safety
through provision for proper traffic routing and car parking, freedom from traffic congestion on public streets
through provision for adequate off-street parking and off-street loading, and protection of residential character of
neighborhoods through provision of adequate and suitable treated business-area open spaces at boundaries adjacent
to residential area.

Section 981-10.2 Shopping Center Districts, Approval of Plans. No permit for the construction or occupancy of a
shopping center district or part thereof shall be issued unless the plans have been approved by the City Planning
Commission with respect to the provision for off-street parking, the provision for loading docks, the width and
location of driveways for the car parking areas and the loading docks, the adequacy of open spaces and suitability of
their proposed planting or other treatment at boundaries adjoining or adjacent to residence districts.

Section 981-10.3 Shopping Center Districts, Permitted Building and Uses. In a Shopping Center District the
following buildings and uses are permitted:

1. All uses permitted and as regulated in a Local Retail Business District.

2. The sale of general merchandise, including sale in department stores.
3. Banks.

Unity of Ownership or Management: a proposed provision (1951) for the zoning ordinance of Annapolis, Maryland
states:
 "...In order that the purpose of these districts shall be realized, the buildings and appurtenant facilities shall be in a
single ownership or under management or supervision of a central authority, or they shall be subject to such other
supervisory lease or ownership control as may be necessary to carry out the provision of this ordinance relating to
community shopping center districts..."

No provision for unity of ownership is found in the Bismarck or Kansas City provisions. It is believed that the
authors of those provisions deliberately avoided a single ownership requirement to avoid any monopolistic
tendencies.

In the United States today there are over 4 million businesses, about one for every 38 persons in the country. Small
businesses have been and will remain a career for many people. In a planned town with a planned shopping center in
single ownership, the possibility of opening a small business in the town is not open to the residents.

Whatever the merits of the case, a single ownership or management requirement does limit the possibilities of new
businesses growing up.

Unity of Land Unbroken by Public Streets and Alleys: such a provision occurs in the shopping center regulations of
the Bismarck, North Dakota ordinance, as we have already noted (see page 17, no. 8).

Unified Architectural Treatment: a number of provisions require a unified design.

The zoning ordinance of Valparaiso, Indiana (1951), states that a shopping center plan may be approved if the report
of the city planning commission shows that, among other things, "The entire development is designed as a single
architectural unit, with appropriate landscape architectural treatment of the entire unit area..."

The Annapolis, Maryland ordinance proposed in 1951 would require that "…The shopping center buildings shall be
designed and built as a whole, united and single project with good architectural treatment..."

Unfortunately, a provision for unified architectural treatment is not a guarantee of good design. It is not within the
scope of the zoning ordinance to define good taste.

Conclusion

Our conclusion reads much like our introduction. Shopping centers are here because they are convenient, and they
will be a phenomena of growing importance in the automobile age, and perhaps in the helicopter age, if that is to
come. Further, whether designed to serve a region containing 100, 000 or more people, or planned for a small
neighborhood of a few hundred families, shopping centers represent an up-grading over many existing commercial
neighborhoods. They have considerably eased the parking problem near stores, and, in some cases, have put a stop
to the mixture of residential, and light and heavy commercial and even industrial uses which have often created an
unhealthy situation. There will be no apartments over the stores in modern shopping centers.

The previous discussion has not brought forth a clear distinction between neighborhood and regional shopping
centers. In fact, there is only a limited difference in planning problems between the two. A few of the major
differences are:

1. The regional shopping center is much larger than the neighborhood shopping center in area. The minimum
requirements for area in the shopping center provisions studied range from about one acre to five acres. A regional
shopping center may require as much as 100 acres or even more. The ground coverage of any particular center is
limited through the floor area ratio, building coverage provisions, and required off-street parking area.
2. The neighborhood shopping center may require less parking area if it draws a considerable amount of walk-
in business. A suggested parking requirement for such neighborhood centers is 2:1 (two square feet of parking area
to one square foot of net floor selling space) which is the same as saying 6.7 car spaces per 1,000 square feet of floor
space (if each car is presumed to require 300 square feet of parking area).
3. The number of uses which usually appear in a regional shopping center are more limited. It is evident that
there are certain uses which belong in neighborhoods, and which would in fact interfere with the smooth functioning
of a larger shopping center, as in the case of service garages.

Basically, all shopping centers have much in common. Most important, they represent a clear break with many of
the existing and now-outmoded strip commercial developments.

Appendix A

A Comparison between the Central Business District and the Proposed Southdale Shopping Center, St. Paul,
Minnesota
The rivalry between central business districts and out-lying shopping centers is a subject of considerable debate and
speculation. The following table presents some unusual information which may clarify the facts of the relationship
between the two types of shopping areas. The table is taken from Planning for St. Paul, a publication of the City
Planning Board, 274 City-County Building, St. Paul, Minnesota, Volume 7, No. 3, April 20, 1953. The table
compares the central business district of St. Paul (the area bounded by Kellogg, Market, Eighth and Jackson) with
"Southdale" (a new regional shopping center planned by the Dayton Company in Edina).

Table 5

Comparison Between the Central Business District and the Proposed Southdale Shopping Center

Item Central Business Southdale Comparison Central Bus. Dist.

District with "Southdale"

Site size (excludes streets) 57 acres 84 acres .68 as large

Rental Area (sq. ft.) 5,394,000 500,000 projected 10.78 times as big
850,000 potential 6.34 " " "

No. of Businesses 880 84 10.5 times as many

Parking Spaces 3,779 4,753 .79 as many

Ratio: Parking Space per 1000 1.4 8.26 .16 as large

sq. ft. rental area

Trade Area population (15 min. 353,302 206,000 1.71 times as many
time district)

"Guesstimated" annual business $110,000,000 $32,000,000 3.4 times as much

Interpreting this information, which may be taken as typical of shopping center–business district comparisons, is a
process that will raise further dispute. Does this table prove that there ought to be considerably more parking spaces
downtown? Or does it prove that the central business district cannot, by its nature, serve a car-riding population but
that an improvement in mass transit facilities is required? Or is it still clear that the problems of urban congestion
have many causes and therefore no single solution?

Objectives for landscape design in shopping centers and other public urban spaces

The general objectives are:

• to ensure that community issues and expectations are interpreted and incorporated within the various proposals.

• to create or enhance an identifiable character for a town centre, shopping centre or other public urban space
precinct.

• to provide increased amenity for users and enhanced opportunities for increased activity.

• to ensure linkages with nearby areas and neighbourhoods are fully considered in the development of the works
proposed.

• to improve the safety, function access and appearance of the area over the expected life of the work and to provide
an accessible environment.

• to provide best practice in environmental sustainability and balance needs of culture, society, environment and the
economy.

• to provide an accessible environment.

17.4 Shopping centre landscape design policy

17.4.1 Town centres and Civic

Civic is Canberra’s City Centre. Both Civic and the satellite towns of Belconnen, Woden, Tuggeranong and
Gungahlin provide a range of shopping, administrative, cultural, community, entertainment, religious and
recreational facilities and are major employment nodes. The landscape facilities in a town centre include:

• a town centre park or other green spaces within or adjacent to the town centre buildings (acting as green lungs for
the centre)

• hard paved pedestrian areas such as malls, courtyards and colonnades near the shops, offices and other businesses

• car parks, roads and road verges.

It is desirable for each of the town centres to have a distinct landscape character. The external areas and main
pedestrian spines (routes) should have a style and character that identify the particular town centre. Materials and
detailing such as paving, furniture, lighting styles, tree species and other landscape elements should be related
throughout these spaces to unify the space. Wind tunnelling can be a problem in town centres where there are tall
buildings. Advice from a wind study specialist may be required. This may include wind tunnel modelling to ensure
that the unpleasant effects of wind are minimised. New building works, tree planting at corners of buildings and
mass plantings in high wind prone areas may be used to create shelter from wind but taking into account safety (not
to create hiding places), desired routes of travel and accessibility. The town centres may be interesting to tourists.
Canberra as a planned city offers a different experience to the visitor and the landscape features of the commercial
centres can build on this by reinforcing the garden city status using strong links to the green spaces. Facilities
should also include provisions for people who live in the town centres.

17.4.2 Group and neighbourhood centres

The group and neighbourhood centres are smaller than the town centres and generally include shopping,
administration, community, cultural, religions, and entertainment and recreation facilities. It is desirable for each
group or neighbourhood centre to have its own landscape style and character that identifies the particular centre.
Landscape elements such as paving, tree species, furniture and lighting styles should be related throughout the
centre to unify the whole space and should also relate well to the character of the surrounding area. Local centres in
existing areas are undergoing a change of life with increased numbers of variety stores, restaurants and outdoor
cafes sites which are having a marked impact on parking, pedestrian access and maintenance requirements. This has
resulted in a dramatic increase in public approval for the use of unleased lands. This change in style is continuing to
develop as local centres strive for survival with a change in users and a continual decline of traditional strip shops.
Urban infill is also generating pressure to rejuvenate these centres and provide appropriate infrastructure needs.

17.5 Design principles

Aims for design and refurbishment of shopping centres and other public urban spaces include:

• developing a landscape theme for the centre or civic space precinct

• providing opportunities for development of more vitality in the space

• improving the functioning and access of public space

• providing amenities to meet the requirement of the users

• improving or developing entry or arrival image for the centre

17.5.1 Design Checklist

Provide amenity through provision of:

• quality facilities, materials and design excellence

• vitality, colour and interest • personable spaces, scale and comfort

• comfortable street furniture and other facilities

• landscape that relates well to the built environment and is accessible

• legibility and ease for people to find their way around

• easily identifiable facilities • design that facilitates effective maintenance of spaces and facilities

• safe spaces and facilities • artwork providing vitality, colour and interest and providing cultural enhancement

• valued heritage including natural, social and built heritage

• a landscape design that is flexible to cater for changes in commercial and community uses. Ensure good access by
provision of:

• effective transport facilities, (particularly at town centres) safe, functional and attractive bus interchanges, taxi
rank areas and set down and drop off areas.

• improved pedestrian links with easy access from road and cycle networks and bus stops.

• access to and throughout the centre(s) without barriers, for all people regardless of their disabilities (see Disability
Discrimination Act 1992). Provide best practice environmental sustainable development by:

• full compliance with access codes and standards as a minimum

• conservation of the natural environment (see Tree Protection (Interim Scheme) Act 2001 and Design Standards 10
Parking areas and 22 Soft landscape design)

• considering solar access and providing shade (trees or shade structure) in summer and sun penetration in winter

• reinforcing the garden city status with strong links to green spaces

• balancing the requirements of culture, society, the environment and the economy

• designing systems to collect, distribute and reuse storm water from large areas of paving and roofs.

• designing to reduce use of resources and production of waste

(Refer to the Development Control Code for Best Practice Waste Management in the ACT). Encourage pride and
community ownership of the facilities by:

• encouraging community consultation and participation

• encouraging consultation and participation from landlords and traders

• incorporating community issues into design outcomes

• ensuring spaces work as formal and informal community gathering places. Provide facilities that encourage
community activity by:

• including facilities for festivals and cultural activities where applicable

• including sheltered spaces for busking which adds spontaneous activity to everyday life

• considering use of facilities by hawkers and collectors (see Collections Act 1959 and Hawkers Act 1936 for the
regulations for these activities).

17.6 Consultation and design process

City Management are committed to a full and thorough collaborative design process involving a participatory form
of community consultation to ensure that the best outcomes are achieved for the people involved. Consultation
should be undertaken prior to any design work and the information collected should guide the development of the
project and design options. Community aspirations, desires and concerns are identified through the consultation
process and then design proposals are developed to respond to these. Consultation Protocol: a Guide to Consultation
Processes for the ACT Government and Consultation Manual: Hands on Help for Planning Effective Consultation
Strategies provide further information on consultation.
17.6.1 Master plans and studies by other agencies

Consideration should be given to other studies or proposals for works in or near the study area. The proposed
redevelopment of the surrounding lands, the potential change of use and predictions of how these will affect this
space may have immediate or future influence on the outcome of the refurbishment project. Some recent master
plans, development guidelines and other studies for various precincts have been listed below in section 17.20.
Discussions should be held with PALM to identify relevant documents or current proposals in the specified area.
Where there are large increases in residential development in the vicinity, there is usually a greater demand for
shopping and other facilities and an increase in users of the urban spaces.

17.7 Public art and culture

Commitment to a public art program in cities can encourage economic development and cultural tourism as well as
improving the quality of life and local amenity. Public art enhances the cultural and aesthetic value of a place. The
community and stakeholder consultation process will contribute to identifying cultural and community values. The
consultation process should also be informed by research, as relevant, of history and social/ community values to
develop a cultural profile. The profile may aid and inform the development of design themes and specific artwork
proposals. Artwork may be incorporated into the environment in a variety of ways. It is important to ensure that
artwork is durable and easily maintainable. Consideration must be given to the proposed treatment in the case of
damage to the artwork and whether the work is easily repairable, replaceable or removable. If the artwork is
removable then ensure that the treatment required to bring the space up to an acceptable standard without the
artwork for short or long periods is easily achievable. A broad approach should be taken to the quantity, location,
size and style of public artwork to ensure there is not an over proliferation of artwork within an area and that the
artwork is valued to its full potential. Artwork may be non-functional or incorporated into the design of functional
objects such as furniture, manhole covers, walls, paving and lighting. For further information and requirements
regarding street furniture refer to Design Standard 19 Park and Street Furniture and Barbecues.

17.8 Accessibility

The Disability Discrimination Act 1992 makes it unlawful to discriminate on the grounds of disability in providing
access to or use of premises that the public can enter or use. Public facilities must be designed to be accessible to
people with disabilities. Designs for public spaces are expected to comply with Australian Standards AS 1428.1, AS
1428.2 and AS 1428.4. However, this does not necessarily ensure compliance with the Disability Discrimination Act
1992. An accessibility audit of the area should be undertaken to identify and document the existing provisions and
inadequacies within the study area and the linkages of the site to adjacent areas. The design team shall ensure that
the proposals for the site are accessible for all people in accordance with the relevant legislation and Australian
Standards. Consideration should also be given to the recommendations in Advisory Notes on Access to Premises
and Accessible Travel. A disability access consultant may be included as part of the design team to ensure that the
needs of people with disabilities are included early in the development of the project and to identify the priorities for
work to be undertaken. To ensure movement and facilities are accessible and to encourage people with disabilities
to use the area it is necessary to take a holistic view. The objectives are to:

• Provide a continuous accessible path of travel throughout the area and to facilities.

• Ensure the design integrates access concepts in a way that is useful for all users of the area whilst maintaining an
aesthetically pleasing design.

• Ensure signage and tactile warnings and other methods used to assist people are logically applied and consistent.
Pay particular attention to:

• movement linkages

• signage

• transport

• surfaces – texture, colour and glare

• shade density- minimise contrast between sun and shade on paving

• tactile pavers

• car parking

• location and design of objects in the space

• lighting

• furniture

• elimination of hazard

• kerb ramp locations

• traffic lights

• trip hazards.

17.9 Safety and lighting

The required lighting level and coverage area to be included in the lighting upgrade should be stipulated in the brief.
The light is to be white light, preferably Mercury Vapour; (metal halide may be approved in some situations). The
sodium luminaires are not favoured in urban shopping centres due to the orange light they emit. White light is closer
to the light given off by the sun. Fittings are to be cut off (aero screen), vandal resistant and low maintenance. For
the lighting of pedestrian pavements, car parks and roads, light fittings should be selected from the list of approved
fittings available from City Management. Placement should ensure safety to limit pools of light and dark areas.
Poles located in areas where they are prone to damage should have rag bolt fittings for ease of replacement. For
further information regarding lighting of public areas see Design Standards 12 Public Lighting. A qualified lighting
designer is required to prepare lighting design documents to ensure conformance to the relevant Australian
Standards and ordinances. The designer is required to submit a lighting plan to a City Management nominated
lighting consultant for certification that it complies with current standards. The designer should also liase with
ActewAGL to ensure that the power supply has the capacity to meet the requirements. The ACT Crime Prevention
and Urban Design Resource Manual outlines issues and recommendations relating to safety that the designer needs
to be aware of when designing public spaces.

17.10 Services and waste management

17.10.1 Underground services

Location of existing underground services should be identified. Established landscapes may have problems with
blocked drains from a build up of deleterious materials or tree roots. These and any other problems should be
identified and Canberra Living Places will work with the relevant department or authority to rectify the problem.
Where the problems can only be rectified by works beyond the project scope, defects should be reported to the
relevant asset owner for an opportunity to consider upgrading their works as an extension to the project. Designs
must ensure that any new trees or structures are suitably located to maintain acceptable clearances from services.
Suitable tree species will need to be specified for any new planting near drainage pipe work and where appropriate
root barriers should be installed (refer to Design Standard 23 - Plant Species for Urban Landscape Projects). Sumps
should be located away from the main pedestrian routes of travel. Any meter pits must be located in an approved
location and made safe to prevent trip and falls by the general public. The pit and lid must be strong enough to carry
expected traffic and must be maintained for the life of the connection. Where possible, provide a clear and
unobstructed passage for maintenance vehicles to service underground and building infrastructure.

17.10.2 Goods deliveries and emergency access

Provision for back-of-house goods deliveries to the various premises needs to be addressed. Loading zones need to
be identified and appropriate areas marked and sign posted. These sites should be free of obstruction and have
adequate entry points for movement of delivery and service vehicles. Provide a clear and unobstructed access for
emergency service vehicles as determined by the building structure.

17.10.3 Waste

The ACT Government is committed to a policy of minimising waste as described in A Waste Strategy for Canberra,
No Waste by 2010. The methods of waste minimisation and storage used on private premises have significant effect
on public areas and consideration must be given to how this is currently addressed and what changes are expected in
the next decade. The Development Control Code for Best Practice Waste Management in the ACT outlines
solutions and requirements for the treatment of waste. In shopping centres it is current policy to provide 120 litre
Sulo bins concealed within an attractive outer covering (see Design Standard 19 Park and Street Furniture and
Barbecues). Where there is space and it is appropriate, the provision of multi Sulo bins to sort waste is encouraged.
Design solutions should also address the location of charity bins as an integral component of the centre’s urban
landscape. The use of recycled materials in the construction stage and the recycling of materials removed from the
site should be considered during design. The designer should identify the type of recycled material, its extent and
location of use. The construction team may wish to investigate using the online Australian Reusable Resources
Network to list or purchase demolition or construction materials.

17.11 Traffic and parking

In the refurbishment of a public area consideration often needs to be given to traffic flow, car parking, roads and bus
stop parking, and their relationship to pathways, lighting, disability access, planting and shelter requirements to
ensure adequate vehicle and pedestrian circulation. Use of public transport, walking and cycling should be
promoted and routes and services should provide easy access to and from shopping centres and other public spaces.
For further information and requirements regarding traffic and parking see Design Standard 2 Road Planning,
Design Standard 3 Geometric Road Design, Design Standard 4 Road Verges, Design Standard 6 Road Pavements,
Design Standard 9 Traffic Control Devices, Design Standard 10 Parking Areas and Design Standard 13 Pedestrian
and Cycle Facilities.

17.12 Pedestrian movement

Pedestrian movement needs to be studied and a hierarchy of entry points or ‘doorways’ established to provide
defined ease of access plus an identifiable character for the centre. Attention should be given to logical and well laid
out integration and connection with the adjacent spaces and a continuous path of travel. For safety reasons avoid
hidden doorways or alley type access points to collect people from the surrounding car parks. Consideration should
be given to the location of existing, proposed or possible future provision of outdoor cafes. These are required to be
sited in accordance with Outdoor Cafes in Public Places Policy. Soft landscaping can be used to direct pedestrians
and should not obstruct desirable pedestrian movement. Careful design of soft landscape areas is needed to avoid
pedestrians taking shortcuts across the soft landscape areas. See also Design Standard 22 Soft Landscape Design.
For more information about designing for pedestrian movement see Design Standard 13 Pedestrian and Cycle
Facilities, ACT Crime Prevention and Urban Design Resource Manual, The Code of Practice for the Placement of
Movable Signs in Public Places and Australian Standards AS 1428.1, AS 1428.2, AS 1428.3 and AS 1428.4.

17.13 Pavements

Pavement may be used to direct people along pathways, to define or highlight areas, to unify spaces and to provide
interest and amenity. Artwork may be incorporated into the paving. It is desirable to provide pavement materials and
facilities that are easy to clean and maintain, designed to resist vandalism and that resist damage from skateboarding
(see Design Standard 13 Pedestrian and Cycle Facilities). Selection of the paving material should consider the
porosity of the surface. Porous surfaces are difficult to clean if dirt such as spilt drinks and chewing gum imbeds in
the surface. The designer should also consider glare when selecting pavement materials and avoid light and highly
reflective tones. Surfaces of paving/artwork are to be slip resistant as described in Australian/New Zealand Standard
AS/NZS 4586, durable and easily maintained. The use of permeable pavements and structural soils is supported to
reduce storm water runoff and to provide an increase in natural watering of trees in pavement. In most shopping
centres and civic spaces, vehicular access is required to varying degrees and design loads. All areas require adequate
emergency vehicular access. In the design of pavement structure attention must be given to the vehicular use and
loads. Some areas require delivery or maintenance vehicular access across pedestrian pavement areas and it may be
desirable to clearly define the vehicular route using trees, bollards, walls, seats or by marking the pavement. Where
the route is permanent the pavement marking should also be permanent such as by using a different colour or tone
for the pavement material. Tactile pavers are to be provided as required by Australian Standard AS 1428.4 and if
suitable may be used to mark the route. Gradients across pavements in areas where outdoor cafes are to be located
should ideally be between 1:100 and 1:40 and not exceed 1:40. The pavement should fall away from access points to
ensure sewerage spills and surcharges have minimum impact on the public. Good surface drainage is important to all
pavement areas. For further information on pavement gradients and drainage refer to Design Standard 13 Pedestrian
and Cycle Facilities. Grated sumps within paved areas should be located so as to avoid the pedestrian movement
areas. Refurbishment and repairs to areas where there are specific pavement treatments prescribed should be in
keeping with the treatments prescribed to unify the particular precinct.

17.14 Retaining and freestanding walls

Retaining or freestanding walls in shopping centres and other civic spaces should be designed to be easy to clean
and maintain, resist vandalism and discourage damage from skateboarding. For information on the structural
requirements for walls see Design Standard 7 Bridges and Other Structures. Skateboard riders are attracted to using
sections of smooth surfaced walls, and the action of the skateboard along the wall can cause discolouration and
damage. To discourage the activity, the walls should be a broken surface such as pointed brickwork, or metal lugs
may be inset into the top edge of walls. Graffiti protection can be in the form of either/and the walls being located in
places with natural surveillance, the application of a sacrificial coat to the surface, painting the wall so that
repainting will cover any graffiti or the texture of surface. At handover stage, the designer should inform the
maintenance authority of any relevant information regarding the finishes and treatment required.
17.15 Planting See Design Standard 21 Irrigation, Design Standard 22 Soft Landscape Design and Design
Standard 23 Plant Species for Urban Landscapes.

17.16 Street furniture

Street furniture should be chosen to suit its function, comfort requirements and users. Materials and designs that are
easy to clean and maintain, resist vandalism and discourage damage by skateboards are other considerations. Street
furniture should not encroach upon the continuous accessible path of travel. When locating seats the designer needs
to consider shade, sun and where people are likely to need to sit (such as near entry or exit points, supermarkets and
chemist shops). Seats should not be located within outdoor cafe lease areas where they will be in conflict with the
cafe seating (see ACT Government Outdoor Cafes in Public Places Policy). It is recommended that armrests be
provided on seats. The location of bins should target supermarkets, milk bars and fast food outlets. See Design
Standard 19 Park and Street Furniture and Barbecues for more information.

17.17 Signage

The aim of signage design for shopping centres and other public urban spaces is to improve name recognition and
direction. It is necessary to provide materials that are easy to clean and maintain and resist vandalism. Tactile signs
are preferred for people who have disabilities. The document Signage Policy for Urban Places and AS1428.1 should
be referred too. See The Code of Practice for the Placement of Movable Signs in Public Places for information about
temporary advertising in shopping centres. See Design Standard 19 Park and Street Furniture and Barbecues for
more information about signs.

17.18 Public toilets

Public toilet facilities in shopping centres need to be analysed in terms of their adequacy in lighting, disabled person
access, suitability of location, safety and security factors. The decision to replace or refurbish existing toilets at a
shopping centre is generally dependent on the available budget, the condition of the existing toilets, community
consultation outcomes and the availability of a suitable site. See Design Standard 18 Public Toilets. The reduction of
public toilets and the inclusion of toilet facilities within a private development should be considered with Planning
and Land Management playing an important role in the decision making process. Issues such as the viability of
shopping centres and business diversity will provide the necessary background information in determining public
toilet needs.