The Development Of Shopping Malls In Shanghai And Location Assessment-a GIS-based Approach

Location theory, originated from German economists von Thunen, Web and Christaller, is vital to businessmen to understand the spatial pattern and functional organization of production and exchange activities. Location analysis studies the optimal site of commercial establishments among all possible site selection based on calculation of cost-benefit values. Recently, as the Chinese economy grows, shopping mall as a new form of retail business also becomes prevail in Shanghai, like already happened in many newly industrializing economies. The question arises as where will be the best location for the site of shopping mall in planning? Location/allocation analysis will provide optimal solution.This paper evaluates the present spatial pattern of shopping malls in Shanghai in terms of its rationality via establishing a GIS-based evaluation model. The paper begins with an "Introduction," which reviews the history of development of shopping malls and related literature. In Chapter 2, the spatial pattern of shopping malls in Shanghai is delineated based on a GIS analysis, and then its spatial dynamics over time is trajected.Chapter 3 is devoted to modeling analysis, beginning with measuring of population centralization, travel accessibility and residents' purchasing power, empirical evidence suggests a higher measurement in the central city than those of both neighborhood and suburb. A buffer zone analysis followed also reveals that in the central city 95 percent of shopping malls are located along railway lines of subway in operation or plan, and that in the suburb almost 70 percent of malls are sited around the overheads of freeways.A further analysis using spatial interaction model in a GIS environment indicates that large malls suffer in their calculated Locational Advantage Index due to relatively remote distance. This type of malls makes up 25 percent of the total in Shanghai and, consequently, this portion of the malls has site problem in their location decision.The paper closes with Chapter 4, in which the research findings are summarized, and some interesting topics related are suggested for future study.