Work

Shops with a history and public policy

Year: 2021

Type: article

Abstract: A program to support historical shops was recently created in Lisbon; called ‘Lojas com História’, it was later extended to other cities in the country. This paper shows the changes in public policy towards retail in Portugal where one finds an evolution from purely government regulation to a policing context aiming to strengthen competition between businesses, which endowed the sector with a growing role both in city policy and planning, and competition between cities. The evolution of policies reflects an increased focus on place with a shift from the support to commercial units, to strengthen their competitiveness, to their valorisation in the context of competition between cities. On the other hand, it is argued that this evolution is linked to the reinforcement of entrepreneurship in urban management. After recalling the social and spatial functions of retail and the changes in policies towards retail, we present the program and some characteristics of the shops covered by this program in Lisbon, followed by a first review and considerations on the challenges it brings.

Source: The International Review of Retail Distribution and Consumer Research

DOI: 10.1080/09593969.2021.1873816

Author: Teresa Barata-Salgueiro

Institution: University of Lisbon

Language: English

Topic: Urban Development and Cultural Heritage

Subfield: Urban Studies

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Sustainable cities and communities, Peace, justice, and strong institutions

Open Access status: green

Funder: Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia