COMMERCIAL INTENSIFICATION - THE TRANSFORMATION OF A HIGHWAY-ORIENTATED RIBBON

The growth of highway-orientated ribbons and planned shopping centres in low density suburban areas of North American cities transformed the ir commercial structure in the 1950s and 1960s. In the last decade, th e addition of new forms of retailing and the trend to commercial inten sification in some of the old highway ribbons have completely changed their character, paralleling the densification that has been found in some residential areas. A review of the major classifications of linea r commercial areas is followed by a case study of Macleod Trail, the l argest commercial strip in Calgary (Alberta, Canada), a city of over 7 50,000 people. This illustrates how a new form of commercial structure , called a 'Linear Commercial Complex', has emerged from a highway-ori entated ribbon, with almost 1000 retail businesses and over 500 office s stretching over an 8km strip. The zone has many distinctive features but has some similarities with Garreau's 'Edge City' phenomenon. The relative importance of the eight primary features that have transforme d the commercial ribbon are described and the effect of planning polic y upon the area is evaluated. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.