Thesis title: The Value of Commerce. An investigation into the construction of (small) retail value and the evolution of current retail development policies.
Supervisor: Alexandre Mallard
Over the last few decades, the retail sector has attracted increasing attention from the technical, urban planning and political spheres. Technological innovations such as self-service, refrigerators and the democratisation of the private car (Daumas, 2006) have revolutionised consumption patterns. In urban planning, the phenomenon of the deterritorialisation of commerce (Madry, 2016), characterised by the relocation of commercial activities to the outskirts, has prompted political responses, notably in the form of the Royer (1973) and Raffarin (1996) laws, and more recently the ‘Action Cœur de Ville’ plan (Heart of the City Action plan).
This thesis focuses on these political reactions and, in particular, on how they have materialised. More precisely, it examines the instruments that currently make advocacy for (small) retail businesses visible. What does it mean to advocate for these businesses today? Who is doing what, from what perspective, and how?
To answer these questions, I propose examining a device currently under development whose main aim is to quantify values in (small) retailing other than purely economic values, which David Stark (2000) refers to as ‘values’ as opposed to ‘prices’. Once these values have been measured, they are intended to be used to revise negotiation models between the parties involved, particularly between retailers and public actors.
This change of perspective highlights the emergence of a new approach to commercial development management — a value-driven approach.
The recent introduction of town centre managers, who have introduced techniques from the private sector (Daniau, 2019), has prompted a re-evaluation of local commercial policy management methods. The focus of this research is value-based management, drawing on recent research into current developments in commercial development.
This thesis explores how value becomes quantifiable and how this quantification process shapes advocacy for small retail businesses. Proposing a shift in perspective, it shifts the focus from the study of the impacts of trade to the pragmatic analysis of the specific tools that enable the measurement and justification of different value systems in trade and make them politically actionable. By documenting the everyday, local and negotiated creation of these tools, this dissertation aims to contribute to a better understanding of current urban issues that are still under development.