Emerging configurations of consumption. Transformations of retail trade and restructuring of centrality in the metropolitan region of Buenos Aires

Abstract

In an urban region as complex as it is Buenos Aires, consumption spaces cannot be reduced to only two formats (shopping centers vs. shopping streets) or locations (downtown vs. periphery). This paper seeks to explain the structure and transformations of the retail commerce in the metropolitan context. Specifically, it is oriented towards the construction of illustrative cartographies of the multiple configurations that this economic segment acquires in the different metropolitan corridors and rings, in addition to the hierarchical models and weight of the traditional centrality. Based on data from Google Maps and other complementary sources, maps of diversity and commercial intensity are generated showing a linear structure of this activity along ancient routes and supramunicipal avenues, along with a nodal concentration around railway stations, with infiltration in the pre-existing residential and industrial fabric. Simultaneously, some recent trends of commercial transformation or revitalization have been identified, that join to the centers, corridors and traditional shopping malls, new products such as neighborhood shopping malls, gastronomic centers, and renovation operations of open-air shopping centers. It is assumed that the interpretative lecture of these emerging configurations can serve to identify broader dynamics of the restructuring of metropolitan centrality and specificities of each context that have tended to be avoided by urban studies focused on the territorial effects of globalization.