The Transformation of Retail Markets in Lisbon: An Analysis through the Lens of Retail Gentrification

ABSTRACT

The relationship between cities and retail is strong and historical. This article focuses on the analysis of traditional retail markets, a retail concept that has lost its relevance in previous decades. However, more recently there has been a reversal of this trend following increased interest in the rehabilitation of these markets. This reinvestment follows the divestment stage and is characterised by the active role that private interests play in the management and operation of these retail precincts. This evolutionary process challenges the capacity of traditional retailers to continue their operations in these markets and the ability of disadvantaged customers to continue shopping there. Furthermore, this development may be indicative of retail gentrification. In this article, the ongoing process of market rehabilitation in Lisbon is analysed to determine whether evidence of retail gentrification has occurred. The use of case studies forms a significant part of the methodology. In addition, eleven retailers were interviewed in three traditional retail markets in Lisbon. The article concludes that direct displacement did not occur in the markets studies. However, because of the divestment in these retail precincts, indirect displacement did affect several retailers.

KEYWORDS:

• Retail markets
• Retail gentrification
• Lisbon
• Retail

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the Editors of the journal and for the reviewers for the very insightful remarks on a previous version of the document. We also wish to thank the FCT—Portuguese national funding agency for science, research and technology and the Center for Geographical Studies for funding the research on which this paper is based. Finally, we would like to thank the Parish Council of Arroios and the interviewed retailers for their willingness to collaborate with the study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

ORCID

Pedro Porfírio Coutinho Guimarães http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9011-8894

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia [grant number UID/ GEO/00295/2013]; the Centre for Geographical Studies, Universidade de Lisboa [grant number CEG-BPD/2015-LT2].