Retail Modernisation and Morphological Change: Central Malaga, Spain

Abstract

This paper is concerned with the morphological adaptations of buildings that accompany retail modernisation within a series of villages and small towns in central Malaga province, Southern Spain. Indicators of morphological change are designed and an attempt is made to measure such change in the ®eld. The relationships of morphological change to a range of socioeconomic data are explored. The statistical associations discovered are quali®ed in terms of possible underlying social and economic factors. The pattern of morphological change appears to be related to a process of hierarchical diffusion although a rudimentary type of retail establishment persists in centres of different types and sizes. It is argued that this survival owes more to social and cultural factors than to economic considerations.