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

Exploring the Impacts of Gentrified Traditional Retail Markets in Lisbon in Local Neighbourhoods

“…In the recent study from Gonzalez and Dawson (2018), the three retail precincts used as case studies have been previously subject of divestment and this situation has been used to partially justify its rehabilitation. Similar conclusions were withdrawn by Guimarães (2018), in this author's analysis of traditional retail markets in Lisbon. Part of this recent evolution relates with the growing numbers of tourists, in a process that is commonly named as touristification (Barata-Salgueiro et al 2017) or tourism gentrification (see Gravari-Barbas and Guinand 2017, for further examples on the application of this concept).…”

“…Regarding the traditional stores, new clients only go to them "to buy some whim, abounding the cases where they visit them only once, walk, photograph and do not consume anything" (Mateos 2017, p. 12 (author own translation)), in a development that finds similarity to what happens in some traditional retail markets in Lisbon. Deepening the analysis of this city, Guimarães (2018) verified that old retailers continued to operate in traditional retail markets. However, in some, the physical space they occupy is of lesser relevance.…”

“…An old retail concept, endowed with a notable importance in the past, it enters in decline when, simultaneously, was subject to several years of divestment and new retail concepts emerged and spread. Because of this abandonment to which they were subjected, the necessary conditions were created so that there was a rent gap that encouraged the recent investment (Guimarães 2018), which fostered the rehabilitation of several of this kind of retail precinct (Cordero and Eneva 2017). This discourse is well explained in Gonzalez and Waley's (2013, p. 965) study of Britain's traditional retail markets, stating some concerns that recent rehabilitation of these retail precincts is " .…”

“…Recent changes in some neighbourhoods and districts are, however, quickly changing the face of the retail fabric and the consumers they intend to supply. Some of these changes have been occurring within the boundaries of gentrification (Guimarães 2018), widely understood as the displacement of low-income residents by high-income residents (Ding et al 2016).…”

“…Nonetheless, existent literature on the subject is still rather scarce, most likely due to the belief that the change of the commercial fabric is due to previous changes in the social fabric of a given area (Hubbard 2017). Additionally, most studies on retail gentrification have been focusing on the transformations occurring at a neighbourhood scale, such as Zukin et al (2009) study of Brooklyn and Harlem in New York, or on the gentrification of specific retail precincts, of which the work of Guimarães (2018) focused on the gentrification of a traditional retail market is an example. In this article we intend to go further from existent literature.…”