CANADA: The role of planned shopping centres

The 1960s saw a remarkable boom in Canada's economy, with disposable income per capita increasing over the decade by almost 88 per cent. This was accompanied by substantial population growth. The major retail sector to be boosted by this social and economic change was the planned shopping centre, which increased its share of total retail trade from 2% in 1956 to over 23% in the mid‐1970s. Dr Gareth Shaw spent some time towards the end of last year on a research project in Canada, where he made a special study of major new shopping complexes. In this feature he outlines the reasons for the rapid growth of shopping centres and looks particularly at one of the most controversial developments, the Eaton Centre in Toronto.