Kurfürstendam, Berlin; a top retail location with major franchises

Even if this seems self-evident, it is not always that true when talking about urban planning: the street is a space with its own rules in terms of retail. The pedestrian’s perception (or the perception by motorists) is marked by that logic of motion, and usually the location of shops of different specialities (and therefore, different profit margins) is organised according to the visibility or accesibility provided by each street. On a wide avenue you will have usually higher rents, and higher profit margin shops (apparel, department stores…), while other retailers or services (small restaurants, the showroom of a wholesale textile firm) will be on secondary streets. On urban cores beyond a certain size the retail activities generally organize in “blurbs”, but each kind of store (and each quality range) occupies specific locations, and the street becomes an organizing system.

Republic Street, the main axis in the historical core of La Valleta

A small convenience shop in a secondary street in La Valleta