An inverted world: Amsterdam comes to see how they shop in Ede
EDE – Internet is the death for shopping streets, you sometimes hear. But urban planners conclude from recent research that you can manipulate visitors through the layout of the street to linger longer. The research was done in Nijmegen and Ede, among others, and the latter municipality is doing surprisingly well.
The Burchtstraat in Nijmegen. While a visitor takes a picture of the old town hall, the woman lingers just a little longer in front of a shop window. “We call that mind fuck in the shopping street,” says sdesign engineer Pimm Terhorst. “Because you see that the way you design the city, the public space, the design of buildings, you can certainly influence the behavior of the visitor.”
Watch as Pimm Terhorst explains what makes the difference:
Mindfuck in the shopping street
Urban planner Terhorst conducted research with a number of organizations in seven major shopping streets such as Amsterdam’s Kalverstraat, Rotterdam Koopgoot, Nijmeegse Burchtstraat and Grotestraat in Ede. They surveyed visitors in shopping streets and then analyzed their walking behaviour. This way you can keep them stretched out in the shopping street for longer with seating and you can even see their route with greenery.
human size
The urban development conclusion that the trees in the very wide Nijmeegse Burchtstraat ‘reduce the human dimension’ and entice people to cross exactly there. According to Terhorst, the difference with other studies is what is being analysed.
The research dispels the gloomy picture that internet sales are the death blow for the shopping streets. The researchers: “Recently recent Rabobank reiterated that the changes in the retail landscape are not caused by the corona pandemic of the rise of e-commerce, but use we – as humans – whether or not to shop somewhere.”
E-marketing a successful attempt
But e-marketing professor Cor Molenaar of Erasmus University thinks otherwise. “That is really pure nonsense. If you see that the internet is growing by 20 percent per year, that turnover will leave the stores.” According to the Oosterbeker, you can of course entice people to stay longer in the shopping street, but the biggest challenge at the moment is getting them to the shopping streets. There is a lot of competition. “The challenge is when you sit on the couch on Saturday morning, where you go. Do you go to the sports fields, or do you go to the shops?”
In this respect, Molenaar does not think that Nijmegen is a good example, because according to him there is not enough parking space there. The recently redesigned shopping street in Ede can receive his approval. The research by Terhorst and others came to the fore when it comes to how long people linger or sit in the street or in the area they are enticed to enter shops.
Amsterdam comes to see Ede
Entrepreneurs from Amsterdam’s Kalverstraat even want to come to Ede to see what the secret is there. Almost the upside-down world. Terhorst: “It feels a bit like the world upside down, indeed, but Ede shows you which buttons you can turn. They have added a lot of greenery, many seating elements, a pavement. And you see that there are important interventions that can be done in the shopping areas, and with which you can really positively influence the behavior of those visitors.”
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