A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Arts in fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Masters in Communication Science in the Department of Communication Science at the University of Zululand, 2017 / The growing power of shopping centres within communities has changed the economic landscape and has also attracted concerns from society. This has inspired an increasing call for shopping centres landlords to play a substantial role in community development. This study explores the relationship between shopping centres landlords and the communities in which they reside-in with regards to corporate social responsibilities. The study is based on the premise that Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives are seen as mandatory by shopping centres landlords as to ask what their contributions are to achieving sustainable development and improving the lives of people living in the local communities. In this regard, the study examines the role that shopping centres landlords play in bringing development to their various communities through CSR. The focus is on three shopping centres: Empangeni Sanlam Centre, Esikhawini Mall and Richards Bay Boardwalk Inkwazi Shopping Centre within uThungulu District Municipality. Relational theory and transactional model theory are used to develop a model for shopping centres landlords to embrace CSR as a tool to community development. This study employs a survey method which was conducted among the management of the centres and residents of Empangeni, Esikhawini and Richards Bay. The results of the study indicate that CSR initiatives embarked upon by shopping centres landlords through their management team are not communicated to the local community residents. This brings a gap in communication between the landlords and the local community residents. The practical implications of this finding showed that the model proposed for this study is promising in solving communication problem hindering CSR initiatives implementation.

The main subject of my dissertation is a theoretical-empirical analysis of shopping centers as a specific type of subculture. Closer analysis of the shopping center's influence on contemporary lifestyle and consumer behavior patterns is accented. The whole structure of the dissertation is divided into three main thematic sections: 1. Shopping centers in the process of globalization and unification of human culture. 2. Shopping centers as a specific type of institution and subculture. 3. Shopping centers as a determinant of contemporary lifestyle. The source of information and data utilized for processing this dissertation are both theoretical literature and practical observation in Prague's shopping centers. The main goal of my dissertation is to contribute somehow to the phenomenon of consumer behavior in the postmodern culture. Key words : consumer society, shopping centre, consumption, corporation

The position occupied by retailing within the production - consumption debate is the subject of dispute. As neither sphere can be fully analysed in isolation such argument may be somewhat irrelevant. The need to conceptualise the two spheres together, therefore, has informed this research on the created environments of shopping centres. Planned and managed shopping centres are a ubiquitous part of the built environment in 'advanced capitalist' nations. There has been a tendency, however, for researchers to focus upon exceptional centres rather than everyday examples of this particular consumption site. They have concentrated upon how shopping centre environments appear to be created and the appeal researchers assume they may have for an observer. My research for this thesis, however, has been concerned with how managers create shopping centre environments and how they are designed so as to appeal to their centres' perceived markets. This was done by conducting semi - structured interviews with a number of centre managers in Australia and New Zealand . The unified ownership and management structure of shopping centres makes it easier for their created environ ments to be controlled. Shopping centre researchers and those who have attempted to read the built environment as if it were a text have tended to assume that the architectural styles used will reflect dominant ideologies and that they are powerless to interpret or alter them in any other than the manner intended by the designers, developers and owners. Many of the managers recognised, however, that shoppers cannot be forced to visit nor can they be made to purchase. Research was therefore commissioned by management as a way of gaining socio - economic information on the individuals in their catchments , their 'needs' and desires. Selecting tenants which would appeal to their markets and arranging them in a manner which reflected the way people liked to shop was thought to be paramount to the success or otherwise of a centre. Some managers, for example, claimed that there was a difference between 'doing' the shopping (which is a chore) and 'going' shopping (which is enjoyable ) and that this needed to be kept in mind when they positioned retailers within their centres. Consumption does not only involve the purchase of commodities for their use and/or sign value but is also concerned with experience. Managers attempted to provide their shoppers with an enjoyable experience when they visited their centres by, for example, the creation of an appealing ambience and by either suggesting or insisting, respectively, that the common areas and leased spaces be regularly refurbished.

Thesis (M. Hous. M.)--University of Hong Kong, 1997. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.Hous.M.)--University of Hong Kong, 1997. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available in print.

ABSTRACT OUT OF THE GREYZONE: EXPLORING GREYFIELD DESIGN AND REDEVELOPMENT Konstantinos Pavlou Advisor: University of Guelph, 2013 Professor Cecelia Paine Community shopping centres in many North American suburban areas have been in decline for two decades. Failed community shopping centres, termed ‘greyfields’, have resulted in large parcels of unused lands in core urban areas, forcing residents to travel longer distances to regional malls. The decline of community shopping centres may have a number of causes, but for this study it was hypothesized that successful community shopping centres share a number of design qualities that unsuccessful shopping centres do not have. A design framework was developed based on retail design and planning literature. The framework was applied to assess an existing redevelopment, the Shops at Don Mills in Toronto. The assessment findings derived from site observations and key informant interviews resulted in a revised design framework. The final framework provides a guide to those interested in transforming commercial greyfields into vibrant components of our urban communities.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-04-17T15:02:16Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 1820163 bytes, checksum: be65a022190ff6336bc43ec22a2e653e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-07-29 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / Growth in the informal economy is a troubling trend that is beginning to cause a split social consequence, the gradual demoralization of the tax collection system of the State, which formally begins with a minimum of legal norms the development of this economy, with construction space intended for that market. The Shopping Center Terceirão in João Pessoa-PB, is one of those buildings, which highlights the presence of some of these evangelical churches actively participating in business activities and through its symbolic power, direct marketers adherents of a particular sect to use a particular language that identify and heat sales. To understand the scale of representations and the reasons for those actions as well as their interaction with certain subjective signs, semiotic elements were used to compare with Weberian studies, taking into account the spread of Protestantism site, combined with the mercantile spirit, which comes to a "particular ethos" to the interaction of a capitalist conception / informal, with a religious ethics / mercantilist. The study was based on an ethnographic research whose overall objective was to analyze from the transdisciplinarity: religion, morality and economics, the behavior of this triad in the face of an ethical nature of Calvinist religious employed by those churches. As data collection instruments were used participant observation and semi-structured interviews. The results showed that the adoption of ethics that binds a particular religious doctrine with a need, is characterized by the imperative to rationalize the feelings that governs the social and personal relationships of the group and acts as a legitimate element of these churches, therefore, the interaction the dynamics of the informal market with religious agents there is a dichotomous relationship between ideas an interests of the group / O Crescimento da informalidade na economia é um fenômeno inquietante que começa a provocar uma cisão social de conseqüências imprevisíveis, pela paulatina desmoralização do sistema de arrecadação tributária do Estado, que começa formalizar com um mínimo de normatização jurídica o desenvolvimento dessa economia paralela, com a construção de espaços destinados a esse mercado. O Shopping Centro Terceirão em João Pessoa-PB, é uma dessas construções, que chama atenção pela presença de algumas igrejas evangélicas participando ativamente dessas atividades mercantis e através de sua força simbólica, direciona os comerciantes adeptos de uma determinada vertente religiosa a usar uma linguagem peculiar que os identificam e aquecem as suas vendas. Para compreender a dimensão das representações e dos motivos dessas ações, bem como sua interação subjetiva com determinados signos, foram utilizados elementos semióticos para comparar com estudos Weberianos, levando em consideração a propagação do protestantismo local, aliado a esse espírito mercantil, que vem a dar um ―ethos particular a essa interação de uma concepção capitalista/informal, com uma ética religiosa/mercantilista. O Estudo teve como base uma pesquisa etnográfica, cujo objetivo geral foi analisar a partir da transdisciplinariedade: religião, moral e economia, o comportamento dessa tríade frente a uma ética religiosa de cunho Calvinista empregada por aquelas igrejas. Como instrumentos de coleta de dados foram utilizados a Observação Participante e Entrevistas Semi-Estruturadas. Os resultados apontaram que, a ética que vincula adoção de uma determinada doutrina com uma necessidade religiosa, é caracterizada pelo imperativo de racionalização dos sentimentos que rege as relações sociais e pessoais do grupo, bem como age como elemento legitimador dessas igrejas, portanto, na interação da dinâmica do mercado informal com os agentes religiosos existe uma relação dicotômica entre idéias e interesses do grupo

The thesis analyses determinants of shopping centre sales and its attendance demand; it is based on data of the specific shopping centre from the years 2007 -- 2011. Based on a five-year monthly time series, two sales models are created. One model tracks sales per customer, the other deals with the shopping centre sales which are compared with the sales index of retailers. On the other hand, a model of the shopping centre attendance demand uses figures of a five-year daily time series. Independent variables with significant effect on dependent variables are identified in the theoretical part. The models are estimated using the Ordinary Least Squares estimation. In all models, seasonal influences proved to be a significant determinant. In the sales models, hypotheses of the competition effect have been verified. Furthermore, in case of the attendance demand model, weather and marketing effects were estimated as important. Surprisingly, the economic variables proved themselves to be insignificant, which could be caused by the relatively short observation period. The limiting factor of all models is also the fact that the dataset consists of one shopping centre only. It prevents the author from conducting a comprehensive examination of other important determinants of shopping centre sales and attendance.

The diploma thesis deals with the construction technological project of a self-service shopping centre in Stará Plesná village. Time and finance plan, design of machinery and project of building site accessories were elaborated. The work is focused on the main building object SO 101 (Shopping and service centre). For this building pile foundations and top coarse building phase were worked out in greater details. Time plan, item budget and other documents concerning building preparations of object SO 101 are also parts of the work.

Thesis (M. Hous. M.)--University of Hong Kong, 1999. / Includes bibliographical references.