The management of shopping centres: conflict or collaboration?

Purpose-built shopping centres are now an important element of urban structures and of retailing. As the shopping centre industry matures it faces questions about how shopping centres should be managed. There is a tension between retailers' need to compete and the need to exploit the cumulative attraction which exists in a shopping centre. Partnership approaches to business relationships are being developed in many industries, but in the UK shopping centre industry institutional factors make collaborative management difficult. Several consequences of a property-led orientation in managing shopping centres are identified, including difficulties in marketing, in justifying expenditure, in managing tenant mix and in sharing information. A customer-led approach can be distinguished in some centres and the significance of different contractual relationships and an emphasis on marketing in these centres is discussed with the use of case illustrations.