Retailers’ resilience strategies and their impacts on urban spaces in Turkey

Recent developments in the retail sector in Turkey have created a dynamic environment, with different resilience strategies of actors forming the sector providing a new context in which to discuss urban transformation. The developments have contributed to the public’s awareness regarding multifaceted problems in the retail sector, many of which have a negative impact on urban space. Retailers, citizens and governing bodies variously contribute to this issue with different perceptions of and strategies on how to adapt to the changes. How these dynamics work and influence urban space in the Turkish context is the main focus of this research. A field survey in Ankara revealed that the resilience strategies of traditional retailers are reactive rather than proactive. This situation provides them with the flexibility to adapt themselves more quickly to the changes in the sector. However, as there is no holistic retail policy in Turkey, reactive strategies also result in unplanned use of urban space.

► This paper analyzes the resilience strategies of retailers in Turkey.
► Retailers’ and consumers’ opinions regarding retail developments are compiled through a field survey in Ankara.
► All actors in the sector seem to suffer from the lack of a holistic retail planning.
► Resilience strategies have important impacts on the use of urban spaces.