Abstract
The current retail landscape is the outcome of heterogeneous consumer preferences. Yet, supply does not cover all demand. Cant (2019), for example, demonstrated that in multiple Antwerp suburban areas with 15 to 25% of current inhabitants already over 65 years old, there are long walking distances to the nearest food shop. The COVID-induced breakthrough of e-commerce may bridge such existing inequalities, yet they are subject to new constraints. To measure the impacts on access to food and other products, evaluate the viability of retail areas, or assess the design of logistics networks, a revision of retail accessibility that includes both logistics parameters and consumer mobility is required. This project revises retail accessibility in three steps: (i) modelling hybrid consumer behavior; (ii) redrawing the framework of retail accessibility and (iii) studying the regional economic impacts on businesses and policymakers in planning, mobility, and logistics.
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