Changescapes : Walmart supercenters as catalysts for territorial change

Abstract

This design research examines the cycle of growth and decline associated with Walmart Supercenters as a way to reconsider the transformation of suburban territories. The project utilizes case-study sites in San Antonio, Texas to establish three distinct Walmart Supercenter typologies: urban, suburban, and exurban. The central thesis asserts that many of the negative externalities that emerge from commercial big box developments result from the difference between the financial lifecycles of the building structures and the surrounding urban landscape. The project seeks to re-align these life-cycles: first, by examining the increments of change related to the various components of the big box development; and second, by re-proposing a framework within which the requisite change can be more productively managed.