Los Angeles:
Universal City Walk
Located approximately nine miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles, Universal City Walk represents the latest trend in urban retailing centers. A descendant of Boston’s Faneuil Hall festival marketplace, City Walk, which opened in May 1993, blends specialty retailing and food with entertainment in an open-air street setting. But unlike its predecessor, the emphasis of City Walk is on entertainment. City Walk is a main street that was created to connect all of Universal City’s entertainment attractions. It features uniquely designed storefronts and a wide variety of modern entertainment venues all dressed in brightly colored neon lights and Hollywood-inspired themes.
Universal City Walk also satisfies the need for pedestrian amenities, sociability, and an idealized urban street life in a city notorious for its sprawling development, strips malls, and auto corridors. These needs are provided in a safe, clean, and controlled environment with brand new buildings designed to look as if they have been there for a long time. City Walk is open seven days a week to the public free of charge and offers plenty of parking for a nominal daily fee. It has become a highly popular destination point for Los Angeles residents as well as tourists and suburbanites.
Planning for City Walk began in 1988 and involved Universal Studio executives, city officials, and residents. MCA Development Company, a division of Universal Studios, Inc., was the project developer and funding source. The master planner was The Jerde Partnership International, Inc., an urban planning and architectural firm specializing in mixed-use projects and well known for creating exciting downtown retail centers such as Horton Plaza in San Diego. Jerde came to the City Walk project armed with its design philosophy of creating experiential environments for city people to gather and socialize. Using state of the art computer technology, Jerde coordinated project design phases and worked with individual retailers to create unique storefronts that fit in with the overall City Walk theme.
One example that typifies the City Walk experience is Sam Goody, a 20,000 square foot music and video superstore that features a 27-foot King Kong-like gorilla at the front door and a huge neon sign. Inside, the store pulsates with music and colored lights. Not only does the store sell, it entertains: There are interactive video arcades, video monitors, a live disc jockey, a stage for musical performances, and an entertainment data base. The store also features a café.
Overall the response to City Walk has been favorable. It draws huge crowds and generates substantial profits for Universal Studios, Inc. and the individual retailers. And City Walk has succeeded in capturing the urban street scene while effectively controlling its darker side. Yet the project has been criticized for being too tightly controlled by its management company, the City Walk Management Group, a division of Universal Studios. It has been called an artificial, sanitized urban setting isolated from the real urban fabric of Los Angeles. It also detracts from the real downtown of nearby Hollywood that is struggling for revitalization under a public redevelopment effort.
As a measure of its success and popularity, future plans for City Walk will increase its square footage by 75% by February 2000. A similar version of it has just opened at the Universal Studios complex in Orlando, Florida.
City Walk is a unique variation on the urban retailing center theme that works well with its associated theme parks and other entertainment venues. Other cities have been quick to jump on this downtown revitalization scheme of the 90s, creating successful retail centers that incorporate the latest in entertainment technology with traditional retailing. These centers attract a broad cross-section of consumers that tend to stay downtown for longer periods of time — important keys to downtown revitalization.
Links to related sites:
http://www.mca.com/citywalk/
http://www.jerde.com
http://www.orlandotravel.com/universal/citywalk.htm
City Walk Photo Credits
"City Walk Night" - photograph courtesy of Stephen Simpson
"City Walk King Kong" - photograph courtesy of Michael Woodward
City Walk Sources
A number of sources were consulted for this project.
Herman, Ron. Vice President of City Walk Marketing. Letter to author, 26 February 1999.
Newman, Morris. 1992. Hooray for Hollywood. The Architectural Review 191, no. 1147, September:60.
Schwartz, Bonnie. 1992. Neon Totems. Interiors 151, no. 2, February:16.
Sgriccia, Philip. Post Production Department, Universal Studios. Telephone conversation with author, 4 February 1999.
Shea, Brooks. Telephone conversation with author, 6 February 1999.
That’s Entertainment: Retail Properties Find a New Anchor and It’s Building a Track Record. Barron’s 77, issue 7, 17 February:42.
The Jerde Partnership International, Inc. 1997. PC Week 14, no. 9, March: 81-82.
Urban Entertainment Centers. 1996. Building Design and Construction 37, no. 2, February:12-15.
Wilson, Marianne. 1994. Sam Goody Goes Hollywood. Chain Store Age Executive with Shopping Center Age 70, no. 7, July:46-48.
Page Author: Hilary Davis
.
