Decline of department stores and the issue of 'third places' in German inner-cities

Abstract

The paper explores the rise and fall of the Karstadt department stores, which used to be the focal points of many German inner-cities throughout the twentieth century. The paper addresses the current issues of their obsolescence, decline and a recent increase in vacancies of the buildings. The desolation of those, once vibrant ´third places´ – commercial entities, but also communal spaces, where people could meet and socialize – is asking for reuse scenarios, and thus requires an assessment of those buildings, understanding of the layers of history, analysis of their values, but also their potentials to adapt to changing circumstances and societal needs. While focusing on this particular typology of the inner-city department stores and the specific case of Karstadt buildings, the paper aims to address the issue of decline of various retail facilities, but also a general decline of ´third places´ in cities. The term ´third places´ was coined by a sociologist Ray Oldenburg in 1989, and denotes places beyond home (the primary place) and work (the secondary place) such as community centres, cafes, public libraries, theatres, public parks, etc. The study aims to better understand both causes and socio-spatial effects of their decline, correlating it with the digitalisation shift, changes in retail culture, but also blurred conventional separation between the first, the second and the third places (emergence of the so-called co-living, co-working and co-mingling spaces). It presents several case studies and research focusing on reuse potentials. The paper argues that the ´third places´ have an important role in the well-being of local communities, in enhancing social cohesion, civic engagement and sense of belonging, and therefore need to remain focal in adaptive reuse proposals.