Évolution du commerce et utilisation de la voiture. Distribution des biens de consommation et usage de la voiture particulière pour motif achats dans les agglomérations françaises. Rapport final

Since the 1960s the big retail stores and their more recent variations (specialised superstores, maxi-discounts) have spread far and wide across French city suburbs. The average size of these stores has grown steadily as has also their power of attraction. In-deed, they tend to be found on the fringes of agglomerations, near bypasses and access to motorways. This article seeks to describe the shopping habits of their customers on the basis of 14 surveys carried out among 5,000 consumers domiciled in three urban areas, and it leads to an assessment of the effects of the location of these stores on road traffic as well as on concomitant gas emissions. The result of this lengthy evaluation may be summarized in one sentence: carbon dioxide emissions are four times stronger when shopping in a suburban hyper-market than when shopping in a local supermarket.Taking into account the very strong impact on CO2 emissions of the hypermarket situated on the outskirts, the question arises as to whether, in the light of sustainable development, this is the right model to export throughout the world.