Planetary urbanization and retail-less cities

[eng] The chapter examines commercial desertification in Catalonia as a local expression of the planetary urbanization hypothesis. Drawing on interviews and territorial data, it explains the steady decline of retail activity driven by capital concentration, digitalization, financialization, and changing consumption habits. It contrasts the “New Urban Era,” based on simplified discourses of sustainability and proximity, with the more structural and critical approach of planetary urbanization. The text argues that retail-less cities are a result of the recurrent crises of global capitalism and calls for new urban policies addressing property ownership, land markets, and corporate oligopolies to counter retail desertification.