Welcome to Val Tolosa
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Remember the attractions of out of town shopping malls?
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1. More accessible than city centres, which are often congested.
6. Create more traffic, especially at weekends and bank holidays.
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2. Indoor shopping malls – so not affected by the weather.
7. May not be as accessible to some members of the community, eg the elderly.
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3. Harder for smaller shops and independent stores to be successful.
8. Large, free car parks.
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4. City centres lose trade because people go to the out-of-town shopping centres.
9. Larger stores – meaning there is a good range of products
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5. Purpose-built shopping and leisure experience with cafes, bowling alleys and cinemas.
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Task 1 - Click here to be taken to a Google Map that shows you the current location of the out of town shopping centres in and around Toulouse (shaded in yellow).
i. Describe their distribution around Toulouse in relation to space, accessibility (roads) and the shape of the land (relief and ease to build on).
ii. Have you been to any of these shopping centres before? Which is your favourite and why?
i. Describe their distribution around Toulouse in relation to space, accessibility (roads) and the shape of the land (relief and ease to build on).
ii. Have you been to any of these shopping centres before? Which is your favourite and why?
Introducing Val Tolosa @ La Ménude
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View Projet de centre commercial «Val Tolosa» à Plaisance du Touch in a larger map |
Compare this image to the map on the left.
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Le projet sur le plateau de la Ménude en chiffres :
- 44 Ha de terrains modifiés par l'emprise du centre commercial
- Bétonnage de 115.000 m² pour les locaux du centre
- 90.000 m² de commerces
- 2 hypermarchés de 15.000 m²
- une galerie marchande de 150 grandes et moyennes surfaces (un chiffre qui varie suivant les contrats/annulations)
- 6.000 m² de restauration pour une quinzaine de restaurants.
- 4.200 places de parking
- Le promoteur annonce également 2000 arbres plantés, mais oublie de mentionner la destruction d'un sous-bois complet de 2 Ha...
Task 2 - Language Skills
Using your French language skills and the help of your teacher (Don't cheat and use Google Translate!), translate the above facts into English and record them on piece of paper.
Task 3 - Location, Location, Location
Study the embedded Google Map above carefully. The red area show you where the planned shopping centre will be built. The site is about 4 km from our school. Zoom out, can you spot IST? Why do you think this piece of land has been used?
Using your French language skills and the help of your teacher (Don't cheat and use Google Translate!), translate the above facts into English and record them on piece of paper.
Task 3 - Location, Location, Location
Study the embedded Google Map above carefully. The red area show you where the planned shopping centre will be built. The site is about 4 km from our school. Zoom out, can you spot IST? Why do you think this piece of land has been used?
Proposed Site for Val Tolosa Centre Commercial - Due to open in 2016
Take a Google Tour
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Task 4 - Suitable Building Site?
Head straight down this road looking to both your right and left. You are starting on the edge of the red zone above on the D82 road and heading in the direction of the roundabout junction of the D24 (towards Pibrac). Some of you might even drive on this road to school every day! Make some notes on the worksheet below of the suitability of the site for building on and the creation of a shopping centre as planned in the image to the right. Think about: * Accessibility * Relief & ease to build on * Space * Current land use * People close by who could be disturbed Record your thoughts on the worksheet below |
Architects impression of the Val Tolosa shopping centre
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Key Stakeholders - Val Tolosa
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A project of this size and costing €350 million will mean that people who live in the area around our school will have different viewpoints on it. Some will love the idea, some will hate it, and a few might not care at all.
It is important to understand the viewpoints of different stakeholders. A stakeholder is someone or an organisation that has an interest in the project e.g. a builder or a local resident. Task 5 - To the right, you have three statements, and underneath, you have three images. Choose one image and one statement and copy it onto the worksheet below. Explain which is for and which is against, who the stakeholder could be and why. |
Le promoteur Unibail-Rodamco estime que son projet va contribuer à créer 5000 emplois dans l’agglomération. 3000 sur le chantier, 2000 dans l’hypermarché et les 150 boutiques de l’espace commercial. Le centre Val Tolosa offrira 60 000 m2 de surfaces de vente, 150 magasins, un grand magasin de 9000 m2, un hypermarché de 12 000 m2, etc. pour un investissement 100% privé de 350 M€. Le centre commercial fera la part belle aux espaces verts avec neuf hectares de parc paysager, un lac d'1,8 hectare irrigué naturellement, un total de 2000 arbres plantés sur le site. |
Task 6 - You are now going to study some of the stakeholders that may be affected by this urban sprawl. Study each person carefully by reading the cards above and completing the grid sheet beneath with full detail. Some of the people may have an interest either way and so could have two points of view.
Closing Task -
Task 7a - Selfie Moment! - Film a short face to camera rant about your feelings regarding the development. You can be for or against or can be a little of both. Make sure you justify your reasoning with good geography.
Task 7b - Put it in writing! - A concise report (200 words) on your own feelings about the Val Tolosa development and its effects on the rural urban fringe. Think about the following questions when you are writing your report.
i. Who do you think are the most important people/groups of people when it comes to deciding if it goes ahead or not?
ii. Will it have any positive or negative effects on your life?
iii. What is the top reason for giving the scheme the go ahead?
iv. What is the top reason for refusing the scheme?
Task 7a - Selfie Moment! - Film a short face to camera rant about your feelings regarding the development. You can be for or against or can be a little of both. Make sure you justify your reasoning with good geography.
Task 7b - Put it in writing! - A concise report (200 words) on your own feelings about the Val Tolosa development and its effects on the rural urban fringe. Think about the following questions when you are writing your report.
i. Who do you think are the most important people/groups of people when it comes to deciding if it goes ahead or not?
ii. Will it have any positive or negative effects on your life?
iii. What is the top reason for giving the scheme the go ahead?
iv. What is the top reason for refusing the scheme?