The Past of Our Storefront Future: A Century of Post-Transactional Storefront Transformations in The Hague's Urban Core

Abstract

The transformation of storefronts to post-transactional functions has a much longer history than contemporary debates may suggest. Especially in urban environments, the number of physical retail establishments has declined almost constantly since records began nearly a century ago, allowing us to learn from the transformation of the storefronts this decline has left behind. This article explores how storefronts have transformed into post-transactional functions over the past century in the urban core of The Hague, one of the largest cities in The Netherlands and the country's seat of government. Firstly, it explores, through archival study, the forces behind The Hague's storefront retail decline, from legislation meant to curb independent retailers to urban renewal eff orts. Similarly, archival research illustrates that The Hague has a decades-long tradition of acknowledging and proactively planning for post-transactional storefront futures. Secondly, a comparison between a 1911 storefront database with that of 2017 demonstrates that about a fifth of storefronts have changed to a post-transactional use. The majority of transformations yielded dwellings, followed by offices, parking, vacancy and medical and wellness uses. Many of these new uses have spurred the creative economy of The Hague, illustrating the resilient urban value of storefronts beyond merely hosting consumer transactions.