Opponents fight mega-mall project in Toulouse, France
A “protest picnic” is being held today in Plaisance-du-Touche#&151;a suburb of Toulouse, France—to demonstrate against plans for a huge shopping mall project. Baptised “Portes de Gascogne”, the mega-shopping center would include 138 small shops and 28 superstores.
Opponents argue that the Toulouse area is already overrun with malls and hypermarkets, and point to the environmental drawbacks of bringing 20,000-30,000 vehicles a day into the area. These concerns are echoed by shop owners well outside of the Toulouse area, who worry about the future of local stores in neighboring towns and administrative departments.
The newspaper “Sud-Ouest” reports that Auch, a city of 25,000 located some 50 miles from Toulouse, can expect a 5 to 10% drop in local shop business if the project is carried out.
Critics are quick to point out that the center will be financed by an American developer, the Simon Property Group.
