Casinos in cities should be working to increasingly connect with their surrounding, so that their visitor pull can spur urban revival, Global Market Advisors partner Andrew Klebanow stated in his white paper “Casinos and the City.”
While in downtown Macau casinos have successfully been integrated with their surroundings, the Cotai strip remains relatively unfriendly for pedestrians, who find it difficult to walk from one casino to another, noted Muhammad Cohen in Forbes.
Mr Klebanow recalled, for instance, Galaxy Macau’s design, as the property is surrounded by a perimeter of luxurious landscaping and walkways. It is relatively close to Taipa village, but is separated from the Island’s historic center by Estrada da Baia de Nossa Sra. da Esperanca.
“The vast majority of patrons arrive by bus at the property’s bus depot or by taxi or private vehicle at one of the three hotels’ porte-cocheres or VIP entrances. A visitor seeking to leave the casino by foot can do so, but the walk can be imposing,” Mr Klebanow acknowledged.
Mr Klebanow dubs them as “island casinos”, a set of one- stop resort destinations, comprising shopping, gaming, hotels, restaurants, retail and entertainment within the same property. The concept, he recalled, boomed in North America in the 20th century.
Although casino resorts in both America and Macau have contributed greatly to increase in government tax revenue, and boosted job creation, they have been living physically apart from the city where they’re located, he stressed.
Furthermore, he acknowledged that they have failed to stimulate urban regeneration in areas adjacent to the properties. “The Boardwalk casinos of Atlantic City (…) contributed to their further isolation from the boardwalk tourism zone in large part because of their physical designs,” he concluded.
Nevertheless, Mr Klebanow sees casinos as a potential tool for urban redevelopment, as they attract people every single day. “Properly planned and executed, a casino can have a greater, positive impact than other forms of urban regeneration at a much lower cost to the city.”
He added that as future casinos are developed within urban environments, operators and governments “must develop realistic expectations of what a casino can bring to the community, aside from jobs and tax revenue.”
In Macau, a new wave of Cotai resorts is taking shape and these will offer more opportunities for people to travel by foot, noted Muhammad Cohen in an article in Forbes.
Sands China’s Parisian will be linked to the Venetian complex, which is already linked by footbridge to Sands Cotai Central. A few steps away is Melco Crown’s City of Dreams. Meanwhile, a pedestrian cross- walk is under construction at the Istmo roundabout. Galaxy Macau recently opened its phase II and now offers a ground- level entertainment street, which also pledges to sell localproducts. CP
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