2025 Theses Master's

Evaluation of Correlation Between Storefront Design and Commercial District Performance in Elmhurst, Queens

Zhu, Jordan

The relationship between storefront design and commercial vitality has long been assumed as directly correlated with one another. In the field of urban planning and real estate, transparency, defined as physical visibility into retail spaces, is seen as a key indicator of economic success or vitality in a certain retail area.

However, in urban contexts like Elmhurst, Queens, an area that is demographically diverse and displays a wide variety of business types, this traditional outlook and approach oversimplifies the relationship between storefront design, cultural dimensions, and economic success. Through a more holistic approach, this study looks at transparency, not only as physical visibility, but also the overall customer engagement potential of spaces through its design, accessibility, and total perceived engagement.

Based on the Broadway retail corridor in Elmhurst, Queens, this research introduces contextual legibility as an alternative framework for understanding how storefronts effectively communicate in multicultural settings; challenging the traditional understanding of the correlation between storefront transparency and commercial vitality.