THE IMPACT OF MULTIPLEXES IN URBAN

DEVELOPMENT: THE CASE OF STER (EX-EUROPLEX)

CINEMA IN LARISSA

Alex Deffner
Assistant Professor of Urban and Leisure Planning
Department of Planning and Regional Development
University of Thessaly, Pedion Areos, Volos 383 34, Greece
E-mail address: adeffner@prd.uth.gr
Fax numbers: +3024210-74399 & +30210-32540888

Christos Liouris
PhD Candidate
Department of Planning and Regional Development
University of Thessaly, Pedion Areos, Volos 383 34, Greece
E-mail address: chr_liouris@yahoo.com
Fax number: +3024210-74399

Abstract
Cinema-going is one the most popular out-of-home cultural activities, affecting a series of social, economic and
cultural phenomena in modern societies. This paper aims to specify the impact of the new type of cultural places
(e.g. multiplexes) on their neighboring cities. Ster (ex-Europlex) cinema in the city of Larissa, Greece, is used as
a case study.
In the beginning, the emergence and, subsequently, the growth of multiplexes across Europe are
examined. Then, the consequences of this phenomenon regarding the cinema industry and, mainly, urban
planning, are studied. The paper continues with a brief review of Greek cinema history, starting from the
appearance of the first cinema in Athens to the spread of multiplexes in several Greek cities. There is reference
to the future of multiplexes in Greece, as well as to the new and programmed investments.
The Ster (ex-Europlex) multiplex in Larissa is presented in detail. The methodology that is used to study
the impacts that the multiplex had on the urban development of Larissa was based on a questionnaire survey
conducted in the visitors of the multiplex. 102 questionnaires were completed in four different days and different
hours in the summer of 2003 and were processed using SPSS. The main variables are the following: sex, age,
educational level, occupation, marital status, residential area, means of transport to the multiplex, duration of
transport, frequency of visit, main and most frequent places of visit at the ‘commercial centre’ of the
surrounding area (which includes, apart from the multiplex, a supermarket, restaurants, bowling room, cafes
etc.), average money spent per visit, number of persons per visit, criteria according to which visitors prefer the
multiplex, compared to other cinemas in the city etc. Some of these variables are cross-examined in order to
draw conclusions about visitor’s habits, in relation to many of the aforementioned variables.
 K-Means Cluster analysis is also used in order to classify the main clusters of visitors. The result is the
classification of the visitors in five different groups, each with similar characteristics for its members. The paper
concludes with the positive and negative impacts of the operation of a multiplex in urban development. These
impacts are urban, economic, social and psychological. The paper focuses mainly on the urban impacts and on
urban planning issues that rise from the operation of multiplexes in a city, such as legislative issues,
architecture, parking spaces, attraction of tourists and investments, cultural issues, land uses etc.

Keywords: Cinema-going; multiplexes; urban development; visitor clusters; Larissa (Greece)

1. Introduction
This paper investigates the impacts of contemporary leisure places on urban development. In particular, it refers
to multiplexes and megaplexes, together with their supplemental activities, i.e. other leisure activities like
restaurants, bars etc.

Cinemas are considered to be an integral part of cities and they contribute to the definition of a local
geography and identity. They also contribute to the preservation of the collective memory, since they constitute a
significant social and cultural practice linked to a specific place, which acts as a common reference or landmark
for many individuals (Sifaki, 2003).

The peculiarity of Greece is the overconcentration in Athens, which, besides being the administrational
and economic capital, is also the leisure and cultural capital of Greece, and has shown in recent years a
considerable degree of growth of cinemas (Deffner, 2000).

The impact of multiplexes and megaplexes on the urban fabric, as well as urban planning policies in
certain countries, is considerable (Blatt, 1998). Most of the multiplexes are located near the center or in the
suburbs of major cities, and since they constitute a part of the urban fabric they must contribute to the quality of
urban life and respond to urban planning needs. In relation to city centers, there is always the danger of urban
decay and therefore they must be regenerated. This implies containing the growth of commercial developments
on the suburbs, including new cinemas (Blatt, 1998).

The main question that arises relates to the ways that a multiplex affects the development of a city, the
quality of life of its residents (and tourists), and, perhaps, the planning legislation in some countries.

2. The Emergence of Multiplexes

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Multiplexes1 and megaplexes2 emerged in the U.S.A. for reasons that had to do with the cinema market, the
economy, land value, suburbanization and the American way of life. In Europe, they emerged at different time
periods depending on the country. The first multiplex in Europe was the Bert multiplex in Brussels, Belgium,
which started operating in 1975. Sweden came next in 1980 (White Book of European Exhibition Industry,
1993). In the years that followed the situation of the cinema industry changed rapidly. At the beginning of 1999
there were 401 multiplexes and megaplexes in Europe, with a total of 4230 screens (European Cinema Journal,
1999). By November 2000, the number had raised to 597 complexes with 6319 screens (European Cinema
Yearbook, 2000).

In Greece, the first multiplex ever to operate was the Village cinema in Maroussi, in northern Athens,
with 10 screens and 2431 seats. Since then a number of other corporations, besides Village, invested in the Greek
film industry, namely Ster – Kinekor, Europlex BV, Citiplaza and Alpha Odeon. In August 2003 there were 6
multiplexes and 1 megaplex operating in Greece, with a total of 74 screens and about 17000 seats (Liouris,
2003). In 2004 Ster -Kinekor bought the two multiplexes of Europlex in the cities of Patras and Larissa.

This growth of multiplexes contributed, in connection to other factors, to the increase of the number of
tickets across Europe, without leading to the reduction of the number of tickets of the smaller cinemas. It also
helped raising the construction and infrastructure standards in general. But did it affect urban development, and,
if yes, in what ways and to what extent? This is the question the survey presented in this paper tried to answer.

3. The Ster (Ex-Europlex) Cinema in Larissa, Greece

The utrban agglomeration of Larissa has a population of nearly 200.000 inhabitants, located at the central part of
Greece, between Athens and Thessaloniki, in the region of Thessaly (it constitutes its capital). The Ster multiplex
is located at the suburbs of the city, at the Thessalia complex, which belongs to the Carrefour company and
covers an area of 7.000m2. The complex also includes the Carrefour Supermarket, an Italian and a Mexican
restaurant, a café, a bowling room and a kart racing track. There is a commercial center with 20 shops and a
parking space of 1700 places.

The multiplex has 8 screens with 1744 seats. There exists the possibility of ticket booking, while the
audiovisual infrastructure includes DTS, Dolby Digital Surround and Surround EX systems. There is easy
accessibility for disabled people. The complex was constructed in 8 months, and also includes a bar, offices, a
radio studio and storage rooms. The personnel are 26 people during the summer and 31 during the winter.

4. Methodology of the Survey

The Ster (ex Europlex) cinema in Larissa was selected as a case study and a questionnaire survey was conducted
at the complex addressed to visitors of the multiplex, as well as the whole Thessalia complex. The purpose of the

1
Cinemas with 8-15 screens.
2
Cinemas with 16 screens or more.

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survey was the designation of the profile of the visitors, as well as the examination of some hypotheses, e.g. if
the multiplex attracts people from other areas.

The choice of the participants at the survey was random, but an attempt was made to cover a wide range
of ages, to have equal participation of both sexes etc. The completion of the questionnaires was not very easy, as
the survey was conducted in the summer of 2003 – summer is a period where there are not that many visitors at
the complex.

102 questionnaires were filled in different days, so as to cover possible daily changes at the quality of
the sample. The completion of the questionnaires was done in Thursday 24th of July 2003 (noon to evening),
Tuesday 29th of July (noon to evening), Saturday 9th of August (evening to night) and Sunday 31st of August
(evening to night). The next step was the codification of answers, and these answers were imported in a
Microsoft Excel sheet. The data were processed by the SPSS package in order to draw out the findings and
conclusions (Liouris, 2003).

5. Results of the Survey

The findings include issues related to the demographic data of the sample, such as sex, age, educational level,
occupation, area of residence etc. Then follows the data related to the complex, such as ways of travel to the
complex from the area of residence, time of travel, basic reason of visit (cinema, shopping, dining etc.),
frequency of visit, average expenditure per visit, time of stay at the complex etc. Finally, there are the data for
the specific multiplex: the criteria for selecting the multiplex instead of the smaller cinemas of the city, if the
majority of movies watched was in the multiplex or not, the ways in which the multiplex contributes to the
development of the city etc. Some of the answers in certain questions were cross examined in order to draw out
some the necessary conclusions.

Additionally, a classification of visitors in clusters was made, using the K-Means Cluster method. The
visitors were classified into five groups, depending on the answers given in eight of the questions in the
questionnaire. The typical visitor of each group is described as follows:
• 1st group: aged 20 – 29 years old, from Larissa, visiting once every 2 months, mainly for the
multiplex.
• 2nd group: aged 40 – 49 years old, from other areas, once every 6 months, passing by, coming
mainly to shop at the Carrefour Supermarket.
• 3rd group: aged 30 – 39 years old, from Larissa, once every fortnight, visits mainly the
restaurants.
• 4th group, the one with the most cases: aged 20 – 29 years old, from Larissa, 3 times a week,
mainly for the Strike Bowling Club.
• 5th group: aged 20 – 29 years old, from neighbouring areas, once a month, mainly for the
multiplex.

6. Discussion

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The operation of a multiplex is related to the broader complex whose part it is. If, for example, the complex that
has a multiplex, has also a commercial center, then the attraction to the city’s public is bigger and that benefits
both places. In the case of Larissa, 40,6% of the visitors of Ster (ex Europlex) cinema also visit the Strike
Bowling Club, 24,6% the restaurants too, 26,1% the nearby cafe, and 42% also visit the Carrefour Supermarket.
Thus, the coexistence of many different activities creates significant positive synergies.

The synergies constitute an initial economic impact. Some argue that it is these accompanying services
that pull the people from the city’s’ center to a recreation complex at the suburbs (Frydman, 1998). This is the
reason that most of the multiplexes, especially in Europe, are accompanied by restaurants, bars etc. As the
clustering of the Thessalia visitors showed, there are some visitors coming to the cinema, and other groups of
visitors that come for shopping, dining and bowling.

A second positive economic impact is the attraction of visitors from other cities. As the survey on
Thessalia and Ster (ex Europlex) cinema showed, there are visitors coming from other, mostly neighbouring
cities, of which some come for the cinema and some for the Carrefour supermarket. Synergies do apply for these
also for the visitors. The attraction of such complexes to visitors of other cities increases the possibilities for
tourism development. If the city that has such a complex also has additional tourist resources, these combined
with the multiplex could lead to the development of cultural tourism in general. If not, then the only thing that
will probably occur is one-day short visits, mainly from the neighbouring areas. The latter is valid in the case of
Larissa.

Another positive economic impact is the creation of workplaces. These are separated in workplaces
during the construction and workplaces during the operation. However, the workplaces during the operation are
not that many (about 30 in the case of Ster) and some of them are seasonal.

The survey showed that the public believes that multiplexes contribute to urban development. 96,1% of
the sample think so, and more specifically 65,3% attribute it to the creation of workplaces, 50% to the attraction
of people from other cities, 71,4%to cultural development and 23,5% to the attraction of relevant activities
(Liouris, 2003).

The operation of a multiplex in a city also has some social impacts. Firstly, it contributes to its cultural
development, therefore it improves the quality of life in the city and creates a feeling of superiority for its
inhabitants, for example in relation to neighbouring cities that do not have a multiplex.

7. Conclusions
A multiplex increases the options of the inhabitants in terms of leisure. This has to do with the number of the
inhabitants, as well as the number of the accompanying services at the multiplex complex, e.g. bowling,
restaurants, ice skating, kart racing etc. Also, the city becomes more attractive and competitive in terms of city

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marketing, which is very important since there are no borders and cities compete at the international level. The
architecture of the complexes also plays an important role, as, in most cases, it is characterised as avant-garde.

However, there are also some negative social consequences. The sprawl of the multiplexes with its
enforced codes of style and consumption leave very little space for cultural diversity and expression (Sifaki,
2003). Additionally, due to the minimum critical market size for a multiplex, these tend to be constructed in
cities of at least 150.000 – 200.000 inhabitants. Thus, the turn of the cinema sector to multiplexes has the danger
of cinema (and also cultural) ‘devastation’ of areas without this critical population size.

In relation to urban space, cinemas perform two essential functions in the life of cities: the economic
and the social. The growth of commercial activity tends to cause municipal or neighbourhood populations to
cluster around focal points of activity, which become social meeting places. The result of this process is that
cinemas tend to play an important part in defining the quality of life in a city and in determining the level of the
residents’ satisfaction within a community (Blatt, 1998).

Because of the smaller land cost at the suburbs of major cities, and also of the difficulty of finding land
for multiplexes at the city centers, multiplexes are usually built at the suburbs. Thus, it is highly probable, for the
film industry to shift to the suburbs. This trend has planning impacts too, since due to the danger of the centers’
‘devastation’, countries like the U.K. and France have voted laws for the construction of multiplexes.

Additionally, the construction of a multiplex contributes to urban land economy, in comparison with
smaller cinemas with the same number of screens. For example, a multiplex with 8 screens needs less land than 8
cinemas with 1 screen each.

Multiplexes usually have parking spaces with hundreds of spaces, often provided for free. When they
are located near the city center they can contribute to the lack of parking spaces, even if these are not provided
for free. However, if the provided parking places are less than the demand for them, the opposite could happen:
this is the case for the Village multiplex in Maroussi, Athens.

A general remark about new cultural spaces is that their main impacts are in the sector of cultural
tourism, the education of young people, daily free time, daily movements, more familiarization of the inhabitants
with culture, and the demand for quality events. Also, the creation of new cultural places gives the brand of the
revitalization of regions and cities (Deffner, 1999). Of course these all also apply for the multiplexes.

At the European level the multiplexes contributed to the increase of the number of tickets. This implies
the construction of more multiplex complexes, which is also valid for Greece. Some of the questions for further
research are: a) will this cycle lead to the further development of the sector, b) will the sector start declining
again due to repletion, as it was the case in the 70’s and 80’s, when the continuous construction of multiplexes
had reached its maximum, and c) what will, in any case, be the consequences for urban development.

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and Great Britain’, Summary, at the MEDIA Salles Round Table The Impact of Multiplexes on the
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