[ue]

I think the crux is more with how things are developed and structured. It's more lucrative to combine a bunch of small lots and build an imposing, large structure that is totally out of scale, which will demand larger retail spaces in many cases. Cities in North America (and maybe elsewhere, I'm not sure) need to re-emphasize fine-grained, human-scaled streetscapes. Those spaces which are less lucrative to a DSW or Whole Foods. Not that larger scale retailers don't have their place, but honestly, how many Shoppers Drug Marts do we need?

But that only solves part of the issue. The other issue is that newer developments tend to seek higher rents and they tend to only lease out to more secure (ie chain) tenants. Banks are very popular in these situations as they are very secure, and likely to stay put for decades. It's partly for this reason that Jane Jacobs advocated for old commercial buildings and I think part of the solution is to preserve those buildings better where applicable (we don't need a museum city) while incentivizing fine-grained retail and giving loans to new entrepreneurs in new retail spaces.