Not sure that this topic is sitting in the right place…but here is the story that I’d like to share to you guys and maybe can get some new thougth about it.
A couple months a go I’ve a chance to visit my relative in the states(in Sandiego to be precise) and I quite enjoy a time in the sunny land of SoCal alot.
Until this thing come across my mind one day when I’m back to Thailand.
I notice one thing back in the States that people get their things from Walmart you can get your food your drink your clothes or even an Iphone.
Back then I only think that it kinda cool to have such a store, a place that you can get everything done in no time. but then I realise that there’re dark sides in this story too.
- How we gonna know the origin of them(goods)? how they get it? who is the manufacturer? is it really fresh enough? a lot of question about how they do business.
- this one is my true concern, the local business. when a chain of walmart pop-up in the city one things that can be sure is the local grocers are about to lose their business while maybe the thing that those local shop sell is in the equal quality as walmart or even better. the city becomes more like a clones of the mega-store pattern. and not only the grocer but imagine the farmer that hardly grows his products very organiclly 100%pesticide free but can’t stand a deal that the mega-store forced to them.
And it really change us too before, In Thailand we buy fresh vegetable right from the farmer or at least “entrust” local grocer and eat nice gourmet food from local food stall but now we rely ourselves with Tesco McDonald and 7-eleven!!
While there’s still some bright side about this globalization capitalism blah blah blah but can we balance it with the local ways?? can we use design knowledge in this issue? just to throw us some thing to discuss! 
also i’ve been research in this kind of issue and come across this study which i think it really worth to give it a look!
http://www.neweconomics.org/gen/local_ghost.aspx