This map shows how commercial activity is distributed within urban areas and the impact of commercial services on the urban landscape, by mapping what proportion of stores (hence jobs) in an urban area that are found in arterial strips. Arterial strips are those through streets that are lined with retail and service activities catering to automobiles and their drivers: service stations and dealerships, fast food outlets and free-standing retailers. These areas developed during the last half of the 20th century, as new activities emerged to serve the changing needs of suburban consumers. Planners try to bring them (and the traffic they generate) under control by supporting the development of planned shopping centres and/or industrial districts in competition. The distribution shows that the cities in Quebec have much higher proportions of stores in this category than cities in Ontario. In contrast cities in western Canada have low proportions.