Supermarkets decimate social cohesion.

In his presentation to the recent Green Party Conference David Boyle of The New Economics Foundation dismissed outright the notion that industrial centralisation contains any benefit and also stated that it decimates social cohesion: "A recent study showed that towns in the US containing a Wal-Mart have fewer amenity groups, fewer local activities, less scout groups and a lower voting turn-out than places that don't. Why? Because these giant, rational, centralised systems suck the life out of places and the people that live there."

It would be interesting to have a similar survey done in the UK. Not mentioned is the fact that areas with a good supply of local shops have less crime.