Modern Shopping Malls

2011 Words9 Pages
By the middle of the 20th century in the USA, the population was growing and urbanites were seeking to escape from the intolerable urban conditions. In order to accommodate the flood of humans seeking a shelter, trees were chopped down and rows of prefabricated houses popped up like mushrooms on the outskirts of the cities - “modern suburbia was born, in which there were neither the values of a rural community nor those of an urban environment”. Cities grew at rapid speed and once accessible by walk city centres were suddenly miles away for those who decided from necessity to live on the suburbs. Moreover old downtowns due to its narrow streets were not designed to accommodate huge automobile traffic or provide sufficient parking space (Fig.…show more content…
By 1960 in USA there were 4500 malls accounting for 14% of retail sales. By 1975 there were 16,400 shopping centers accounting for 33% of retail sales . In 1987, there were already 30,000 malls accounting for over 50% of all retail dollars spent. In order to understand the concept of modern Shopping Centre it is vital to understand they key differences between various kinds of these building which have been formed over time. Today’s Shopping Malls fall into five major categories: city centre malls, neighbourhood malls, community malls, regional malls and megamalls. City Centre Malls - can be built underground or as a part of urban redevelopment programme. Neighbourhood Malls - are often accompanied by a supermarket and serve up to 40,000 people. Neighbourhood malls are usually located on local streets. Community Malls - adds a large inexpensive chain store and increase its capacity to serve up to 150,000 people. Those types of malls are often located in proximity to highway arteries. Regional Malls - usually support two main department stores and a large number r of various smaller specialised shops. Regional malls are usually located at major highway…show more content…
Moreover more and more malls are starting to be shutting down due to scarcity of customers and consequent unprofitability. In other cases governments are agains idea of spreading ‘Malls’. In the United Kingdom planning regulations prohibit construction of new malls besides those already build in fear of dropping national identity and undermining local heritage. Besides that we can not forget about wide spreading tendency of shopping online which is perceived as more convenient equivalent of shopping in the mall. In this case Shopping Malls offers ‘physical experience’ of shopping which is impossible to replicate, however it seems like this battle with invisible enemy in the form of e-commerce is already lost among members of our constantly rushed

More about Modern Shopping Malls

Open Document