Shopping mall

:For the traditional meaning of the word mall, see mall.

History

Indoor shopping is not a recent innovation. Isfahan's Grand Bazaar, which is largely covered, dates from the 10th century A.D. The 10 kilometer long covered Tehran's Grand Bazaar has also a very old history. The Burlington Arcade in London was opened in 1819. The Arcade in Providence, Rhode Island introduced the concept to the United States in 1828. The larger Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II in Milan, Italy followed in the 1860s and is closer to large modern malls in spaciousness. Many other large cities created similar malls in the late 19th century and early 20th century along similar lines, one of the best examples being the Cleveland Arcade.

Related Topics:
Isfahan - Tehran's Grand Bazaar - Burlington Arcade - The Arcade - Providence, Rhode Island - United States - Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II - Milan - Italy - 19th century - 20th century - Cleveland Arcade

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In the late 20th century, with the rise of the suburb and automobile culture in the United States, a new form of mall was created away from city centers. It is said that the design is modeled originally after the inner city shopping district of Vienna, the concept was created by the Austrian migrant and architect Victor Gruen. This new generation of mall was pioneered by Northgate where Gruen realised his concept for the first time, located in north Seattle, USA, in 1950; Northland Shopping Center, built near Detroit, USA in 1954; and Victor Gruen's Southdale Center, located in the Twin Cities suburb of Edina, Minnesota, USA, in 1956. In the UK, Chrisp Street Market was the first pedestrian shopping area built with a road at the shop fronts.

Related Topics:
Suburb - Automobile - Vienna - Victor Gruen - Northgate - Seattle - USA - 1950 - Detroit - 1954 - Southdale Center - Twin Cities - Edina, Minnesota - 1956 - UK - Chrisp Street Market

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

A very large shopping mall is sometimes called a megamall. The title of the largest enclosed shopping mall was held by the West Edmonton Mall in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada for 20 years. One of the world's largest shopping complex at one location is the two-mall agglomeration of the Plaza at King of Prussia and the Court at King of Prussia in the Philadelphia suburb of King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, USA. The most visited shopping mall in the world and largest mall in the United States is the Mall of America, located near the Twin Cities in Bloomington, Minnesota, USA. However, several Asian malls are advertised as having more visitors, including Berjaya Times Square.

Related Topics:
West Edmonton Mall - Edmonton, Alberta - Canada - Plaza at King of Prussia - Court at King of Prussia - Philadelphia - King of Prussia, Pennsylvania - USA - Mall of America - Twin Cities - Bloomington, Minnesota - Berjaya Times Square

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The race is on to build the largest mall. Beijing's Golden Resources Shopping Mall, opened in October 2004, is the world's largest, at 6 million square feet (600,000 m²). The Mall of Arabia inside Dubai Land in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, which will open in 2006, will become the largest mall in the world. Both might be smaller than Berjaya Times Square which is advertised at 7 million square feet.

Related Topics:
Mall of Arabia - Dubai Land - Dubai - United Arab Emirates - 2006 - Berjaya Times Square

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

[[image:Pitt_Street_Mall_Sydney.jpg|thumb|right|250px| "Pitt Street Mall" of Sydney is Australia's busiest shopping precinct. This strip mall has eight retail centres and more than 600 speciality stores, within two city blocks.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Along Pitt Street Mall, the centers are Glasshouse, Imperial Arcade, Mid City Centre, Piccadilly, Sydney Central Plaza, The Strand Arcade and Westfield Centrepoint.http://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/sydney-shopping/ShoppingCentres/Default.html]]

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Mall can refer to a shopping mall, which is a place where a collection of shops all adjoin a pedestrian area, or an exclusively pedestrian street, that allows shoppers to walk without interference from vehicle traffic. Mall is generally used in North America and Australasia to refer to large shopping areas, while the term arcade is more often used, especially in Britain, to refer to a narrow pedestrian-only street, often covered or between closely spaced buildings. A larger, often only partly covered but exclusively pedestrian shopping area is in Britain also termed a shopping precinct or pedestrian precinct. The majority of British shopping centers are in town centers, usually inserted into old shopping districts, and surrounding by subsidiary open air shopping streets. A number of large out of town "regional malls" such as Meadowhall were built in the 1980s and 1990s, but there are only ten of them or so and current planning regulations prohibit the construction of any more. Out of town shopping developments in the UK are now focused on retail parks, which consist of groups of warehouse style shops with individual entrances from outdoors. Planning policy prioritizes the development of existing town centers, although with patchy success.

Related Topics:
Shop - North America - Australasia - Britain - Meadowhall

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~