China’s clever plan to save its dying shopping malls
Economic Development Engagement Year in ReviewSummary
Between 1990 and 2020, large shopping malls–frequented by the more affluent middle class–played a prevalent role in China’s booming economy. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the rise of online shopping, and other factors challenging China’s economic growth, many well-known stores and famous malls were forced to close, leaving ample retail space empty. Today, China is adopting creative solutions to use the excess mall space, such as making non-retail spaces more usable for the public by adding café tables in indoor walkways and atriums, or turning these non-retail spaces into children’s play spaces. Malls are also being adapted to cater to the growing middle class by incorporating China’s informal economy of food stalls and sidewalk merchants around the malls. Additionally, empty spaces previously designed for retail are being repurposed for other uses such as dance studios, art museums, small skating rinks, children’s play centers, and multiplayer electronic gaming experiences. Overall, malls are being reimagined as “palaces of experience” with more community and social spaces and new configurations of public and private spaces, for example, as vendors use the formerly open spaces.