US News and World Report examines some of the contributing factors that have lead to a general decline in many of America’s malls, once the stalwarts of suburban prosperity and convenience. One interesting note from the article is the underlying (and accepted) notion that malls have “natural lifespans,” owing to changes in consumer habits, architecture and population.
A fact that assumes developers are intentionally constructing these shopping centers with a level of obsolescence in mind, knowing full well that when these old spaces eventually shut down, they’ll simply build elsewhere. Some estimates predict that as many ten percent of these complexes could close [...]