shopping-centre

shopping-centre. Group of retail facilities in one complex. A C20 type, it originated in the USA in the 1920s, and was a response to the growing use of the motor car. The phenomenal growth of shopping-centres in the later C20 has profoundly affected not only shopping habits, but the characteristics and economies of traditional town centres. Types of shopping-centres are the small neighbourhood centre serving the immediate surroundings; the suburban centre serving a larger area; the larger-scale regional centre with a big range of shops and services, usually situated immediately outside cities; and the urban retail complex intended to compete with suburban shopping centres, often containing an hotel, offices, and residential accommodation as well as shops and carparks. One of the first large suburban shopping centres was the Northgate Shopping Center, outside Seattle, WA (opened 1950), laid out along a pedestrian mall. At the Northland Center, Detroit, MI (1952–4—by Gruen), the whole complex was within an air-conditioned structure. At the Southdale Center, Minneapolis, MN (1954–6—also by Gruen), the mall reappeared, but this time it was enclosed, environmentally controlled, two storeys high, and had landscaped interiors. Smaller in-town developments, such as the Lijnbaan, Rotterdam (1950–3—by van den Broek and Bakema), have not aged gracefully.

Bibliography

Gruen (1964, 1973);
Gruen & and L. Smith (1960);
Jane Turner (1996)