Shopping Centers

Google Maps view of one-story shopping center with large parking lot.

Ohio Suburb Reenvisions Car-Oriented Shopping Center

Garfield Heights wants to transform a 1960s complex nestled in a sea of surface parking into a walkable, mixed-use development.

October 31, 2023 - Cleveland.com

Aerial view of suburban Sterling, Virginia near Washington D.C.

Retrofitting D.C.’s Suburbs for a New Era

How to equip suburban sprawl for a different future.

July 2, 2023 - Greater Greater Washington

Nighttime shot of decorative fountain with horses and Country Club Plaza tower in background

Three Planning Innovations, a Century Later

Three events turning 100 this year have had a long-lasting impact on the shape of American urban design and land use.

October 3, 2022 - Diana Ionescu

cpaulfell

New York City's First Outlet Mall Still a 'Ghost Town'

Perched on the northeastern tip of Staten Island next to the ferry terminal, Empire Outlets has only filled 26 of its 75 storefronts since a grand opening in May.

September 2, 2019 - The City

Shopping Mall

Are Malls and Streets Destined to Merge?

While much has been made of the suburban shopping mall's decline, successful urban retail spaces are taking their inspiration from the humble city street.

March 21, 2017 - The Guardian

South Mall Parking Lot

On the Life Cycle of Suburban Malls

Using Greenwood, Indiana as an example, Eric McAfee discusses how the value of individual suburban malls depreciates over time. Shiny new shopping centers compensate for inevitable vacancies in older ones.

November 14, 2015 - Urban Indy

Shopping Mall

Death of the Shopping Mall May Be Exaggerated

Despite threats like online retail, upscale sectors of the mall market are prospering. This is good news for what are, perhaps, the only walkable 'streets' in some parts of the country.

March 31, 2015 - CityLab

1954 Report Explains a lot About Parking Requirements, Shopping Centers

Historic planning documents, like those found in the APA's Planning Advisory Service, are full of lessons about how past planning doctrines failed their intentions, and it's always a good time for planners to re-evaluate their antecedents.

March 3, 2015 - Strong Towns

A Tale of Two Shopping Centers

As the global recession continues to hit the global economy, shopping centers take on two distinct development patterns in developed and developing nations.

June 28, 2012 - Retail Traffic

Shopping Center Tracking System Raises Privacy Concerns

A new technology enables pedestrian behavior and flow to be monitored continuously using mobile phone technology. Its use in US and UK shopping centers has consumer rights activists worried.

January 9, 2012 - The Guardian

Disney-Adjacent Development, For Sale By Owner

Built during the height of the boom, GardenWalk in Anaheim was a can't-fail mixed-use shopping center with condos. The retail opened just as the recession hit, and this week the developer has put the condo construction rights up for sale.

March 18, 2010 - The Los Angeles Times

Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Box?

As a young kid, skirting aimlessly throughout my suburban municipality from one car-optimized shopping center to the next on my bicycle in search of stimulation (and perhaps trouble), I vividly recall - though I likely didn't describe it as - the internal conflict between interesting commercial destinations on the inside, and the banal, cruel approach to these places on the outside.  Although the primitive human desires of my psyche subconsciously longed for a central place to congregate with other lost children of the suburbs, I never had a downtown; I never had a community center.  In this vacuum, I compensated with all that was available.

January 31, 2010 - Ian Sacs

Dead Malls: Suburban Planning Nightmare or Opportunity?

Failing malls didn’t get into trouble overnight: most began their descent long before the tough climate.

September 30, 2009 - Building Place Notebook

Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools

This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.

Planning for Universal Design

Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.

Top Books

An annual review of books related to planning.

Top Schools

The definitive ranking of graduate planning programs.

100 Most Influential Urbanists

The who's who of urbanism, according to Planetizen readers.

Urban Planning Creators You Should Know

A short list of voices on social, video, and podcasting platforms.