REVITALIZATION:
A MALL ORDER BY MELANIE ROBITAILLE, SR. STAFF WRITER & GRAPHIC DESIGNER
There’s a fascination with abandoned places sensationalized by Urbexers and social media, and over the last decade scenes of empty, dilapidated, and overgrown shopping centers have gained serious popularity. The year 2007 marked the first time since the 1950’s where no new malls were built in the U.S. according to the BBC, and by 2008, Newsweek had basically declared indoor malls obsolete. Anchor department stores closed at an alarming rate post Great Recession, and factors like a shift to online buying and pandemic restrictions, took their respective tolls on shopping centers around the world.
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