The US Shopping Centre Experience and UK Trends

We have seen that the experience of developing shopping centres in America has led the way for the rest of the world. Even the adverse effects of out-of-town regional and strip malls on the American city centres, and the more recent attempts at regeneration, carry lessons for us all. The market-led economy of the United States is in many ways quite different from other countries. There, the consumer demand and commercial drive means that there is a vitality and volatility which is missing in Europe, or which is controlled by more central or local regulations. It is not uncommon, in America, to see a huge regional mall on highway intersections being challenged by one or more additional malls, in close proximity. It becomes survival of the fittest, with service, attraction and sheer commercial promotion and drive directing development. In Britain and France, for instance, such a scenario is hardly able to happen, due to the planning infrastructure, which dictates to the consumer what may be offered, rather than the customer directing what and where they find most desirable. These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.