Malls as Public Space

India’s urban growth story has been accompanied by the growth in consumerism. And Malls are the most visual landmarks of the new consumerist society. In fact, malls have doubled in the past 5 years in spite of the slowing economy. With malls becoming such an important part of the urban landscape they deserve serious and critical analysis, and not be dismissed as yet another passing fad. Being a western invention, it is no wonder that most malls look like alien spaces in the midst of Indian cities. The success of malls can be partly credited to the clean, posh environment for shopping, eating and entertainment, and partly credited to the loss of quality public spaces in Indian cities. Traditionally, these functions (shopping, eating and entertainment) were carried out on the streets and chowks of Indian cities in turn becoming an integral part of the urban drama.

With growing privatization, an increasingly capitalist economy and a growing consumerist society, malls present a serious competition to the city’s already dwindling public spaces. The Indian urban culture is going through a massive change, and it becomes a point of debate if malls are following the crowd or the crowd is following the mall. Whatever the answer, the fact is that malls now dot our urban landscape and are becoming an integral part of our social (and cultural) life. They have become identities and landmarks of their respective districts, and are at the centre of today’s urban life. Malls are being used as meeting points, spaces to celebrate, to hang out with friends, date, work, play, (and one mall even allows morning walkers inside before the mall opens) ….. all in a secure, climatically controlled, professionally managed indoor environment. A mall becomes a one-stop, all-under-one-roof maga-space where I can shop, eat, play, get entertained and relax. The mall has replaced the shopping street, the chowk, the nukkad, the maidan. So does this make malls the new “Public Space”?

The success of a mall is based on the footfalls and revenue generated, and there is hardly any critique on the urban design aspects. Catering mainly to car-owners the “urban face” of malls only gives a sideways glance to pedestrians and almost turns a blind eye to the streetscape.  Then, how can a space be termed as a “Public Space” if it does not become an integral part of the public realm or even acknowledge it? The problem lies not so much inside the mall as outside it. Most malls, by virtue of their inherent genetic character turn their backs to the city, presenting huge blank facades that can only be used for advertisements and billboards. Malls are designed as an inward-looking, insular spaces because their success depends largely on the make-believe, perfect environment within that is diametrically opposite the polluted, chaotic real city outside. Malls thrive on the citizens’ aspirations to escape the real city.

Mall designers have perfected the art and science of shopping and created formulae that are being duplicated throughout the world. This formula is based on a primary assumption of man as a consumer rather than a social being. A person in a mall is primarily a consumer of brands, and a person on the street is primarily a social being. The activity of shopping, eating and entertainment is as much a social activity as one of consumerism. Charles Correa’s design of the City Centre Mall at Salt Lake City, Kolkata is an attempt to integrate the mall into the urban-scape and be a celebration of the social aspects of our society rather than celebrating only consumerism. It is time architects and urban designers in India re-evaluate the Mall within the context of Indian cities and make them an integral part of the Indian urban landscape in the true sense.