MEGA suburban shopping malls-should they be curtailed?

[PeFe]

I have often wondered whether it is time to actively discourage the continuous expansion of mega shopping malls in the middle and outer suburbs. Wastefield Marion would have to be a prime example-the cinemas at Glenelg supposedly closed because they couldn't compete with the Marion megaplex even though it was 8 (?) kilometres away! Mega shopping malls encourage the mindless suburban sprawl you see across most Australian cities...car dependency increases..try living in the middle or outer suburbs without a car and see how hard it is. The concept of "local shops" is really struggling to survive in suburbia that is centred around some tacky mall that is a glorified car-park with 100 shops. Personally I really dislike TTP and Noarlunga Centre. Even local councils realise all is not as it should be as they releasesd a draft plan to turn Noarlunga Centre into a "real" town centre with people living there and good public transport to bolster the atmosphere of the place when the shopping centre is closed.

[stumpjumper]

You might enjoy reading 'The Life and Death of Great American Cities' by Jane Jacobs.

Without getting too tree hugging about it, there's a good argument that malls suck the retail life out of the urban fabric for a considerable radius, with some attendant negative social effects. The possibly cheaper prices the community pays at a mall compared with the local shop is balanced by the price paid in the loss of local amenity.

Consider as an example the SA Housing Trust suburbs - Ascot Park, Mansfield Park etc. Dotted through these suburbs were small shopping centres, often on a corner, comprising half a dozen shops with a bit of parking in front. The idea was that everyone, even the aged, in those suburbs lived within walking distance of the greengrocer, butcher, chemist, chemist, hairdresser, deli or small supermarket and post sub-agency. This scale and proximity promoted 'community'. There was usually a community noticeboard, and use of the shops provided a lot of residents with the sort of social interaction with neighbours that isn't available in a mall.

'Multiple bottom line accounting' would put a value on the non-cash amenity these little shopping centres provided. The loss not only of the businesses as local employers, but of their social utility should be taken into account when assessing the real value to us of malls.

[AtD]

Stumpy: Your argument would carry more weight if the areas around Tea Tree Plaza weren't full of dozens of those sort of shopping centres.

I don't think malls are all bad, but Adelaide has a poor selection. Most of the malls in SA isolate themselves from the local area through big blank walls and seas of car parking. There are several around, especially in higher density areas of Sydney and Melbourne, that do the opposite. These malls have shops that face the street, good corridors to local public transport, no car parks on ground level, etc.

[Aidan]

You might enjoy reading 'The Life and Death of Great American Cities' by Jane Jacobs.

You may also enjoy reading Reaper Man by Terry Pratchett.

But IMNSHO the answer is a no for several reasons: firstly because curtailing the growth of suburban shopping malls won't be enough to stop the problem. People will always prefer bigger shopping malls, and indeed bigger shops.

Secondly, too many development restrictions are already holding our state back.

Thirdly, it would deprive us of a great opportunity. There is plenty of scope for residential development above our suburban malls. This is something we're likely to see a lot more of as land prices increase.

Fourthly, and most importantly, well planned local shops can survive the competition from the big malls. I live in Hallett Cove, within walking distance of the site of the original Hallett Cove Shopping Centre, which was between the railway, Grand Central Avenue and St Vincents Avenue. It closed in the late '80s, being unable to withstand competition from the one on Lonsdale Road (which was much smaller than it is now). Later when Hallett Cove was extended across the river, a deli was built on the site - but it too couldn't survive and it's all housing now. However other parts of Hallett Cove do have local shops still open - indeed the ones by Hallett Cove station opened since the others shut. And the ones on the corner of Barramundi and Quailo are still there. The key is location. As long as there's plenty of passing traffic, the local shops are likely to do well. It doesn't have to be car traffic, but it does have to be there.

The presence of the local shops won't prevent the suburb being car dependent because the residents still need to get elsewhere. Likewise the absence of local shops won't make the suburb car dependent because the residents can catch buses and trains to the shops. It's worth remembering that the large malls are significant enough traffic generators to have bus routes converging there and bus interchanges built there. By encouraging bus routes to converge, the megamalls play an important part in the development of our public transport network.

As for the cinemas at Glenelg, they closed because the land was worth more than the cinemas themselves. Several City cinemas closed for the same reason, and you can't blame the suburban malls for that.