Abandoned malls, the symbol of a lifestyle that some might argue rapidly is becoming outdated, are being used in interesting ways by some cities and towns left with large, often empty structures. Some cities are getting creative with billing removal or demolition costs, but others see the leftover buildings as the framework for opportunity. From the United Kingdom to Colorado, cities are turning the acreage once usurped by malls into vibrant mixed-use centers.

In some ways, enclosed malls will still be serving their original purpose even in their retrofitted state, given their remaining capacity to accommodate lots of stuff under one roof. By turning malls into downtown centers, cities create a single space in which people can access government, social outlets, courts, shopping, housing, sports and culture. The fundamental differences between malls and mixed-use developments are housing proximity and public transit. Malls themselves are often in the proverbial middle of nowhere -- close to nothing but a freeway. Malls are turning into dense housing with incorporated retail and business areas, greenspace, and accessible public transit.

The change has been stunning.  According to Ellen Dunham-Jones, Georgia Institute of Technology’s architecture program director, “In 2006 there was only one new, enclosed mall built in this country.” Compare that to the 1990s, when approximately 140 new malls were built each year, Dunham-Jones says. Clearly, malls haven't dodged the pain inflicted by the rise in fuel costs; essentially every industry that depends heavily on fuel is posting flat or negative growth.

In cities where physical boundaries limit the housing expansion possibilities, axing a floundering mall and redeveloping as a mixed-use project can be one way of addressing a housing crunch while maintaining retail space that is more conducive to small, local businesses. Strip malls are subject to the same treatment. California is replete with single-story malls that could be redeveloped or built upon vertically to  supplement the housing stock.

In most places, our mixed-use zoning laws trail our aspirations. Before environmental laws existed protecting consumers from toxics by regulating companies, zoning ordinances just put businesses close to each other so their pollution wouldn't impact housing. This is how brownfields, or former industrial spaces, came to be -- they were zoned for industrial, but redeveloped for domestic purposes. These days, zoning should be used to promote community and minimize driving. The retrofitting of malls is a great example of the potential benefits of a new development and tax paradigm.  

Photo by Clean Wal-Mart