Malls

Six Positive Innovations in Housing From 2024
The year saw some encouraging developments in housing and zoning policies that could alleviate the housing crisis and offer renters and homebuyers more diverse options.

Shifts in Shopping: Transforming Malls Into Parks
Maybe zombie malls still have a second life — one with a little greenery.

Mall Redevelopment in Silicon Valley
Dead malls across the Bay Area are being transformed into R&D centers, housing, and transportation hubs.

Pennsylvania Mall Conversion Bill Passes House
If passed, the bill would promote the adaptive reuse of defunct commercial buildings.

The Mall Is Dead — Long Live the Mall
The American shopping mall may be closer to its original vision than ever.

The Walkable Urbanism of Big Box Stores
For residents of many U.S. small towns and exurbs, the local Walmart offers a surprising benefit missing elsewhere in their communities: walkability.

Retrofitting D.C.’s Suburbs for a New Era
How to equip suburban sprawl for a different future.

The Evolution of Retail Centers
Catalytic developments initiate economic and cultural improvements.

Can Pickleball Save Dying Malls?
The popular sport is getting backlash for taking over parks and other facilities. Now, the industry is partnering with mall developers to transform old department stores into pickleball courts.

Orange County Developers Eye Dying Malls for Housing, Mixed-Use
As indoor malls lose their luster, their properties offer convenient amenities and infrastructure perfectly suited for redevelopment into housing, parks, and retail.

The Top Urban Planning Books of 2022
An annual list of the must-read books related to urban planning and its intersecting fields.

$1 Billion Redevelopment Planned for a Former Mall in Cutler Bay, Florida
Mall not making money like it used to? How would a $1 billion redevelopment sound?

A Second Life for the American Mall
‘Dead’ suburban malls, with their existing infrastructure, offer a variety of opportunities for redevelopment into everything from housing to parks.

Dead Mall? Convert it to a Health Clinic
Closed and struggling malls around the country are being repurposed as healthcare centers.

Rethinking Retail Space in the Wake of COVID-19
As e-commerce boomed and people sought outdoor shopping and dining options, the pandemic accelerated the decline of massive, merchandise-oriented retail spaces and indoor malls.
L.A. Mall Purchase Would Be the Biggest Victory Yet for Community-Driven Development
The Baldwin Hills-Crenshaw Plaza mall is 41 acres of prime commercial real estate in the nation’s second largest city. When the mall came up for sale last year, a group of residents decided to shoot for the moon and started organizing to buy it.

Phoenix Mall Sold for Mixed-Use Redevelopment
The former Paradise Valley Mall will undergo a conversion to a mixed-use community with homes, offices, and stores.

Can Mall Redevelopment 'Urbanize the Suburbs'?
Local leaders in Virginia are banking on mall redevelopment projects to revive their tax bases and create more mixed-use neighborhoods.

Post-Pandemic Era of Shopping Malls Creates Opportunities for Downtowns
The COVID-19 pandemic and massive mall-retailer closings has left millions of highly skilled workers from the retail and food and beverage industries unemployed and eager to work. Many will seek to open their own businesses in downtowns.

A Death Knell for Department Stores
The latest chapter of the retail apocalypse is not a happy one.
Pagination
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Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
City of Albany
UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
City of Piedmont, CA
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research