Imagine apartments built into what used to be department stores, (Oh, you’re JC Penny 203? I’m at Sears 106). Get those old arcades up and running. Set up meal stations at the food court. Once people actually live there, stores will start to move back in.
If I’m unable to finish my life in my own home, that doesn’t sound like a terrible option.
In other countries, malls are still alive and well. In Philippines, that is where people literally chill in a hot tropical climate because of 24/7 air conditioning!
Malls are also seen as a sign of progress and modernity for many developing countries, so there is some cultural expectations to building and maintaining malls.
In US, we way overbuilt malls. There’s just too many. While I’m not a fan (shopping is not a destination, and I want to get it done as quickly as possible), I’m not entirely convinced they’re dying here either. Some people do like shopping and some people like the community experience. 3/4 of malls need to die, but we’ll see if it settles on a more sustainable number, or if online shopping ate their face
In the US we’re having a bit of a crisis of “third places”. Where do people hang out as a community? Where do you go? So many newly built suburbs don’t have any approximation of town center or community places. Malls served that need for a few decades, but many are going away. Now we’re trying to replace malls with “shopping districts”, basically rebuilding town centers that too many suburbs never had…. Plus they seem to be just a mall with less roof
There’s a mall near where I live that’s still pretty rad. I go there sometimes