Shopping and Urbanity: Emerging Assemblages of Main Street, Mall, and Power Centre

ABSTRACT Car-dependent cities of the mid-late twentieth century transformed urban shopping as shopping centres became privatised and separated from urban life – traditional main streets were often replaced by suburban malls and then power centres (big-box clusters). We identify 13 emerging synergies between these retail types and critique the ways the synergies may foster or endanger urban public life. This evidence suggests contradictory trends: a return to urbanity with more fine-grained, mixed-use, and pedestrian-friendly shopping, juxtaposed with anti-urban tendencies of entrenched car-dependency and sophisticated private control. The role of planning in creating resilient urbanity is at stake.