Dan Bell’s videos are a testament to a change in the retail market around the world. While European cities still have lively urban centers with small cafés and boutique shops, many cities in other parts of the world (all and foremost the US) don’t have such a long history of town centers stemming from the Middle Ages. Even in Europe a lot of malls sprouted after WW II. For more than half a century, malls seemed to be the pinnacle of retail business. And they worked for several decades. But today, more and more malls are abandoned or don’t even reach their opening day.

The decline of malls with big parking lots, that are built on the fringes of cities, is becoming more and more obvious today. It happens faster in some countries and slower in others, but the overall direction seems to be determined: malls are a thing of the past.

Not only do more and more people not want to commute to these shopping temples outside the city borders, but an increasing number of people despises the artificial flair of these building complexes. Those longing for authenticity and human interaction don’t want to wander around a structure screaming “impersonal consume culture” at them. And the trend for “authentic” business interactions and a longing for real social interaction has only just begun.

So what is the alternative to malls? One solution attempted is to put malls into city centers instead of moving them outside. This alleviates one of the drawback of 20th century malls. But then the design of these malls needs to appeal to the modern urban consumer with a longing for uniqueness and authenticity. It’s hard to deliver that within an economic mall context. But sprinkling some local shops and boutiques between the large retail chains could help attract more shoppers. However, this solution seems more like an attempt to remedy the symptoms rather than attacking the root cause.

As I said in my introduction, most European cities already sit on a treasure inherited from the founding time of many cities in the Middle Ages: lively town centers with small cafés and shops. And more and more cities begin to actively cultivate and develop that heritage. Malls are forbidden for the benefit of shops in the city center, streets are turned into pedestrian zones, new district centers are planned with central places and areas for cafés and boutique shops. And people flock to these areas.

Supporting trends for this development are car free city centers, the closing of roads, bike lanes and more space for pedestrians. Italian cities are already often closed for cars – and we like them. London makes drivers pay heavy fees for bringing their car into the city center. And Barcelona is planning super blocks to give urban space back to people.

So watch that trend. My advice is to stay away from mall investments or at least consider them short term engagements. The transition of impersonal and car-centered city centers towards social and person-centered city centers seems to be a strong trended picking up speed.