Impact of Malls on the Cities in the Middle East

Posted by fionawilson on May 19th, 2021

Due to the growing population and recent technological advancements, cities and malls have become indistinguishable from each other. In reality, new shopping centers continue integrating into the urban landscape. Therefore, it is quite difficult to draw the line between the malls and cities in the Middle East. While urban malls have some specific appeal, the net effect lies in the transformation of cities into malls. The more designers of malls and manufacturers move shopping away from the places of peoples residence, the more they increase the impact of transportation and other facilities on the environment and dwellers themselves. The reason why the residents of the Middle East countries prefer shopping in brick-and-mortar stores, including malls, is their attractiveness and peoples interest in visiting new, big places. Otherwise, shoppers would simply choose using online services, and the sense of building malls would be simply lost. In most cases, people prefer to be outside their houses and enjoy the external and internal beauty of malls. Consequently, they prefer visiting malls to shopping online. The impact of malls on the cities of the Middle East and their dwellers is significant despite the fact that these shopping centers have numerous advantages and opportunities, while their disadvantages are also observed.

Benefits of Shopping Malls and Opportunities that They Bring

Global trends and tendencies continue affecting the retail sector and populations preferences. The majority of young people live in cities, utilize digital technology, and like to visit shopping centers, while older adults live in rural areas. Thus, not all of them are familiar with the way technology works and they do not like big, noisy, and crowded places. Retailers also have various opportunities in big shopping centers. At the same time, they face some challenges due to the competitiveness and public concerns regarding the construction of new malls. However, people recognize the positive aspects that malls bring to them. Due to the fact that online shopping has become popular in recent years, small operators have received a great opportunity to reach buyers across the world without having to cross physical borders (Yarwood, 2011). However, globalization and increased urbanization have offered new and unique possibilities for brick-and-mortar stores and their development. A significant number of middle-class consumers in developing countries demonstrate the readiness to spend much money on purchasing branded and high-quality products. This is particularly evident among the Middle Eastern consumers who love to shop and who do not imagine their lives without visiting big stores.

In recent years, attending malls has become an inalienable part of the regions national character, culture, and traditions, and some people prefer visiting shopping centers instead of spending their time online for making necessary purchases. The countries of the Middle East, particularly Saudi Arabia and the UAE, have distinctive and powerful shopping culture due to the long-term strategy, developed by these countries. As a result, the region has become a leader in providing leisure and hospitality services as well as a global shopping capital that attracts millions of tourists from various countries. Malls and urbanity have changed the way society functions and perceives big shopping centers in the neighboring areas. They have facilitated peoples lives by providing them with more opportunities and options to choose from. Many individuals from all over the world come specifically to large cities, such as Dubai, to shop because it has more malls if compared to any other city in developed and developing countries. Big shopping centers have the stores of famous and leading brands. Moreover, they offer many places where locals and tourists can eat, have some rest, socialize, and enjoy a variety of attractions as well as attend various shopping festivals. Malls in the major cities of the Middle East offer numerous options and help people enjoy unbelievable experience throughout the year, particularly when the weather is still too hot to be outside (Yarwood, 2011). Therefore, it is not surprising that the native population views shopping malls as social spaces and entertainment, recreation destinations that fulfill various functions and meet peoples needs. Traditions have slightly changed. However, people in the Middle East have shifted their preferences from utilizing online stores to visiting large shopping centers due to their scale, services, products, and goods that they offer.

Considering Western experience in regards to the design and layout of shopping malls, the UAE designers, builders, and engineers choose the right ratio between open spaces and landscaping. In city planning, they highlight the importance of the proper utilization of space throughout the day. Nowadays, outdoor malls help officials, who fund their construction, to save money by providing naturally ventilated buildings and open spaces since air conditioning is considered an outdated option for a modern city. While air conditioning has become obsolete to some extent due to the development of technological advancements and innovations that have replaced it, electricity bills should be considered. Malls consume significant amounts of electricity for air conditioning and artificial lighting that equal to the amount that a neighborhood might use during a certain period of time. In traditional Middle Eastern bazaars, ventilated domes covered the roof of the main pedestrian walkways (Khirfan, 2016). Thus, the experience of previous generations would help overcome current conditions related to the climatic challenges without the need to install air-conditioning systems.

The city of Dubai is characterized by spectacular shopping that attracts millions of shoppers from all corners of the world. The size, scale, and the use of specific themes distinguish Dubai malls from each other. However, their proliferation and expansion raise the question of saturation. The financial liability of big shopping centers is often questioned due to the fact that consumer spending has been characterized by decline and people are reluctant to spend money on traveling. However, not all countries have the similar situation. For the last few years, the global community has witnessed the emergence and formation of a mall-centered life in Ankara, Turkey (Akcaoglu, 2009). Therefore, social activities, culture, institutions, and economy have shifted from city centers to shopping malls.

Locals and foreigners can develop a cognition map of a mall, which can help them navigate through the space quickly and properly. Due to the frequent use of space, consumers can make a better image of a place that they visit and easily find the necessary store. When constructing modern shopping malls in the Middle East, designers and builders have paid more attention to the interior environment instead of the exterior one and focused on the modern consuming experience that prevails in urban areas (Larkin, 2010). In reality, the design and massive construction of shopping centers and multifunctional complexes have forced merchants to become more demanding in choosing a place in a shopping center. Thus, the prospects of trade are connected with the flow of consumers to a mall.

Issues Caused by Shopping Malls

Despite numerous benefits that shopping malls bring to big cities and their dwellers, they still cause various issues that require proper resolution. From the financial perspective, the city municipality spends much money on building shopping malls and covering the costs of electricity and infrastructure facilities. Shopping centers offer only low-skill jobs and, consequently, low salaries. As a result, the Middle East cities with big malls suffer from the high rate of poverty among their population. Furthermore, large shopping centers force the owners of small shops to close their businesses. In this case, the rate of unemployment in the neighboring areas and cities increases. From an environmental perspective, the construction of big shopping centers in the Middle East increases the demand for sewage and water services, enhances traffic congestion, and causes air and noise pollution (Khirfan, 2016). These issues are expected to aggravate after the opening of new malls in the regions big cities. In addition, shopping malls require asphalting large areas that are used as car parking lots. Moreover, these centers undermine the areas livability, particularly, its open spaces, and minimize the movement of pedestrians. Therefore, in order to avoid these issues, it is crucial to divide car parking areas into modules, separated by landscaping. Despite the high prices of services and goods, offered in malls, these big centers encourage and facilitate the social interaction and consequent socialization of people of various ages, genders, races, and backgrounds in modern society. Malls contain places, where locals and tourists can find entertainment, talk, eat, gather, and engage in various interesting activities. A good and friendly environmental atmosphere is provided as well.

The Resolution of Issues and Public Engagement

In order to address the abovementioned issues related to the shopping malls in the Middle Eastern, it is important to engage society in the resolution of issues and intensify public efforts in the planning process. The city officials should also consider the opinion of dwellers since they can be dissatisfied with noise, pollution, and traffic congestion, caused by the construction of big shopping malls in the neighboring areas. In this regard, ignoring peoples interests and concerns is unacceptable due to the fact that they are the main users of provided services and goods in the short- and long-term perspectives. Moreover, local residents should no longer be the cultural dupes who accept everything that they have been offered. Precise evaluation and assessment should be conducted in advance while specifically considering the views of people, living in neighboring areas (Elsheshtawy, 2010). Otherwise, the protests and dissatisfaction of locals will be unavoidable. However, in most cases, malls are designed to influence consumers behavior and encourage consumption.

To conclude, in recent years, malls have transformed and become more complex, integrated, and sophisticated, mostly owing to globalization, technological advancements, the introduction of innovations, new trends, and tendencies. The urban planning includes the construction of shopping malls while reflecting social life and considering peoples preferences when designing and establishing shopping centers nationwide. People can fully enjoy the benefits of big shopping centers that can be found in many cities of the Middle East. These malls foster the social interaction between locals and foreigners and provide them with a pleasant atmosphere regardless of the time of year. Due to good air conditioning and other alternative options, shopping malls create a comfortable environment for the youth and adults to socialize and gather, particularly during hot summers.

About the author: Fiona Wilson is a master in Literature at New York University. She is currently working as one of the best writers at book review writing service She also studies male psychology. She adores sport and her favorite activities are volleyball and swimming.