The $2 Trillion Rebuild: How Cities Are Turning Retail Ruins into Experience-Driven Ecosystems

For decades, shopping centers defined suburban expansion across the United States. Today, many of those once-booming malls sit half-empty or shuttered. Roughly a quarter of America’s 1,000 traditional malls are projected to close by 2030, according to retail analysts at Coresight Research. But the decline of the traditional mall is not the death of retail—it may be its rebirth.

Developers, investors, and city planners are now rethinking the urban fabric. Instead of single-use retail destinations, many are favoring dense, mixed-use developments that combine housing, workspaces, public areas, and commercial activity in a more flexible, interdependent layout. In 2023, global investment in such developments rose by 17%, even as spending on office and traditional retail declined, according to CBRE.

This shift reflects more profound changes in urban economics and consumer expectations. With interest rates and inflation squeezing both municipalities and private capital, foot traffic is no longer simply a retail metric—it has become a proxy for local vitality. The goal is not merely to lease space but to cultivate ecosystems.

Read more here.