Transforming Shopping Malls into Environmentally and Socially Sustainable Spaces in Malaysia

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Description: As is the case in many countries, shopping malls in Malaysia offer respite from the tropical heat. Dr. Akinropo Oluremi Akindele explores ways in which shopping malls can be more sustainably developed and managed.

Instructor: Dr. Akinropo Oluremi Akindele

Working Paper: "A Comparative Analysis of Shopping Malls in Putrajaya and Bukit Indah, Malaysia"

AKINDELE AKINROPO: Hello. My name is Akindele O. Akinropo. I'm an urban planner studying sustainable development in Malaysia. The study of this course in this video compares shopping at two malls. The first one is Jusco mall located in the heart of Bukit Indah in Johor, and the other is Alamanda in Putrajaya, the administrative headquarters of Malaysia. In this video, I want to share with you my research on the sustainable dimensions of shopping malls.

Sustainable development means different things to different people. However, it generally refers to using environmental resources in a way that allows other generations to continue to use and preserve it. Shopping in malls can be sustainable under certain conditions. For instance, the processes of siting, building, and using malls need to be properly organized within the urban system to promote city livability and environmental performance. Mall sustainability will be guaranteed when site and operation discourage carbon emissions, encourage socialization, and promote continuous wealth generation.

This discussion naturally brings some questions to one's mind. For instance, are malls actually important to city sustainability? If so, in what specific ways? What kinds of malls are good and what other factors make shopping malls sustainable? This video will explore the following empirically observed points.

Sustainable malls can and should be a part of sustainable city development in the developing world. They can contribute to sustainable development if designed, operated, and located properly. Larger shopping malls are better than smaller ones because a larger scale allows for diversified activities and goods. Malls need to be linked with public transportation.

In the next couple of minutes we'll go through each of these points. I want to highlight why more development is important in the sustainable development discussion. First, cities are noticeably growing more vertically than horizontally. High skylines have become a symbol of our contemporary space-limited cities. City residents now live, work, and play in tall buildings. Shopping in high rise mall is today connected to ideals of urban life. Consumer behavior theories call this image-ability, which is connected with the quality in a physical object that evokes a strong image in the observers.

Aside from the large size of the mall, advanced technology, aesthetics, convenience, organized parking, and cleanliness, among other factors, improved image-ability in malls. We therefore attract, shoppers, promote economic sustainability, and increasingly becoming a good platform for local, intra-, and inter-regional as well as international trade.

Malls are proven to be strategic to central economic growth in terms of GDP in many countries like Dubai, like South Africa. In the United States, business and education alone account for more than 40% of the GDP. In 2013, retail and wholesale trade have created additional 12% increase in the country's GDP growth. All of this growth is mostly created in the 47,000 malls of the United States.

Again, malls are quickly over the functions of a public space. And we know that public space is important for sustainable city development. Malls are important thought places. Thought places are the next most important place after where we live and work.

Malls attract large crowds and encourage information dissemination, social networking, social interaction, and economic redistribution. This process describes social capital formation, which is essential for overall community development. This explains why mall contributes to social sustainability.

Now, let us narrow our focus. One would ask, what kind of mall design, location, and operation promotes sustainability? Malls are necessary large and they generate carbon emissions and heat. It appears to be using mall resources, such as electricity, water, and chlorofluorocarbons, through extensive use of air conditioning, heating, and cooling. However, instead of increasing carbon production, it may be designed to reduce it through technical interventions.

If a mall is designed and built using ecological principles of green buildings, during operations, use environmental-friendly and other sources, and have efficient waste management systems. Sustainability is also promoted when malls discourage the proliferation of informal activities that often take place on the roadside and in sprawling market stalls. These spaces are not easily managed because of the diverse stakeholders involved.

Again, malls will enhance sustainability when its location is in a heterogeneous environment where there is greater land use mix, where residents pay less to reach it, and where [INAUDIBLE] such as fossil fuels are required for transportation. For instance, in Putrajaya, Malaysia, the mall studied perform less well in times of patronage compared to the other one in Bukit Indah because it is located in a more regional setting while the other locates in a more heterogeneous setting.

Many residents in Putrajaya are civil servants with two homes and are in and out of the city. Suburb locations of malls like Jusco, Bukit Indah, isolate them from public transportation and therefore encourage private car use. This leads to an increase in energy use, which is converted into environmental pollutants.

While the use of alternative environmentally friendly energy, such as electricity, is advocated for, using even a smaller amount of energy by organizing an efficient retail center is the whole essence of sustainability. Operations in the mall contribute to sustainability. Malls will thrive when operations [? in ?] [? need ?] are suitable for more types of shoppers. Empirical observation shows that most shoppers are women. They prefer malls where their children can play safely while they shop.

In addition to [INAUDIBLE], cinemas, bowling, and among other activities which attract young adults that have less economic power to malls, provisions of children's activities is observed to be strategic to malls operation. Multiple shopping opportunities combined with multiple types of activities encourage patronage. This pours economic sustainability and we increase the long-term vitality of the mall. Malls can also save space and promote compact city sustainable development.

The thought point is concerned with the scale of malls. Research shows that the bigger the mall the better it is. Not only does a large mall provide opportunities to assess diversified goods, services, and activities, it also reduces shopper's cost in terms of stress, time, and money. A single trip will satisfy retail, recreation, and other needs. Numbers of trips are reduced, therefore reducing the amount of energy used. This contributes to environmental sustainability.

Large scale and localization of malls may also help a city to better plan transportation options for shopping trips. The largest shopping malls will encourage more efficient and effective resource use. For instance, use of security cameras and personnel would be effective in a single mall compared to many smaller and [? scattered ?] retail buildings.

Because of the large scale and compactness, waste generated in the mall can also be large. If the waste collection methods are efficient, it may encourage industrial recycling. All together, each and every function in a diversified large mall could support one another and allow for its continued existence.

Large malls are those iconic. They are like monuments of historic significance, making cities immeasurable and attracting tourists and economic prosperity. At this point, it is very important to [INAUDIBLE] the importance of public transportation system to mall development against a background of city sustainability. The late arrival of the mall after much of the central city had already being developed is probably the reason for its location in the suburbs in many developing countries. This makes it challenging to integrate the mall into the city's public transportation system.

Malls will be more sustainable if effectively integrated into the public transportation system. Connecting commercial areas with intra- and or intercity transportation of road, rail, and where possible-- like Putrajaya-- waterways, can improve customer convenience and reduce pollution making the city more sustainable. In Malaysia, Jusco Bukit Indah has a better overall assessment in terms of patronage, diversified activities, and so on. But it is less integrated with public transportation compared to Alamanda mall in Putrajaya. Though the transportation is better in Alamanda mall, other important features of a sustainable shopping mall are still in progress.

In conclusion, for a mall to be sustainable, especially in Malaysia and other developing countries, all the factors should be considered together. Large malls in a well integrated public transportation system should offer multiple shopping, recreation, and social activities that are preferred by women-- who are the largest shoppers-- and should be located in an area where land use are mixed. The beauty as well as the general environment should be designed using green building and environmental principles. These assure us of a sustainable shopping mall within the framework of sustainable city development.