The Trincity Mall and lands around it can be revitalised to serve the community better in terms of housing, transportation, and sports and recreation. All this can be done using methods and strategies that have proven successful in many parts of the world.

In the US there has been a slow death of the malls that were once a staple of 70s culture as consumers switch to e-commerce for most of their purchases. As a result some malls have been rebranded into small city centres or lifestyle centres, with outdoor plazas and walkable infrastructure where the community is connected by pedestrian and bike pathways, and also by an environment created for small businesses and places where people can not only shop, but live, play, work and gather.

A good example of this is Peninsula Town Center in the US, where Katherine Logan for Greensource writes:

“Peninsula Town Center reinvented a tired, single-level inward mall into an open-air town centre comprising retail, office, and residential uses along pedestrian-scale streets with landscaped parks and public plazas.

“At 1.1 million square feet, Peninsula is the largest redevelopment project in Hampton’s history, earning the city an award from the American Planning Association for the master plan and design guidelines that shaped the changes.”

This project has been a success for the developers with an almost full capacity in residential, retail and office units, and with a host of added amenities.

In Asia it is standard for developers to build malls, offices, recreation and housing in one mega structure within range of a train station.

The examples are there and the possibilities are endless. The only ceiling is our imagination, as long as we have good public transportation and a pedestrian connection for those within walking or biking distance to mitigate traffic to and from the facility.

Don’t just see the problems, see the possibilities.

VICTORIA ALEXANDER