The Evolution of the Planned Shopping Center in Suburb and City

The history of shopping centers illustrates one of the ways planners have attempted to link physical design to social reform. The leading theorists of the shopping center movement, Victor Gruen and James Rouse, encouraged the creation of controlled environments as exciting as the city but without its usual attendant nuisances. The adaptation of techniques they pioneered in the suburbs has helped revitalize urban retailing downtown, but has raised new questions about the compatibility of urban malls with the needs of the surrounding city.