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Query: the history of shopping malls

C

CTPlanner

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An inquiry from my brother, the college professor, who teaches sociology at SUNY-Oswego:

"I'm going to be teaching [a course in] Popular Culture in the spring, but I've decided on an entirely new emphasis: consumer culture. One of the things I'll talk about is the mall. I already have a book for students to read -- Call of the Mall, by Paco Underhill -- a popular book by an anthropologist who studies malls. I'm also familiar with The Malling of America by Kowinski, also a popular book. What I need now is a book or two to inform myself more fully -- a serious book on the development of malls in America. A history of malls, so to speak. Any ideas?"
 
CTPlanner said:
An inquiry from my brother, the college professor, who teaches sociology at SUNY-Oswego:

"I'm going to be teaching [a course in] Popular Culture in the spring, but I've decided on an entirely new emphasis: consumer culture. One of the things I'll talk about is the mall. I already have a book for students to read -- Call of the Mall, by Paco Underhill -- a popular book by an anthropologist who studies malls. I'm also familiar with The Malling of America by Kowinski, also a popular book. What I need now is a book or two to inform myself more fully -- a serious book on the development of malls in America. A history of malls, so to speak. Any ideas?"
Click to expand...

Yes, A good one from a Southern California perspective is
City Center to Regional Mall by Richard Longstreth.

Though the book is focused on the evolution of retailing in Los Angeles it can be applied to other citys too. Malls are dealt with in the final chapter.
 
The Harvard Design School Guide to Shopping by Chung, Koolhaus, et al, should be a definitive reference book for any course on consumer culture.
 
Perhaps some sections from "Surburban Nation: The Rise of Sprawl and the Decline of the American Dream" by Duany, Plater-Zyberk, and Speck would be useful.
 
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