A historic survey of commerce-trade functions, open-air malls and lifestyle centers

Trade and commerce are some of the first social acts of humankind. The way these have evolved over the centuries based on economic and social forces has, in turn, affected the physical form of cities and commercial spaces. Commercial spaces were, at first, simple gathering spaces. They were usually located in city centers. Today, however, the typical shopping mall incorporates many different functions beside commerce; and, as the automobile has become the dominant mode of transport, malls have left the city center, and migrated to the city?s periphery. Yet over the last twenty years globally, and the last five years in Turkey, a new type of commercial space has emerged. This is the open-air mall and lifestyle center.The purpose of this study is to investigate the similarities between these open-air malls and traditional commercial spaces located in the city center, and to demonstrate that commercial spaces have gone full-circle in that they are trending back to their historic archetypes.With their gathering spaces, squares, open-air restaurants and cafes, these new open-air malls and lifestyle centers resemble historic agoras, forums or bazaars which were typically located in city centers and where patronized by a vibrant, dynamic body of shoppers. Plan-wise, open-air malls depart from the rational, often rectilinear plan type of the typical mall, and emulate the organic morphology of traditional shopping spaces, thus creating a ?familiar? feel. Open-air malls are often planned as mixed-use buildings, incorporating residential or office blocks above the shopping levels.In short, with the perception that the post-1950s shopping mall did not provide for a healthy gathering space, a new ?perfect city center? was sought. The result of this endeavor is the open-air mall and lifestyle center. It would not be erroneous to state that at the root of this endeavor lies the yearning felt by society for a vibrant and lively city center?the very center which they had forgotten and become alienated to because of the shopping mall. It is ironic that this ?re-discovery? of the city center should occur mainly after the city center has lost its character as a commercial space.Keywords: Trade, Commerce, Shopping, Mall, Lifestyle center.