Let’s hit the mall

Chapter 1

Beirut’s old souk turned mall

For centuries Beirut’s old market, the souk, was the heart of the city but civil war left the area in ruins. In the postwar years private real estate company Solidere turned the ancient souk into a modern shopping district. Our contributor in the city, Imogen Kimber, brings us this report.

Chapter 2

How to plan a good shopping centre?

If done well a shopping centre can be a beneficial addition to any city. So how do we make sure we get it right? Eric Hallquist, director of landscape architecture at design and planning firm AECOM, tells us what makes a good example and how he tackles such projects.

Chapter 3

Elephant and Castle

In 1965 Europe’s first covered shopping mall opened here in London, at the Elephant and Castle traffic hub. Urban historian Mike Althorpe talks us through the architectural white elephant.

Chapter 4

Urban heroes: Slow Food Turkey

We meet food activists Defne Koryurek and Alen Mevlat, who are fighting to preserve the iconic 1,500-year-old Yedikule Gardens, outside Istanbul’s Byzantine Walls.