TITLE:
Investigating the Socio-Economic Dimensions of Shopping Open Spaces before and after COVID-19 Case Study: Green Plaza Mall, Alexandria, Egypt
AUTHORS:
Amr Ali Bayoumi, Ola Ali Bayoumi
KEYWORDS:
Urban Open Spaces, Gate Count, Social Behavioral Mapping, Static Snapshots, COVID-19
JOURNAL NAME:
Current Urban Studies,
Vol.11 No.4,
November
30,
2023
ABSTRACT: The study focuses on the spatial configuration of shopping mall design
and its effect on social behavior and economics of the project. The design of
Urban Open Spaces (UOS) in shopping mall can affect the success or failure of
the project. In this paper as part of research project in studying the shopping
Urban Open Spaces (UOS) in commercial projects in Alexandria, the study focuses
on using observational techniques such as gate counts, static snapshots, and
photographing to understand the effect of shopping mall design on frequency use
of the space and its effect on the economics of the project. Moreover, space
syntax computational techniques such as Visibility Graph Analysis (VGA), agent
simulation and isovist points analysis are used to understand the spatial
configuration of the studied shopping mall. There were two sides of the
problem, the social side of the problem and the financial side of the problem,
finding out that when a shopping mall fails to facilitate social gatherings
through its central spaces, there would be a drop in financial terms of the
project such as higher vacancy rates in commercial spaces and drop in renting
rates. The research is focusing on studying this situation in Green plaza
shopping mall in Alexandria as a case study before and after COVID pandemic in
order to find out the similarities and differences in this pattern and to
discuss recommended design criteria for shopping malls in Post-COVID. The
results obtained can be used to more understanding of what design decisions
affect the
success or failure of shopping malls.