“Mall-ding” the city: 24 years of mall territorialization in Costa Rica

Abstract

The territorialisation of malls in Costa Rica began in 1993 with the inauguration of Multiplaza Escazú in the Greater Metropolitan Area of Costa Rica. From 1993 to 2017 a total of 14 malls were built. In this article, a route across the main characteristics of malls is made; the arrival of the first mall to the country is characterized and an analysis of the space-time evolution that these infrastructures have had in the GAM is developed. Finally some of the complaints and citizen responses that have been given to the construction of a mall are reviewed.