Mall Rats An evolution of mass consumption and its necessary infrastructure

“Life is primarily a

game against nature”

Traditional Marketplace

Paving the Way to Mass

Consumption

Make the best quality of goods possible at the

lowest cost possible, paying the highest wages

possible.”

-Henry Ford

Consumption as the

opiate of the masses

Rise in Consumer Demand

Rising Production

Rise in Jobs

More affluent

consumers

Mass

Producing

Industry

Mass

Consuming

Market

Sprawl?

What sprawl?

Integrated Development Integrated

Integrat ed Development

128,000 acres of land

Greater Toronto Area

Pustules of ‘Progress’

7 500 000 000

sq. ft.

Shopping Space:

OR

1800 McGill Campuses

Largest Mall

Which one is the world’s

largest mall (in floor space)?

•Dubai Mall

•Mall of America

•South China Mall

•West Edmonton Mall

Largest Mall

Answer:

South China Mall

Future of Development?

30 million

visitors/yr

$1.2 billion in

infrastructure

World’s

Largest Mall:

1985-2004

Eating Away

at our World

Spending

to Save

Keeping

up with the

First Lady

Distance

Traffic

Sales

Got entertainment?

Got entertainment?

Shopping for Salvation

Flow

Energy

Growth

Positive moods

More spending

“To begin with, The Nature

Company has not sold nature.

It has sold meanings.”

Every store is a

nature store.

WEM’s efforts consist of:

• Recycling

• …

• …

• …

• …

• …

Not really.

“Doing everything we can to lessen our impact.”

Is this true?

Is this enough?

Shopping for items…

…or for bags?

What’s the real impact?

V

WEM Water Parks?

gy

Sex sells.

"Jeans are about

sex.” – Calvin Klein

Cotton, Cotton

Everywhere

A Day in the Life

Sprays of death

Pesticides

Water

Labor

Costs

Natural

No More

A Day in the Life

Transport

Around the World

in 36 Hours

80% of total

energy use

Washing

and

Drying

Only 15% recycled

Ecological Footprint

Running on

Fossil Fuels

(Har har.)

of Destruction Rubber Road

104 million disposed

in landfills per year

Buying Green

Organic Cotton

Subsidies

A Mall into a… Wetland??

Eco-Friendly Malls

Possible Solutions

Buying Green

Organic Cotton

28$ 20$

Buying Green in Quebec

What do labels mean?

Government incentives

Dead malls

An Eco-Friendly Mall?

Will it be enough?

In order to have 3 percent

economic growth around the

world until 2070, how many times

more would economic output

need to be compared to today?

•20 times more

•60 times more

Answer :

60 times more!

Un

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ain

ab

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Un

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Alternative Movements

Then What?

Material

Wealth Happiness