SHOPPING CENTRES

In many old cities in Europe, there are narrow twisting roads with many shops huddling together along the two sides. These commercial places are not so modern and convenient as those called shopping centres in modern cities, especially in the suburbs of the big cities in the United States. Shopping centres have developed rapidly because of the shift of the population to the suburbs, the growing use of and dependence upon the automobile and the heavy traffic in downtown areas.

A shopping centre is a large group of stores facing a huge central enclosed mail which may be covered, heated and air - conditioned. A shopping centre is also surrounded by a parking area with space for thousands of cars.

We can buy all kinds of food and get anything we need in a shopping centre. Unlike a supermarket, where groceries are chiefly sold, a shopping centre provides us with all services besides food. We can get our hair cut, eyes examined, clothes washed; we can book our tickets for a world tour and even enroll in special classes.

Shopping centres are, therefore, very convenient for customers, but they lack the 'sense of closeness’ as felt in older commercial centres.