The first mall was built in 1956 and, since that first notion of an indoor shopping centre where people can eat and relax too, malls have become ever bigger - and elaborate.

Be it in Lagos, Minneapolis or Rio de Janeiro, how have shopping malls become a fixture in modern life? Owners, customers and store workers, explain how the mall's shops, restaurants and cinemas feature in their lives. Cultural observers and retail experts explore how a mall fits into a local area - or not.

Meet Ana Claudia who can barely scrape a living together working at Village Mall in Rio de Janeiro. In Southdale Mall, Minnesota, the shoppers seem carefree buying gadgets and clothes, while in Ikewja City Mall in Lagos, the management are thinking about its security needs in light of the Westgate siege in Kenya.

(Picture: Shopping mall escalators, Credit: Oli Scarff/Getty Images) Show less