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People Fixing The World

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Discover the people and the projects trying to make the world a better place

Discover the people and the projects trying to make the world a better place.

Discover the people and the projects trying to make the world a better place.

A weekly programme looking at common challenges around the world and the creative ways people are trying to tackle them.

Presenter Myra Anubi speaks to reporters, experts and innovators to investigate how effective different solutions are, share their successes and inspire listeners with what is possible.

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People Fixing The World: What to do with an empty mall?

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What to do with an empty mall?

30/05/2023 GMT

BBC World Service - People Fixing The World, What to do with an empty mall?

The US malls being brought back to life as schools, healthcare centres and offices

The US malls being brought back to life as schools, healthcare centres and offices.

US shopping malls, once a mainstay of American life, are in decline. Forty malls have closed since 2020, while more than 230 department stores have closed in the same time period, according to Green Street, a real estate analytics firm.

But where there is change, there is also opportunity. 

After Burlington High School in Vermont had to close its doors because dangerous chemicals were found, the school hopped into a site vacated by Macy’s department store five years earlier. 

The children now ride the escalator to class. Elsewhere, malls have been converted into offices, casinos or large healthcare facilities. We explore the surprising second life being offered to these temples of consumerism.

Presenter: Myra Anubi
Reporter: William Kremer
Series producer: Tom Colls
Sound Mix: Anne Gardiner
Editor: Penny Murphy

Email: peoplefixingtheworld@bbc.co.uk

Image: Pupils at a school in a department store.

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