Malls are prominent cultural landscape features and are a part of everyday life for most students. Studying mall locations helps students understand economic patterns in their communities and applies geography to daily life.

 

Malls use a lot of land and are easily seen on aerial photos and satellite images. Factories, large school campuses, and office parks may look similar to shopping malls on remotely sensed images. Distinguishing between different land uses provides opportunities for critical thinking.

 

A mall's location and parking spaces display our dependence on cars. Malls are usually located near major highways, have large parking lots, are close to other shopping areas, and have many retail stores under one roof. People drive to malls because they want convenient and accessible places to shop and socialize.