The new agoras

The development of well-designed, attractive public areas around new shopping centre projects has been gaining in popularity among retail developers and investors in Poland of late, with schemes of this kind now increasingly being seen as bringing dditional value to shopping centre projects. The fierce and growing competition on the retail market in the country is leading property owners to look for new ways of making their centres more distinctive and appealing, as well as attracting and keeping ever larger numbers of visitors and potential consumers. A new public square and a 135m long promenade are to be built as part of the ongoing Posnania shopping centre development in Poznań. Among the functions of the space, which is scheduled to be completed in the next few weeks, will be its use for art exhibitions. A number of other under-construction mall developments in Poland are expected to involve the creation of new public space. These include Galeria Północna in Warsaw, Forum Gdań