The Role of Politics in Facility Integration: The Case of the Mall of America

The study of the Mall of America, chosen as an emblem of the recent generation of shopping malls (including a theme park), stresses the role of politics in order to integrate such a facility in the urban territory. In Minneapolis-Saint Paul, the metropolitan council succeeded in organizing a negociation process among the various actors (private and public) based on a shared vision of the Mall as a generator of jobs and traffic flows. The study is a good indicator of the reconceptualization of the transportation issue in American cities.