How can we create places with purpose?

This question sparked a series of interesting perspectives at a recent FuturePlace event, which I wanted to record here for further discussion.

At last week’s Malls of the Future Summit in Sydney, more than 300 retail real estate industry professionals gathered to debate best practice in everything from data lifecycle management and sustainability monitoring to wellness-oriented architecture and urban renewal.

During a panel discussion on the evolving form and function of shopping centres, I traded insights with other retail property executives about how we ensure Australian mixed-use developments are socially and culturally enriching as well as economically successful. Below are three of my biggest takeaways.

‘Mall’ is a misnomer in 2023

Labelling the places that groups like QIC , Lendlease , Frasers Property Australia and Sandhurst Retail & Logistics are building today as ‘malls’ is misleading because in seeking to address the myriad lifestyle, work and wellbeing needs of a community we are ultimately crafting town centres. 

While QIC has been executing its town centre strategy for several years, the point we have now reached in being able to quantify the results of that mixed-use diversification should lay to rest any notion that bricks-and-mortar retail is limited in growth potential.

For instance, we have seen a huge spike in specialty retail productivity at Eastland (with annual sales per square metre surpassing $11,000), since introducing hotel, hospitality and workspace offerings to the site. Our decision to integrate these particular usages was informed by robust research not only into the demographics of Ringwood but also the hopes, needs and desires that shape that community.

As stewards of critical suburban infrastructure including shopping centres, we are obliged to consider how a community might grow and flourish in the future rather than simply focusing on how existing customers wish to transact today. Listening to Sarah Blackmore describe plans for sporting facilities alongside retail on one of SRL’s greenfield sites put me in mind of the swim school and office complex we are about to break ground on opposite Merrifield City shopping centre. Having delivered the essential retail and services that underpin the walkable lifestyle promise of this burgeoning suburb, we have turned our attention to streamlining other aspects of daily life for the young families who call Merrifield home.

In Canberra, where our footprint spans six city blocks, the premium office and new-to-market dining options we have added stretch way beyond the traditional definition of a mall while continuously drawing new visitors to the doorstep of our retail partners.

Widening our aperture is a win/win

As nicely summarised by my fellow panellist Kelvin Taylor, a shopping centre serves first and foremost as a point of community connection and engagement; its retail offering is simply packaged in and around that function. This resonated strongly because at QIC we’re never sitting here thinking ‘what does this shopping centre need?’; we’re asking ‘what does this suburb or region need; how can we play a role in enabling it, and who do we need to partner with to deliver it?’.

So, at Eastland, we challenged ourselves to bring a greater ambition for Ringwood to life, which meant working closely with local and state government over the course of several years on everything from transport infrastructure and land acquisition to cultural programming and public art.

This suburb-level approach has ultimately cemented Eastland’s place at the heart of local life, with key public services such as VicRoads now located at the centre as well as SME workspace solutions and cult Melbourne restaurants. When we first envisioned the Ringwood Town Square precinct to serve as a gateway to the municipality, we probably didn’t anticipate quite how integral this public realm development would become in the daily routines of different users. With its pockets of green space, the square is now part employment hub, part dining promenade and part park, with local youngsters using it as an extended study space.

In short, widening our field of view to consider the resident, office worker, hotel guest, diner and student as well as the retail customer has delivered all manner of positives for our commercial partners and visitors.

Designing for comfort is key

One of the recurring themes of the summit was the power we have, through design and experience curation, to affect the physical and mental wellbeing of visitors as well their propensity to spend. Looking beyond the basic tenets of good communal design such as thermal comfort and energy performance, we must create places that feel good to be in, that are accessible to people of all physical abilities and offer a sense of psychological safety.

The sense of welcome fostered through human-centric design has been a big driver of success in our recent developments at Watergardens, Castle Towers and Hyperdome, where we incorporated new children’s play zones, resting spaces flanked by greenery and multiple styles of seating. By selecting design collaborators who share in our vision to enrich the daily rituals of visitors, we can deliver retail-anchored destinations that are productive from day through to night while also nurturing community pride.

One of the other points raised by the panel was the need to prioritise environmental sustainability and inclusivity in both the spatial experiences we craft and the brands we partner with if our destinations are to maintain relevancy among the value-driven consumers of Generation Z and Alpha. Our latest community investment program focused on improving the nutrition and health knowledge of visitors is just one example of QIC translating ESG commitments into tangible outcomes.

My overriding takeaway from the various retail and mixed-use case studies outlined during the summit is that there remains a rich vein of opportunities for shopping centre operators to mine as long as we keep listening to the communities we serve and leveraging the rather unique capacity we have to make people our purpose. The work of modernising and diversifying Australia’s best-loved malls is well underway and I for one cannot wait to push the boundaries.