ABSTRACT
The purpose of this chapter is three-fold: first, to review briefly the geographic factors and market forces that have led to the present development and geographical pattern of regional shopping malls in the Atlanta metropolitan area; second, to provide a short commentary on the absence of general wide-scale public policy regarding mall development; and finally, to conjecture on the impact of these malls on the present and probable future form of the metropolitan area. The view taken at the outset is that the regional shopping malls in the Atlanta metropolitan area are playing a major part in the creation of future city form, and the absence of any unified public policy toward them presents a unique case in which the urban researcher can see today the beginnings of the city of tomorrow.
