Of nearly 47,000 shopping centers in the United States, about 1,100 are categorized as enclosed malls, Regional malls contain at least two department stores or "anchor stores" and, depending on population density, attract consumers from within a 20-mi (32 km) radius. Superregional malls, of which about 350 exist, include at least five department stores and 300 shops and may serve an area of up to a 100-mi (160-km) radius. Generally smaller, open-air strip centers, unlike the larger malls, do not usually feature an indoor concourse, although in the 1980s and 90s the construction of enclosed, or all-weather, minimalls began to accelerate. Open-air shopping centers are typically anchored by large grocery stores. Another distinction among shopping centers is location, namely suburban or downtown. In an attempt to revitalize retail sales in central business districts, many large U.S. cities have built so-called festival-marketplaces, which combine shopping, entertainment, and sightseeing. Examples of such centers include Faneuil Hall in Boston, South Street Seaport in New York City, Harborplace in Baltimore, and Ghirardelli Square in San Francisco.
The world's first megamall was the West Edmonton Mall in Alberta, Canada. Long also the world's largest mall at 5.3 million sq ft (493,000 sq m), it was the culmination of the developer's dream of a consumers' and retailers' paradise when it opened (1981-85). The mall contains more than 800 shops, 11 department stores, 110 restaurants, an ice-skating rink, the world's largest indoor water park, 19 movie theaters, a hotel, a chapel, 13 nightclubs, and a replica of Columbus's Santa Maria. Two larger malls, in Beijing and Dongguan, China, began to open in 2004 and 2005 respectively, and more Chinese megamalls are under construction. The largest mall in the United States is the 4.2-million-sq-ft (391,000-sq-m) Mall of America, opened in 1992 in Bloomington, Minn., which features at its center a seven-acre amusement park.
See V. Gruen and L. Smith, Shopping Towns USA: The Planning of Shopping Centers (1960); H. MacKeith, The History and Conservation of Shopping Arcades (1986); J. Garreau, Edge City: Life on the New Frontier (1991); M. Sorkin, ed., Variations on a Theme Park (1992).
See A. Girdner and A. Loftis, The Great Betrayal (1969); B. Hosokawa, Nisei (1969); R. Daniels, Concentration Camps U.S.A. (1971); G. Miller, Report of the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians (1992); G. Robinson, By Order of the President (2001).
In 1993 a terrorist car-bomb explosion damaged portions of the complex, killing six people and causing more than $300 million in damage. Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman and nine other Islamic extremists were convicted of conspiracy and other charges related to the bombing in 1993, and the so-called mastermind, Ramzi Yousef, was convicted in 1998. On Sept. 11, 2001, a second terrorist attack, in which two hijacked commercial jetliners were crashed into the towers, ignited huge, intense fires in the upper stories of both buildings, weakening them and leading to their collapse. Other structures in the complex were completely or partially destroyed as a result, and many surrounding buildings were severely damaged. More than 2,700 people, including the passengers and crew of the airliners and several hundred emergency personnel responding to the initial fires, lost their lives; more than 7,000 people were injured.
The enormity of the events of Sept. 11 (see also 9/11), which also involved a similar attack with a hijacked jetliner on the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and the crash in W Pennsylvania of a fourth hijacked plane, galvanized national feeling in the United States, where many watched the events unfold on television. In the aftermath of the worst terrorist attack in history, President George W. Bush announced a war on terrorism, and many nations pledged their support. Al Qaeda, headed by Osama bin Laden, was identified by U.S. authorities as being behind the attacks, and the United States subsequently began military operations in Afghanistan, where bin Laden was based and where the government was closely allied with him.
In Dec., 2001, Zacarias Moussaoui, a Frenchman of Moroccan descent who had been arrested (Aug., 2001) on immigration violations in Minnesota, was indicted on charges that he was part of the conspiracy responsible for the September attacks. He pleaded guilty in 2005 to being part of a conspiracy to attack the White House in a similar manner but denied being part of either Sept. 11 attack, and was given a life sentence in 2006.
The alleged mastermind of the plot was Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, a Kuwaiti of Pakistani parentage who had become a high-ranking member of Al Qaeda. He was captured in Pakistan in 2003, held by the United States at an undisclosed location, and transferred to Guantánamo Bay in 2006. According to a censored transcript of a closed-door hearing in 2007, he admitted to organizing and supervising the execution of the attacks of Sept. 11, but the government also later revealed that he had been subjected to waterboarding, which is generally regarded as a form of torture. In Feb., 2008, the Pentagon announced that a military tribunal would try Mohammed and five others held at Guantánamo on conspiracy and other charges relating to the attacks.
In the aftermath of the center's destruction, many competing interests—the city and state of New York, the owners of the site, the buildings' developer, survivors of the attack and families and friends of those killed, and others—advocated a variety of approaches to rebuilding the site. After a lengthy design competition, a preliminary master construction plan for the site, by Daniel Libeskind, was approved in 2003. The design has since been much modified, and a new overall plan was unveiled in 2006.
Embracing the footprints where the towers once stood, a street-level memorial plaza is planned, with two sunken pools fed by waterfalls; the names of those who died as a result of the attack will be displayed in the plaza, which will also include a World Trade Center Museum. Surrounding the memorial, will be a group of office towers that rise in height toward the the "Freedom Tower" (Tower 1), designed by the American architect David M. Childs of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill. Tower 2 is being designed by England's Lord Norman Foster, Tower 3 by another English architect, Lord Richard Rogers, and Tower 4 by Japan's Fumihiko Maki. The complex will also include a transportation hub by Spain's Santiago Calatrava and a performing arts center to be created by Frank Gehry.
See studies by E. Darton (1999), A. K. Gillespie (1999), W. Langewiesche (2002), and J. Glanz and E. Lipton (2003).
See J. Beardsley, A Landscape for Modern Sculpture (rev. ed. 1996)
See studies by C. Krinsky (1978), W. Karp (1982), and D. Okrent (2003).
Grouping of municipal facilities in a limited precinct often adjacent to the central business district of a city. The civic center is based on both the Greek acropolis and the Roman forum. The plan includes the city hall and adjoining park or plaza, headquarters for city departments, courthouses, and often a post office, public-utility offices, public health facilities, and government offices.
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Complex formerly consisting of seven buildings around a central plaza, near the southern tip of Manhattan. Its huge twin towers (completed 1970–72) were designed by Minoru Yamasaki (1912–86). At 1,368 ft (417 m) and 1,362 ft (415 m) tall, they were the world's tallest buildings until surpassed in 1973 by the Sears Tower in Chicago. The towers were notable for the relationship of their simple, light embellishment to their underlying structure. In 1993 a bomb planted by terrorists exploded in the underground garage, killing several people and injuring some 1,000. A much more massive attack occurred on Sept. 11, 2001, when first One World Trade Center and then Two World Trade Center were struck by hijacked commercial airliners that were deliberately flown into them. Shortly thereafter both of the heavily damaged towers, as well as adjacent buildings, collapsed into enormous piles of debris. The attacks claimed the lives of some 2,750 people. Thousands more were injured. See September 11 attacks.
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Complex of 14 limestone skyscrapers set amid a series of outdoor spaces on a 12-acre (5-hectare) site, built between 1929 and 1940 in midtown Manhattan. It was designed by a team of architects headed by Henry Hofmeister, H. W. Corbett, Raymond Hood, and Wallace K. Harrison. Wood veneering, mural painting, mosaics, sculpture, metalwork, and other allied arts were integrated with the architecture. Radio City Music Hall (1932) is noted for its Art Deco interior.
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