Shopping centre or mixed-use neighborhood?

The decline of the “suburban mall” has been inversely proportional to the revival of urban centres. Where large boxes once stood, surrounded by expansive parking lots, new open, walkable, mixed-use neighborhoods are now emerging.

In Lima, however, recent clusters of leisure and gastronomy have tended to settle in pedestrian-unfriendly environments —such as Velasco Astete and Caminos del Inca avenues— increasing traffic and missing an enormous opportunity for commercial collaboration and symbiosis. In this context, few places hold as much potential as the area surrounding the Chacarilla Shopping Centre to transform into a genuine mixed-use neighborhood... READ MORE

By reusing its existing infrastructure —and with relatively low investment— it is possible to envision the incorporation of small multifamily housing atop the current commercial plinths, as well as the replacement of surface parking with underground solutions. In doing so, a space currently oriented toward the automobile could shift into an environment designed for people: a compact, active, diverse and walkable urban district.