A plethora of shopping malls (In Jeddah)

Jeddah is possibly well on its way to garner the dubious distinction of having the most shopping malls per inhabitants of any urban city in the world. Perhaps the city planners deem it worthwhile to be considered for inclusion in the Guinness Book of World Records, an attestation, if you will, of a job well done by our dynamic and inventive municipal officials.

Forget the fact that our roads are in such a pitiful state that would send most vehicles and their occupants weekly to workshops or chiropractors. Or the fact that we do not have several decent and well-managed parks for our young ones to play in. Or a dismal lack of public libraries or cultural centers. Hey, who needs them when you’ve got a shopping mall springing up on practically every street corner? Besides, there are plenty of blocked roads and streets for the little ones to stretch their legs.

The mall madness is obviously a boon for its patrons, as it affords them an evening out in a temperature-controlled environment. With beachfronts inaccessible to most of the public, and no real fun driving in heavy and chaotic traffic around the city, malls today are transforming themselves into the oasis of the past.

Shops are of the same old tired chains from one shopping mall to the other, and judging by the lack of shopping bags being carried, it’s obvious that most mall patrons are in there not for purchasing but just for lack of something else to do.

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