Hong Kong is the twenty-first-century century paradigmatic capital of consumerism. Of all cities, it has the densest and tallest concentration of malls, sandwiched between subways and skyscrapers. Its malls are also the most visited and have become cities in and of cities in and of themselves, accommodating tens of thousands of people who live, work, and play within a single structure.

Mall City features Hong Kong as a unique rendering of an advanced consumer society. Retail space has come a long way since the covered passages of Paris, which once awed the bourgeoisie with glass roofs and gaslights. It has morphed from the arcade to the department store, and from the mall into the “mall city”—where “expresscalators” crisscross mesmerizing atriums. Highlighting the effects of this development in Hong Kong, this book raises questions about architecture, city planning, culture, and urban life.