도시여가공간으로서 복합쇼핑몰의 사회문화적 의의

The Socio-cultural Meaning of Shopping Mall as an Urban Leisure Space: A Social Construction of Space Approach

In contemporary urban areas, shopping mall has been considered as a space for spending leisure time as well as a space for buying goods. In this article, shopping mall is analyzed as a socio-cultural text from the perspective of social construction of space, which emphasizes socio-cultural meanings of a particular space rather than physical characteristics. Many scholars in the field of geography, anthropology, sociology, and recreation and leisure studies have found that shopping mall has three characteristics as a space including a post-modern space, a space of globalization and local identity, and a new public space. Based on the three characteristics about shopping malls, this article concludes that shopping mall as a urban leisure space reflects the commercialization of leisure.