“Retail is at the core of urban life, and cities have always been places of exchange — of both goods and ideas,” says Giacomo Biraghi, Founder and President of the Italian organization Stratosferica and one of the driving forces behind the Utopian Hours festival. The event has become a key platform for rethinking the role of urban retail real estate — and, by extension, how cities themselves are shaped. At Utopian Hours, future urban trends that are already reshaping the retail landscape take center stage. Among them are the “mall in disguise”: open-air shopping environments seamlessly integrated into the urban fabric, blurring the boundaries between city streets and retail destinations. There are also “blended formats” — mixed-use developments where retail coexists with housing, hospitality, education, or culture, turning shopping spaces into genuine community anchors. And there is a growing focus on bottom-up initiatives that reclaim or revitalize commercial areas from within.
“Retail real estate is no longer just about square meters,” Biraghi argues. “It’s about creating urban vitality.”
This article was published in ACROSS Issue 1|2026
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The Cost of Neglect
For many years, however, that vitality has been steadily eroding. “We have allowed too many out-of-town developments that killed many high streets — the very glue that binds our communities,” notes Ibrahim Ibrahim, Managing Director of the London-based consultancy Portland Design, in his book Future-Ready Retail.
At the same time, online retail has emerged as a powerful antagonist, competing on an uneven playing field shaped by divergent taxation and business rates. Add to that the dominance of large international chains that, as Ibrahim writes, “blindly roll out their concepts without giving any consideration to the local context and community.”
“For too long, commercial return has been prioritized at the expense of everything else,” he argues. “This approach has proven to deliver unsustainable value. We must urgently rebalance commercial value with social, cultural, and environmental value.”
“For too long, commercial return has been prioritized at the expense of everything else. This approach has proven to deliver unsustainable value. We must urgently rebalance commercial value with social, cultural, and environmental value.”
A Wake-up Call for Cities
Yet cities, high streets, and urban retail have not been defeated. On the contrary. If it was not already evident, the pandemic years made one thing unmistakably clear to retail real estate operators, local authorities, and consumers alike: retail in cities is about far more than transactions.
Retail fulfills a social function, supports community life, and remains a powerful economic driver. During lockdowns and restrictions, the absence of everyday retail, cafés, and local services highlighted just how deeply these spaces are woven into urban life. Across Europe, this realization has triggered a shift in mindset. Developers and investors are increasingly refocusing on inner-city retail real estate. What was once seen as risky or outdated is now being rediscovered as full of potential.
“We’re essentially seeing a renaissance,” says Michael Hiese, Chief Real Estate Officer at Kaufland (read full interview here). “Retail is returning to the cities, where it originally began. Market conditions have changed, and so have consumer expectations. Mixed-use developments, shorter distances, and integrated neighborhoods are creating entirely new opportunities.”
Sustainability as a Structural Advantage
This return to the city also has clear sustainability benefits. Urban retail destinations are typically embedded in existing neighborhoods and infrastructures. Visitors often arrive on foot, by bicycle, or via public transport. This significantly reduces individual car traffic and associated CO₂ emissions compared to out-of-town formats. At the same time, compact inner-city developments require far less space for parking, freeing up valuable land for public use and green areas.
By reusing existing structures and avoiding new greenfield developments, urban retail also helps limit soil sealing — an often overlooked but critical factor in climate-resilient city planning. In this sense, urban retail is not only socially and economically relevant but also an important lever for more sustainable cities.
Three Principles for Successful Urban Destinations
So, what makes an urban shopping destination successful today? For Christoph Andexlinger, CEO of SES Spar European Shopping Centers, three principles have clearly emerged — and together they form a framework for long-term relevance.
FIRST: CENTRALITY
A place is central not because it sits in a historic city core, but because it offers as many reasons as possible to go there. A post office, a hairdresser, a doctor, a café, activities for children — everyday functions that make a destination part of daily routines. “People need many reasons to visit a place regularly,” Andexlinger explains, “not just when there happens to be a festival twice a year.” Centrality also means proximity: locations where people live and work, within easy walking distance.
SECOND: APPROPRIATION
Successful places are those where people can truly make their own. They must become part of everyday life. In a world of almost unlimited choice, brick-and-mortar retail plays a crucial role by offering curated assortments, personal advice, and orientation. Physical retail is no longer about sheer volume but about relevance and trust.
THIRD: ADAPTION
Urban destinations must be allowed to change. They need flexibility to respond to shifting needs and expectations. People crave real, analog experiences in places where they feel comfortable — and gastronomy is a prime example. Amid an abundance of digital offerings, it is these tangible moments of encounter that create lasting value.
Christoph Andexlinger
CEO of SES Spar European Shopping Centers
For Andexlinger, this also has clear implications for tenant mix and leasing strategy. “An urban shopping destination — whether a mall, a shopping street or ground-floor retail — must offer a mix that truly meets people’s needs,” he says. “For us at SES, the decisive factor is not who pays the highest rent, but what the community actually requires. Only in this way can a destination succeed in the long term.” In other words, the future of retail is urban, local, and human — and cities are once again becoming the most important marketplace of all.
Westfield Hamburg Überseequartier
Hamburg, Germany
With Westfield Hamburg Überseequartier, Hamburg gains a second urban center directly on the Elbe. Located in the HafenCity – Europe’s largest inner-city regeneration area – the project combines retail, gastronomy, entertainment, housing, and workplaces in a dense, waterfront setting and marks one of the most ambitious mixed-use developments in Europe. Spread across 14 buildings on a 419,000 m² site, the quarter brings together around 170 retail concepts, more than 40 restaurants and cafés, three hotels, 579 apartments and offices for approximately 4,000 people. Entertainment is a key driver: highlights include Port des Lumières, northern Germany’s first permanent center for immersive digital art, the LEGO Discovery Centre, and a premium 10-screen Kinopolis cinema.
Designed as an integrated urban district rather than a standalone mall, the project aims to attract around 16 million visitors annually from a catchment of 3.5 million people within one hour’s travel time. Strong anchors such as Breuninger, Inditex, H&M, REWE, and Thalia are complemented by flagship formats, local brands, and a diverse food offer clustered around the waterfront.
Developed and financed by Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield with an investment of around €2.4 billion, the scheme follows the group’s “Better Places 2030” sustainability agenda and carries BREEAM Excellent certification across all buildings. Opening in April 2025, the Überseequartier completes HafenCity’s connection to the water and repositions Hamburg as a major European retail and leisure destination.
The Marignan
Paris, France
At 29–33 Avenue des Champs-Élysées, an Art Deco landmark from 1930 is being repositioned for a new generation of flagship retail. The Marignan building, prominently located on the corner of Rue de Marignan, is set to become a mixed-use destination combining large-scale luxury retail with contemporary office space above.
The project follows a highly competitive transaction led by Icade, which sold the vacant asset for €402 million. The buyer consortium, comprising Black Swan Real Estate Capital on behalf of Bain Capital and Revcap, underlines continued investor confidence in prime retail locations with global visibility. At around €33,000 per square meter, the pricing reflects both the scarcity of large flagship units and the resilience of the Champs-Élysées.
Covering more than 12,000 m² across seven floors, the building will be redeveloped into three flagship retail units at street level and below, with flexible, modern offices above. Vacant possession, a stripped interior, and an existing building permit allow for an efficient redevelopment process.
Sustainability is integral to the concept. The project targets HQE, BREEAM, and BBCA certifications, aligning with Paris 2030 climate objectives. More than a refurbishment, Marignan’s transformation illustrates how heritage assets on the Avenue des Champs-Élysées are being recalibrated to meet evolving luxury, office, and environmental standards.
Merlata Bloom Milano
Milan, Italy
With Merlata Bloom Milano, Milan gains a new-generation “life-and-shopping” destination embedded in Italy’s largest urban regeneration project. Located in the city’s northwest, the center forms the commercial heart of the Cascina Merlata district, acting as a spatial and functional link between the residential quarter of UpTown and the innovation district MIND on the former Expo 2015 site.
Spanning around 70,000 sq m, Merlata Bloom brings together 210 retail units, including 43 food & beverage concepts, alongside leisure, entertainment, and cultural uses. Anchors include an Esselunga superstore, a Decathlon flagship with offices, and a 10-screen NOTORIOUS multiplex cinema. Architecture and landscape are central to the concept: a public plaza, a Sky Garden of around 20,000 sq m, cycle and pedestrian paths, and a distinctive “winter garden” structure blur the boundaries between retail, park, and public space.
The project opened in November 2023 and immediately exceeded expectations, welcoming more than 600,000 visitors in its first 12 days. Numerous brands chose Merlata Bloom for their Italian or shopping-center debut, underlining its positioning closer to a high street than a conventional mall.
Developed by Merlata Mall SpA, co-financed by Ceetrus, ImmobiliarEurope, and SAL Service, and managed by Nhood Services Italy, the center aligns with EU taxonomy goals and targets climate-neutral operations. Merlata Bloom Milano stands as a clear example of how retail can act as a social and urban connector within large-scale mixed-use districts.
Aspern Seestadt Shopping Street
Vienna, Austria
In Vienna’s Aspern Seestadt, inner-city retail is treated as infrastructure rather than decoration. One of Europe’s largest urban development projects, the district already houses around 12,500 residents and 5,000 jobs, with both figures set to double by 2036. From the outset, retail was planned as a managed system embedded in the neighborhood fabric.
The shopping street follows a principle more commonly associated with shopping centers: a clearly defined tenant mix, actively curated and professionally managed. Since 2012, SES Spar European Shopping Centers has acted as retail partner, responsible for the neighborhood supply concept, leasing and ongoing management, working alongside Wien 3420 Aspern Development AG.
The first 14 shops opened in 2015, followed by further phases in the Seeparkquartier, now Seestadt’s commercial core. Today, the shopping street comprises 32 units across approximately 8,200 m². Future stages are already defined: retail areas in the northern expansion are under SES management, while the Seeterrassen Quarter will add waterfront arcades with contemporary gastronomy from 2026.
By completion, Aspern Seestadt will offer around 24,000 m² of retail space. Managed like a mall but operating as a city street, the model offers a scalable blueprint for neighborhood retail in growing urban districts.
WEBERZEILE
Ried im Innkreis, Austria
Opened in 2015, WEBERZEILE is widely regarded as a benchmark for how a shopping center can be seamlessly integrated into a small city’s urban fabric. Developed by SES Spar European Shopping Centers, the inner-city project reconnects a traditional retail location with Ried im Innkreis’ historic center and reinforces existing commercial structures rather than competing with them.
Its name reflects this approach: the “Weberzeile” was already known in the 18th century as a street of linen weavers and textile dyers. Today, the center translates this heritage into a contemporary retail destination that actively cooperates with the surrounding city. A shared city voucher system and coordinated activities underline the close relationship between mall and high street.
With around 22,000 sq m of retail space, 45 shops and approximately 470 jobs, the center serves a regional catchment of up to 210,000 people within 30 minutes. Strong anchors such as EUROSPAR, Kastner & Öhler, MediaMarkt and H&M ensure everyday relevance, while its central location allows easy access on foot, by bike or via the nearby A8 motorway. Sustainability is firmly embedded. Since 2020, a 520 kWp photovoltaic system on the roof has generated renewable electricity, saving around 128 tons of CO₂ annually. WEBERZEILE demonstrates how midsized, inner-city shopping centers can successfully bridge tradition, modern retail and responsible operation.
Gare d’Austerlitz
Paris, France
By 2027, the area surrounding Gare d’Austerlitz is set to become a new mixed-use urban district on the left bank of the Seine. More than a station upgrade, the project is conceived as a placemaking initiative that weaves mobility, retail, hospitality, offices, and housing into a coherent piece of city, guided by principles of biodiversity and soft mobility.
The redevelopment includes the redesign of the Seine concourse, improved connections to the Charles-de-Gaulle Bridge and Avenue Pierre-Mendès-France, new service infrastructure, and the creation of generous green spaces. Shops, restaurants, and services are integrated at ground level, reinforcing the station’s role as both a transport hub and an everyday urban destination.
Architecturally, the project responds to an exceptionally large-scale context along the Seine, defined by monumental perspectives such as the Jardin des Plantes, the Salpêtrière hospital façade, and the Grande Halle d’Austerlitz. This metropolitan scale is balanced by a finer urban grain, creating a sequence of spaces suited to daily commuting, long-distance travel, retail, dining, and social interaction.
The design is led by AREP, with Ateliers Jean Nouvel shaping the architectural vision and Michel Desvignes responsible for landscape design. Together, they frame a new gateway to Paris, where infrastructure and urban life converge.
The Ellinikon Mall
Athens, Greece
Set within Europe’s largest urban regeneration project, The Ellinikon Mall is positioned as a new benchmark for large-scale experiential retail in Southern Europe. Developed on the site of Athens’ former international airport, the mall forms a central component of the wider Ellinikon masterplan, which is reshaping the city’s southern coastline into a mixed-use metropolitan district.
With a gross leasable retail area of around 100,000 sq m, The Ellinikon Mall is the largest commercial complex in Greece. It spans four retail levels, accommodates more than 340 stores, and is supported by approximately 4,000 parking spaces. A defining architectural feature is its extensive shopfront façade, stretching a combined length of seven kilometers and designed to maximize visibility, openness, and natural light.
The concept goes beyond conventional retail. Food, beverage, leisure, and entertainment are integral elements, including a cinema complex and technology-driven attractions. Restaurants and cafés are embedded within a landscape-led design, overlooking plazas, terraces, and roof gardens that together create around 30,000 sq m of green and open space.
Sustainability is embedded at scale. The scheme targets LEED standards and incorporates 4,500 photovoltaic panels across 11,600 sq m, alongside high-efficiency building systems and renewable energy sources.
Positioned as a contemporary point of reference, The Ellinikon Mall reflects a shift in Greek retail toward destination-led formats that combine shopping, leisure, and public space within a single, highly curated environment in Athens.
IKEA Wien Westbahnhof
Vienna, Austria
With IKEA Wien Westbahnhof, IKEA has delivered a reference project for sustainable, inner-city retail formats. Located at Europaplatz 1, directly next to Vienna’s Westbahnhof, the building was designed by Querkraft Architekten as a “city shelf” – and is the world’s first IKEA store fully designed for customers arriving without a car.
The seven-story building offers around 9,000 sq m of retail space across five levels. Instead of large-scale stockholding, the store focuses on inspiration, planning, and omnichannel services, supported by delivery and pick-up solutions. A defining feature is the extensive greening: façades and roofs host around 160 trees, while a publicly accessible roof terrace with panoramic views over Vienna positions the building as an urban destination without any obligation to consume.
Mixed use is integral to the concept. The upper two floors accommodate a Jo&Joe hostel with 345 beds, while the ground floor integrates everyday services such as a pharmacy, bakery, and hairdresser, reinforcing the project’s “good neighbor” approach.
Completed in 2021 after a decade-long planning process and an investment of over €140 million, the building achieved Platinum certification under the GREENPASS system. By eliminating customer car traffic, the project saves an estimated 350,000 car journeys and around 1,000 tons of CO₂ annually. IKEA Wien Westbahnhof has since become a blueprint for future car-free city stores and mixed-use retail concepts across Europe.
Food Garden, Main-Tunus-Zentrum
Sulzbach (Taunus), Germany
With the new Food Garden, the Main-Taunus-Zentrum demonstrates how established shopping centers can be strategically repositioned through gastronomy-driven placemaking. Opened in spring 2025 after a 15-month construction period, the project adds a new open-air dining hub to one of Germany’s largest and highest-turnover retail destinations in Sulzbach, near Frankfurt am Main.
The Food Garden replaces a former Karstadt department store that closed in 2020 and was subsequently demolished. On a site of around 9,000 sq m, five freestanding restaurant buildings were developed, offering a total of roughly 4,000 sq m of leasable space. The architecture focuses on openness and quality of stay, combining partially covered terraces, landscaped outdoor areas, and a clearly defined center within the open-air mall. All buildings were constructed in sustainable timber construction.
The concept was fully let well ahead of opening. Anchor tenants include well-known national brands such as Alex, L’Osteria, and The Ash, complemented by established regional and international concepts including MoschMosch, EatDOORI, Traumkuh, Vegabar, and Umami. In total, eight gastronomy operators have created a diversified offer typically associated with prime inner-city locations.
Around €28 million was invested by Deutsche EuroShop and a closed-end real estate fund. Development, leasing, and implementation were handled by ECE Marketplaces, underlining the Food Garden as a clear example of how shopping centers can adapt former large-scale retail space to evolving consumer behavior and expectations.
Nivy Center
Bratislava, Slovakia
With Nivy Center, Bratislava has gained a hybrid destination that seamlessly combines mobility, retail and public space. Developed by HB Reavis, the project redefines the role of transport infrastructure by integrating the city’s main international bus station with a contemporary shopping center and a publicly accessible rooftop park.
The scheme comprises around 70,000 m² of retail space, anchored by flagship stores, premium brands and a strong gastronomy offer. At its core is the Nivy Market, a year-round food hall bringing together street food, classic restaurants, regional produce and international delicacies. Beneath the retail levels, a modern underground bus terminal connects Bratislava with destinations across Slovakia and beyond, while direct links to public transport, pedestrian routes and cycle paths position the center as a highly accessible urban node.
Architecture by Benoy prioritizes clarity and orientation, supported by 2,150 parking spaces and innovative mobility features such as the city’s first fully automated bicycle tower. Above it all, the expansive green roof has become one of Nivy’s defining elements: a landscaped public park with trees, herbs and flowers, children’s playgrounds, fitness zones, a 550-metre running track, community gardens and leisure areas.
More than a shopping center, Nivy Center functions as an everyday piece of the city. By stacking transport, commerce, and recreation under one roof, it offers a compelling example of how mixed-use development can activate urban life in Bratislava.
Norblin Factory
Warsaw, Poland
With Norblin Factory, Warsaw has gained one of Central Europe’s most convincing examples of industrial heritage revitalization. Located on a two-hectare site in the Wola district, the former metal factory – once among the largest industrial enterprises of the Kingdom of Poland – has been transformed into a mixed-use urban quarter that blends retail, gastronomy, culture and offices.
Opened in 2021 after several years of redevelopment, the complex offers more than 65,000 m² of usable space. Around 41,000 m² are dedicated to Grade A+ offices, while approximately 24,000 m² accommodate retail, leisure, culture and food concepts. Ten listed historic factory buildings were preserved and woven together by a landscaped pedestrian spine, creating a distinct atmosphere rooted in the site’s industrial past. Original machinery, rails, furnaces and presses are integrated throughout the ground-floor public areas, turning the entire quarter into an open-air museum.
Food plays a central role. The Food Town food hall occupies restored industrial halls and brings together 23 cafés and restaurants, complemented by four bars with different regional identities. Cultural uses add further depth: the boutique cinema KinoGram combines contemporary comfort with industrial design references, while the Norblin Factory Museum disperses more than 50 historic machines across the site.
BREEAM-certified and supported by extensive underground parking and Poland’s first automated bicycle garage, Norblin Factory stands as a benchmark for adaptive reuse and experience-led urban regeneration in Warsaw.
HUMA Shopping & Outlet
St. Augustin, Germany
The redevelopment of HUMA Shopping & Outlet illustrates how established shopping centers can be repositioned through precise, location-driven concepts rather than radical reinvention. Prior to redevelopment, HUMA already fulfilled a strong local supply function, but struggled with declining footfall, vacancies on upper floors and growing competitive pressure in the regional market.
Together with owner Jost Hurler Group, the strategy focused on turning these structural weaknesses into an opportunity. Detailed analysis of catchment, target groups and spatial logic revealed significant untapped potential: around two million people live within a 30-minute drive. Instead of applying standard refurbishment, the project introduced a hybrid model that strategically combines a classic shopping center with an outlet format.
The core intervention is a 9,000 m² outlet area on the upper level, designed as a clearly differentiated retail environment with its own identity. It now accommodates around 40 of the center’s 135 shops and is directly connected to one of the car parks, ensuring intuitive visitor flow. Complementary investments strengthened gastronomy and services, increasing dwell time and overall attractiveness.
The results are tangible. Following reopening, footfall rose by up to 15 percent, while outlet-driven demand also benefited the traditional retail levels. In 2025, turnover growth was particularly strong in gastronomy (+35 percent), toys (+35 percent) and services (+31.6 percent). Well connected by motorway and public transport links to Bonn, HUMA demonstrates how a carefully calibrated center–outlet hybrid can sustainably reposition a mature retail asset.
Europa Passage
Hamburg, Germany
The Europa Passage is one of Germany’s most resilient inner-city retail formats – less a classic mall than a covered urban artery. Linking Jungfernstieg with Mönckebergstraße, it benefits from constant footfall and a prime location at one of Hamburg’s most important public transport hubs.
With around 120 shops across 30,000 m² of retail space and an annual footfall of approximately 19 million visitors, the Europa Passage functions as a weather-independent north–south connection and everyday meeting place for a highly diverse audience. Average dwell time is 55 minutes, rising significantly during peak periods such as pre-Christmas Saturdays, when daily visitor numbers can exceed 130,000.
A key success factor is the active management of tenant mix and use. Strong anchors such as REWE, Thalia and Budni are complemented by international brands, local concepts and flexible pop-up formats. Gastronomy plays an outsized role: around 20 percent of space is dedicated to food, with the Food Sky alone attracting roughly a quarter of daily visitors and acting as a destination independent of shopping.
Operated by ECE Marketplaces, the Europa Passage shows how professional management, architectural quality, event programming and close integration with city life can keep inner-city retail relevant. More than a retail property, it remains a vital piece of Hamburg’s urban infrastructure.
