Across the country, individual stores located in strip malls are closing down. Jobs are lost, a local source of revenue is lost, and an empty husk of a building is left in its place. These empty stores provide a huge opportunity to spur local economies. At the same time, they offer a chance to move away from pure consumerism that they previously embodied, towards a path to sustainability.
The proposal, then, is to waste the least amount of resources to build new structures by renovating existing strip malls into something useful. Going beyond simply converting the roof into a green roof, Big-Box retail stores are retrofitted to become Big-Box Greenhouses. The produce that is grown in these greenhouses can then be sold right next door.
Wherever there is a strip mall, there is a parking lot with twice the square footage as the building. In a few places, these parking lots are actually put to good use by providing a large, unshaded area; perfect for large arrays of photovoltaic cells. By taking advantage of this fact, energy for the local stores can be produced on-site, promoting the theme of locality. For more revenue, electric vehicle charging stations could be set up directly beneath the solar panels.
And finally, the strip mall is modified so that there actually is a sense of community. In today’s suburban social landscape, individuals in communities are interacting less and less. By providing a community center right next to local stores, a regular meeting place is set.
