Navigational criticism of shopping malls

In order to navigate any land’s usage or any urban activity, two leading factors must be considered: one social welfare, the other economical welfare. According to these two factors, agreeable standards, desirability, urban healthiness, security in navigating city’s operation are considered for planning city lands. In navigating the financial centers, not only local factors but also national and regional factors play an important role. Moreover, urban geographical experts, urban planners and economists’ ideas can be used. In addition, economical and commercial aspects can create active social functions (public meeting places). Therefore, trading centers have an important role in social welfare of citizens. In predicting the location of trading centers, one must consider the efficiency of supplementary activities. If in an urban region big shopping malls are established for distributing the production needed by citizens, we must pay attention to traffic and parking lots needed by people. Navigation of shopping malls according to modernist notions is that they must be established near the suburb of cities or near the highways or public transportation stations and with having enough parking lots. But today navigation of shopping malls do not follow these notions and with locating them in city centers cause changing the structure and meaning of modernist notions.This research analyzes the location of shopping malls in Shafa St. Kerman and its traffic effect on urban structure in this area after opening with using AHP and GIS.

Keywords:

shopping mall , navigation , urban structure , traffic effect