West Edmonton: Canada's shopping fantasy‐land

West Edmonton Mall, in Alberta, Canada, is frequently thought of as the world's most widely‐known shopping development. By late 1985 it had become the world's largest shopping centre, with 5 million sq ft; and had the largest parking space — 20,000 cars. Alan Hallsworth, who recently visited the Centre, suggests that it may now be at a crossroads. It suffered a roller‐coaster disaster with loss of life in 1986, and legal action is still pending; large numbers of young people, described as “mall rats”, wander around the Mall at weekends; and there are faults in the design. These are his personal impressions.