American shopping malls in China: a mosaic analysis of databases

ABSTRACT With the proliferation of globalization in architectural profession, the trade between China and the United States, as the largest importer and exporter, is the industry leader and trendsetter in transnational architectural practice. However, despite the dominance of shopping malls in China–US architectural trade, there is still a notable gap in systematic and in-depth exploration of shopping malls designed by US firms in China. To explore the situation, development, and impact of this representative phenomenon, this study comprehensively analyzes 170 shopping malls built in China by 26 representative American architectural firms from 1990 to 2021 based on five dimensions: geographical distribution, construction period, scale and types, forms and design vocabulary, and top designers. The findings demonstrate that this transnational architectural trade is spontaneously generated by the market economy, whereas intentionally amplified by regional development positioning and subject to changes in the international situation. The basic reason for the prevalence stems from the deep understanding of business logic, high degree of professionalism, and unparalleled experience, whereas the fundamentals lie in the respect for the harmony of people, architecture, and the environment; constant innovation in response to the changing market; and persistent pursuit of more optimal green, resilience, and wellbeing. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT


Background and research questions
Globalization, a widespread phenomenon that has affected all the aspects of public and private life (Held 1999), has led to world-wide growth of architectural practice, increased participation of transnational agents, and the emergence of multinational modes of design in the consumption, production, and interpretation of architecture (Cody 2003;Ren 2011;Xue, Ding, and Chen 2021;Ponzini 2020).According to a survey conducted by the magazine Building Design (BD) in 2021, the top 30 architectural firms in the world have 941 offices in 135 countries, and 12 (40%) of the 30 firms are located in the United States. 1he types of projects undertaken by the top 10 largest American architectural firms2 in China can be categorized into hospitality, residential, education, sports, mixed use and shopping malls, offices and headquarters, civic and culture, health care and hospitals, science and technology, and transportation and other facilities.Given that the United States built the world's first modern shopping mall,3 mixed use and shopping malls account for the highest proportion (20%) of the total types of projects (n = 184; Figure 1).
In the late 1990s, when the GDP per capita reached US$2000 in China's developed coastal cities, shopping malls began to sprout, quickly followed by a spurt.Between 2003 and 2013, the number of shopping malls in China increased from 236 to 3500, which is almost three times more than those in the United States (by 2014, the number of shopping malls in the United States reached 1200) (Xue 2016).After 2013, China's economy entered a normal period of mediumspeed development, whereas the number of shopping malls continued to rise rapidly.By 2016, approximately 4000 shopping malls were built in China, with 19.7 million m 2 of floor space under construction, accounting for nearly 60% of the global total (CBRE, 2017).By 2021, the number was estimated to reach 7500.China continues to lead as the most active market globally in terms of the development of shopping malls (iiMedia Research Group, 2021).Foreign architects, especially American ones, prevail in benchmark projects.For example, in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, 75% (15 out of 20) of the top shopping malls in terms of sales and customer flow rates in 2021 are designed by foreign architects (excluding those in mainland China and Hong Kong), with 73% (11 out of 15) of them being from American firms (Figure 2).
China-US architectural trade is the industry leader and trendsetter in transnational architectural practice.China itself houses many design institutes, especially in Beijing and Shanghai.Thus, why do Chinese clients and governments seek services from the United States and rapidly develop a considerable number of transnational shopping malls in China?In addition, what is the motive of American architects who have projects in or around the United States to travel thousands of miles to China for practice?Although shopping malls are challenged by booming online shopping, how has the design of American malls evolved over the past three decades to maintain their lasting attractiveness to Chinese consumers?

Literature review and research objectives
The popularity and great success of foreign architecture, represented by the United States, especially in developing countries, can be said to be the driving force for most of the studies.Existing research on how American-shaped architecture, including shopping malls, are exported worldwide are numerous and systematic.In 2003, Jeffrey Cody published his book Exporting American Architecture 1870-2000, which traced the contemporary development of American architectural exports, covering Latin America, Africa, East Asia, and the Pacific (Cody 2003).Other than depicting the whole picture, Sklair and Alaily-Mattar et al. focused their attention on star architects and their iconic buildings, such as shopping malls, museums, and urban megaprojects, discussing how contemporary transnational capitalism and consumerism are produced and manifested in globalized cities, as well as their impact on the built environment and urban development (Alaily-Mattar, Ponzini, and Thierstein 2020;Sklair 2017).Shopping Towns of Europe 1945Europe -1975 revealed the situation of modernist design, the history of consumption, and the rapidly changing contexts of postwar Europe, and explored the role of modern American shopping center design in urban renewal and the daily lives of citizens (Gosseye and Avermaete 2017).In the same vein, Camerin introduced the concept of "rental spaces" and encompassed shopping malls as the most important component in this broad sense, exploring how American-shaped rental spaces were exported abroad, particularly in the case of Eastern Europe, and how this creation of new centralities on the basis of a "multifunctionality" is designing the image of a recognizable, exportable, and globally consumable city (Camerin 2022).
These rich historical, empirical, and theoretical materials provide foundational information and serve to inform further discussions in this study.However, these international studies are either confined to the early modern period or focused more on Europe, North America, and APAC with a notable gap in systematic and in-depth exploration of shopping malls in China-US architectural trade after China's 1979 Reform and Opening.Studies by Chinese scholars have filled the gap in this important historical period, but Americanshaped shopping malls are mostly covered as an integral component of overview studies on transnational architectural production (Ren 2011;Xue 2006;Xue, Ding, and Chen 2021) and mall development history (Al 2016;Wang 2019;Xue 2016); or scattered interviews, reports, case studies that have focused more on summarizing and learning from the experience of American mall development, design, management, and operation (Guo 2020;Sun, Chen, and Xue 2023); or comparative studies, in particular, comparing the development of Chinese malls with that of American malls during the same period (Shi 2021;Yu 2018).
This study attempts to answer the aforementioned questions and fill the gaps in knowledge by conducting a comprehensive analysis of a basic database, which covers 170 transnational shopping malls built in China from 1990 to 2021 by 26 representative American architectural firms.The findings of this study can provide a basis for the further analysis of this phenomenon by providing insights into construction as the first step.

Definition
A "shopping mall" is a North American term.The word "mall" originally meant a pedestrian promenade with shops along it (Longstreth 1997).This term has been evolving since the early 1950s when the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) officially defined a "shopping mall" (usually synonymous with  a "shopping center" 4 ) as "a group of retail and other commercial establishments that are planned, developed, owned and managed as a single property with on-site parking provided . . . the center's size and orientation are generally determined by the market characteristics of the trade area served by the center" (ICSC, 1999).In the Chinese context, according to the Classification of Retail Formats (GB/T18106-2021) issued by the Ministry of Commerce of China (MOFCOM), a "shopping mall" refers to "a complex of a variety of retail stores, facilities, and services which have been developed, owned, and managed by relevant companies.It usually contains dozens or even hundreds of service places, such as supermarkets, specialized stores, catering stores, grocery stores, as well as entertainment, fitness, and leisure facilities" (MOFCOM, 2021).
Accordingly, a transnational shopping mall can be defined as a freestanding building, a component of a commercial complex, or a plaza/pedestrian street with varied retail, leisure, and entertainment areas, designed by foreign architects or architectural firms in collaboration with local design institutes, which can be classified into six types in accordance with the guidelines of the ICSC (2017) and MOFCOM (2021) (Table 1).Although a "shopping mall" is clearly defined, the concept of "American" remains ambiguous.Given the political identity as a country of immigration, "America/US" can be regarded as nationality, educational background, or a place for work.To delineate the identity of an architectural design firm, this study uses two criteria based on details provided by the American Institute of Architects (AIA).First, a firm should be included in the AIA's list.Second, the headquarters of the firm should be located in the United States.Thus, an American architectural design firm is defined as an architectural design firm founded and based in the United States and accredited by the AIA.

Research scope
By May 2022, a total of 85 firms are listed in the AIA Firm Directory of China.The results of multiple registrations are combined, and 43 firms that are not based in the United States (e.g., Aedas, Benoy, and Foster + Partners) are excluded.Moreover, five firms with specific specialties (e.g., Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture, M Moser Associates, and Walt Disney Imagineering) and two firms (Handel Architects and JWDA) that have not completed a mall project in China by 2021 are excluded.Finally, 12 firms are included in the analysis.In addition, after a review of the ENR 2021 Top 225 International Design Firms list 1 , the BD 2021 Top 100 list 2 , architectural journals, public media, and relevant websites of mixed-use and retail buildings, 14 American firms accredited by the AIA are included; of these, 10 firms are not registered in China but have branches in the country and four firms developed well-known shopping malls in China but do not have offices in China.Finally, 26 American architectural firms are included in this study.
Shanghai Center is China's first American commercial complex (hospitality + office + residential + theater + exhibition + retail) built by John Portman & Associates.The project was initiated in the early 1980s, its design was started in May 1986, and construction was completed in 1990(Portman Architects 2022).Therefore, in this study, the completion year is used to determine the time of a mall project.The study period is from 1990 to 2021.As of December 2021, on the basis of the list of firms (Figure 3) and the aforementioned timeframe, a total of 170 featured American shopping malls built in China are included (some projects that are still under construction but have been structurally topped out and have started phased operations are included in the statistics and discussion).5

Research and analysis methods
Since the 1980s, the introduction of American shopping malls has coincided with sweeping changes in China, particularly in terms of shifting consumer demands brought about by rapid economic development.To delineate such a complex issue spanning 9.6 million km 2 and over 30 years, this study adopts the mosaic method, which involves the quantitative and qualitative analyses of collected cases and information from five dimensions of American mall design and construction in China.
First, the geographical and time distribution of American shopping malls in China is examined to reflect the situation and process of development.Then, through the geographical and time distribution of scale and types, the key features and influencing factors of this transnational production are analyzed.After that, the changes in forms and design vocabulary reveal the mutual impact and adaptation between American malls and the local market in China.Finally, the development and design characteristics of mall projects of top designers in China are discussed to explore the reasons for their lasting appeal and possible trends.
(1) The geographical distribution of American malls in China and specific cities can be visualized as hot and cold regions/spots to understand mall importation and analyze why these regions/ cities need and can accommodate more American shopping malls.
(2) The time distribution by completion year indicates fluctuations in construction over years and can explain how political, economic, and cultural changes have affected the importation of American malls from a macroperspective.(3) The scale and types6 distribution reveals the scale and functions of American malls.
Examination of the distribution of location, time, scale, and types can indicate whether the importation of American malls is demand-based or a blind expansion.(4) The classification of forms and design vocabulary and the examination of their changes over time demonstrate the evolution of mall design and indicates how the design method and strategies are adopted to meet consumer needs.( 5) "Top designers" highlight the three most representative types of American design firms, which have secured the most mall projects and constructed retail area in China.The features and commonalities of their works and development indicate, in part, the taste of decision makers as well as the reasons for the popularity of American malls in China.
The above five aspects relate to development, scale and design.They can delineate a panorama of American designed shopping malls in China.

Geographical distribution
China is divided into seven geographical regions: East China, South China, North China, Central China, Southwest China, Northwest China, and Northeast China.All the seven regions have shopping malls designed by American architects.The three most concentrated regions are East China (44%), South China (25%), and Southwest China (11%) (Figure 4).The development of shopping malls is closely related to the consumption ability.The retail volume is positively correlated with the quantity and quality of consumers, and the five most commonly used indicators are population, density, GDP per capita, urban disposable income (UDI) per capita, and urbanization rate (CBRE, 2017;DCID of MOFCOM, 2016;Xue 2016;You 2013).The distribution of American malls in China follows the same pattern, and density, GDP per capita, and UDI per capita are the most crucial factors (Table 2).East China has the most developed economy and culture in terms of UDI per capita.The densest South China with the highest GDP per capita, taking advantage of the policy convenience of Hong Kong and Macao and its proximity to the Pacific, has frequent international communication and is the leader in economic and social development.Thus, American shopping malls have flourished in these two regions.
As presented in Figure 5, American malls in East and South China lead not only in quantity but also in the breadth of distribution.Although American malls in the other five regions are mainly concentrated in provincial capitals, they are spread across 19 cities in six provinces in East China and seven cities in one province as well as two special administrative regions in South China.Southwest China ranks at the bottom for all the four indicators except population.However, the number of American malls in Southwest China exceeds that in North China, which is the largest and most dynamic northern economy represented by Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei and is even more than twice than that of Northeast and Central China, which are the core of industry and agriculture and the hub of land and water transportation.
This contradiction can be explained from two dimensions.First, unlike local malls, transnational malls shoulder the responsibility of building the image and lifestyle of an international metropolis.Since the launch of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in 2013, the southeast coast is no longer the only gateway for external trade and communication.Because of easy inland access to Central and Southeast Asia, the southwest is becoming increasingly connected with the international world.Status-seeking capitals, such as Chengdu and Kunming, are making efforts to lead and promote global exchange and develop the image of open and developed cosmopolitan cities.Therefore, foreign architects, especially American architects from the world's most developed economy, are in considerable demand.Compared with the southwest, North, Northeast, and Central China have a lower demand for American architects.
The second dimension focuses on the different roles and expectations of American shopping malls in urban development.This contrast is the most evident in Beijing (North China) and Chengdu (Southwest China).Beijing, the political and economic center of China, is a typical international metropolis with an early economic start, superior resource allocation, and an urbanization rate as high as 87.50% (NBSC 2022).The economy of Chengdu, a representative of Southwest China, started rising from 2003, grew considerably in 2010, and increased rapidly after 2015, driven by a series of reforms, such as the Third Front Construction (the 1960s), the Reform and Opening (1979), the Western Development ( 2001), and the BRI    (Yicai, 2021).
Compared with Beijing, Chengdu's lower urbanization rate of 79.48% indicates its faster growth and new town boom (NBSC 2022; China Development Observation 2019).Therefore, Beijing's transnational shopping malls are mainly concentrated in downtown (Figure 6).Development of an increasing number of high-end designs by American architects is the outcome of commercial competition and can meet the growing consumption and entertainment needs of citizens and visitors.For Beijing, the importation of foreign architecture is closely related to social order, social class, social power, and other factors at the global level.Instead of shopping malls, Beijing prefers iconic buildings, such as skyscrapers, stadiums, signature headquarters, and cultural mega structures.By contrast, this type of political and social ideology is less visible in Chengdu.American shopping malls in Chengdu represent urbanization and demonstrate a diffuse distribution (Figure 6).In new town areas, these malls act as anchors and catalysts for the transition from government-led demographic urbanization or landbased urbanization to consumption-led urbanization, thus driving the city's economy to achieve a virtuous cycle of sustainability.

Time distribution by completion year
As depicted by the 2-year moving average curves in Figure 7, the highest number of American shopping malls in China was completed during 2010 to 2020, with the highest growth observed between 2011 and 2016, which largely coincides with the overall development trend of shopping malls in China: the initial stage of exploration (1990)(1991)(1992)(1993)(1994)(1995)(1996)(1997)(1998)(1999)(2000), the transition stage of steady growth (2001)(2002)(2003)(2004)(2005)(2006)(2007)(2008)(2009)(2010), and the leap stage from increment to surplus (2011 to present).Shopping malls designed by American architects have played a marked role in all the three periods, and some of them even directly lead to the turning point.

1990-2000: the initial stage of exploration
China-US relations began to normalize in 1972, and the Reform and Opening in 1979 completely disrupted the two-decade isolation after the founding of the People's Republic of China.The following rapid economic growth has provided opportunities for the development of shopping malls and enabled American firms to gain work in China (McNeil, 2009;Ren 2011).During his first visit to the United States in 1979, Deng Xiaoping 8 was so impressed by the   the highest international standards of hospitality, offices, residential, and retail at the time and housed the offices of international service companies as well as the cultural offices of the consulates of many countries.This signals the beginning of transnational architectural practice between China and the United States, bringing a whole set of modern American design concepts, construction techniques, management models, and lifestyle to China (Xue 2006).The World Trade Center, a commercial complex that was built in New York and New Orleans in the mid-1960s (He and Shen 1990), was transplanted to China in 1990.The China World Trade Center responds to the trend of globalization and considerably promotes Beijing's modernization and urbanization (He and Pang 2001).In the following decades, the design of the World Trade Center spread to almost all major Chinese cities.
Although Shanghai Center and China World Trade Center aim more to accommodate foreign trade and exchanges, the Grand Gateway 66 (1999) developed by Callison RTKL is regarded by Shanghai people as the first large-scale shopping mall in the modern sense (Wang 2021).The mall design follows a modern retail layout that distinguishes it from China's old department stores and includes 1400 parking spaces on two underground levels, which was a forward-looking bold move considering the scarcity of cars at that time.

2001-2010: the transition stage of steady growth
With the deepening of China's Western Development in the 21st century, the GDP per capita achieved US $2000 from the southeast coast to some inland areas and shopping malls began to expand and spread.Following Hong Kong's Hang Lung Properties, Sun Hung Kai Properties, Cheung Kong Holdings, Kerry Group, Swire Properties and Singapore's CapitaLand, more state-owned and private enterprises such as China Resources Land, Wanda Group, COFCO Group, etc. have joined in shopping mall development, creating a series of renowned mall brands.The model projects of these brands are often designed by American architects, such as Shanghai Super Brand Mall by Jerde ( 2002 From 2002 to 2008, developers mostly invested in residential projects and paid little attention to high-risk commercial real estate.With the saturation of the residential market and an increase in the housing vacancy rate, developers began considering commercial real estate as a safe haven (Xue 2016).American architects were favored for building influential benchmark malls.Therefore, despite the decline in the overall mall growth rate, after an average 3-year of construction, 2010 saw the opening of various signature Americanshaped malls (Figure 7 & Figure 8), such as Shanghai Kerry Parkside by KPF, Hangzhou Mix C, Shenyang Mix C, Tianjin Joy City by CallisonRTKL, and Chengdu Yanlord Land Plaza by NBBJ, etc.During this period, shopping malls were developed in an orderly manner, and the benchmark mall projects designed by American architects timely adapted to the market, driving the economic development of the city and promoting retail upgrade and transformation.

2011 to present: the leap stage from increment to surplus
In 2008, the global financial crisis occurred.China's GDP growth fell below 10% since then and further dropped below 8% in 2012.To cushion the impact, China implemented a "Four Trillion RMB Investment Plan" (Wang 2021).With the real estate industry in the United States being in depression, American architects turned to the international market, especially China, for opportunities.At the same time, the overheating of China's residential development prompted intensive policies and initiatives for regulation, which further encouraged more domestic developers to turn to the commercial industry for better preservation and appreciation of capital.The growth rate of commercial real estate investment was maintained above 15% and reached 30% by 2010 (Wang 2021).Numerous shopping malls that received investment at that time were opened after 2011.
The massive opening of shopping malls resulted in oversupply.In sharp contrast to the previous stage of steady growth, 64% of commercial projects held by the top 100 real estate companies are losing money (Song 2019).However, some substantially successful cases have stood out from the fierce competition.For example, Guangzhou Taikoo Hui by Architectonica was listed as one of China's top 10 shopping malls just 3 years after its opening in 2011, setting a new model and standard for the design and operation of mixeduse complexes (Wang 2021).American architects have gained considerable recognition, and this led to a surge in the number of American malls completed in China since 2015.
The COVID-19 pandemic that started in 2019 has exerted a contrasting impact on American malls and local malls in China (Figure 8).Many projects that were on hold due to the pandemic have resumed in 2021, thus achieving a significant increase of 84%.However, transnational malls experienced a sharp decline of 29% because of obstacles in foreign exchanges.

Scale and types distribution
As presented in Figure 9, 61% of American malls in China have a retail area of more than 75,000 m 2 and 26% have an area of 35,000-75,000 m 2 .The distribution of retail area is consistent with that of the mall type.More than half of American malls in China are developed as super-regional malls with a trade area size of 8-40 km.The remaining 23% are regional malls with a trade area size of 8-25 km, and 11% are community centers with a trade area size of 5-10 km.Only 11% are specialized-purpose malls (theme/ festival, factory outlet, and power center) with the type of theme/festival accounting for the largest share at 8%.Overall, the geographical and time distribution of the scale and types of American malls in China is consistent, indicating that they meet market needs.In terms of geographical distribution (Figure 10), the number of super-regional malls is the highest in all the seven regions.East China (with the highest UDI per capita) and South China (with the highest density and GDP per capita) have the largest types of malls, and each region has an American mall with a retail area of more than 300,000 m 2 .The largest one is SM Tianjin Mall developed by Architectonica in North China.With a total construction area of 530,000 m 2 , it is currently the largest shopping mall in Asia.This landmark is located at the Airport Economic Area on the central axis of Tianjin and Binhai New Area and adjacent to the Tianjin Free Trade Zone (Architectonica 2022).This considerably large mall was developed in response to the strategy of "Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Synergistic Development and Spatial Layout Optimization" proposed by President Xi Jinping at the Beijing Symposium on 26 February 2014 (Xiao 2018).This mall not only enhances regional commercial support facilities for the Airport Economic Zone and Binhai New Area but also serves over 260 million residents of Tianjin and the Bohai Bay Area (WINDATA 2022).
The period distribution reveals increase in scale and types (Figure 11).From 1990 to 2015, the retail area of American malls in China mainly ranged from 100,000 to 200,000 m 2 .With increases in the consumption level and demand, American malls with a retail area of over 300,000 m 2 or even 400,000 m 2 began to appear in 2016 (Nanjing World Trade    attracted 14 million visitors throughout the year and won the honor of "National AAA Tourist Attraction" (Shenzhen China 2022).

Forms and design vocabulary
The appearance of a building is usually determined by the architect's design vocabulary or strategic methodology, which varies with the site condition and local environment.Typical forms of American malls in China can be categorized into three types: free standing, podium of a complex, and plaza/pedestrian street.On the basis of the prevailing trend of design, we tentatively classify the design vocabulary as rectilinear, geometric, and irregular (Table 3).
Three-quarters of American malls in China are designed as the podiums of commercial complexes to maximize clustering effect for commercial benefits (Figure 12).More than half of them have geometric designs.Rectilinear designs were prevalent in the 1980s-1990s for their economy, practicality, and fitting with the city fabric (Xue, Ding, and Chen 2021), whereas geometric designs have gained more popularity today for their eye-catching appearance as landmarks.
After the 20th century, the form of plaza/pedestrian street and irregular design vocabulary began to emerge and has grown markedly since 2010 (Figure 13).This development responds to socioeconomic and cultural development as well as changes in consumer habits and preferences based on four crucial trends: (1) compounding of functions to meet personalized needs while providing diverse and convenient services; (2) unique theme and emphasis on peopleoriented experience to highlight the recognizable label that contributes to the core competitiveness of the mall; (3) high-tech, innovative development as a response to the continual progress of science and technology and the popularity of online-offline shopping integration; and (4) high-density and ecooriented development to advocate land-intensive vertical green consumption and management, promoting the global concept of health and sustainability (Abutaleb et al. 2019;Warnaby and Medway 2018;Xue 2016).

Top American designers
Table 4 lists the top 10 American firms that have won the highest number of mall projects in China.Considering the number of projects and built retail area, the three most representative groups, KPF and SOM, CallisonRTKL and Jerde, and Laguarda.Low Architects (LLA) and 5 + Design, will be discussed in detail in terms of the development and design characteristics of their mall projects in China.

High-rise specialists -KPF and SOM
KPF and SOM are among the leading architectural firms globally.Both of them have rich experience in working closely with American and international enterprises (SOM 2022).The large-scale and multidisciplinary nature and site-specific approaches, allow KPF and SOM to provide the most advanced full-cycle services, ranging from site selection studies, program feasibility analysis, and environmental studies to site planning, architectural design, structural calculations, historical building preservation, and various other tasks.Thus, they have won many considerably large-scale multiphased commercial projects in China, such as China World Trade Center (1990) by SOM, one of the largest high-profile commercial complexes globally developed in three phases from 1990 to 2017.Moreover, technology and digital processes are central to the strategic development of their projects.Together with aggressive investment in research, they have developed the world's tallest towers, longest spans, most varied programs, and inventive forms that incorporate green, resilience, and wellness (KPF 2022; SOM 2022).
However, KPF and SOM are admired by commercial mixed-use developers more for their expertise in high-rises, whereas the mall parts of most renowned projects are usually developed by retail design specialties on a collaborative basis.For example, KPF's Grand Gateway 66 (1999) in Shanghai was in collaboration with Callison, Shin Kong Place in Beijing (2007) with Sybarite, IFC of Chengdu (2013) with Benoy, and Shanghai Qiantan Center with 5 + Design (2021).China World Trade Center (1990) was done by SOM in partnership with Emery Roth & Sons (United States), Nikken Sekkei (Japan), Arquitectonica (United States), and 5 + Design (United States).The retail areas they completed independently are mostly 30k-50k m 2 attached to the towers, designed more to cater and serve the office population rather than radiate to the community, such as Shanghai World Financial Center by KPF (31,000 ㎡) and Jin Mao Tower by SOM (23,257 ㎡).

Established retail designers -callisonRTKL and Jerde
CallisonRTKL and Jerde are recognized among the world's leading retail design firms.RTKL and Callison established offices in Shanghai in 2004 respectively, were acquired by ARCADIS in 2007and 2014, and then merged in 2016(CallisonRTKL, 2022a).Jerde opened the first international office in Compared to Jerde's wide exploration of the Asia-Pacific, CallisonRTKL focuses more on the Chinese market.By continually studying China's retail market, CallisonRTKL defines new generations born after the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s as core forces driving the retail revolution in China.These young consumers are more affluent and educated than ever before and seek a diverse lifestyle full of aspirations and ambitions.They focus more on expanding their horizons and experiences, desiring to be unique and noticed.These characteristics make them have high expectations of brands, consumer experiences, and high technology, constantly    looking for the next "hotspot," striving to be the first to witness or attempt something new and sharing it wherever and whenever they can (CallisonRTKL, 2022b).Therefore, CallisonRTKL focuses on three main areas in their mall design: (1) Novel and unique shopping, leisure, and entertainment experience; (2) Flexibility to ensure the constant introduction of new activities and products; (3) Transformative mix of formats to improve core market competitiveness (CallisonRTKL, 2022b)

Experienced rising stars -Laguarda.Low Architects (LLA) and 5 + design
LLA and 5 + Design were both founded after 2000.Despite their youth, LLA has built as many shopping malls in China as CallisonRTKL, and 5 + Design has produced a number of awardwinning projects such as Qiantan Taikoo Li in Shanghai (2021).
Their success is not out of nowhere, which in fact stems from RTKL and Jerde (Figure 14).Pablo Laguarda, founder and principal of LLA, was formerly a vice president with the Dallas office of RTKL; Michael Ellis, founder and principal of 5 + Design, served as partner and lead designer at Jerde from 1996-20059 .5+ Design's application of curvilinear and staggered spatial arrangement to create striking shapes and unique multi-leveled experiences is clearly inherited from Jerde.Applying the three aforementioned principles, RTKL's projects embody the outdoor living associated with existing regional blocks, revolutionizing the traditional mall design.LLA has taken this a step further and produced themed city-level developments represented by the OCT OH BAY in Shenzhen (2021).

Conclusion
Shopping mall is a building type first developed in the United States, to respond to the increasing demand on consumerism as well as pedestrian-oriented and weather protective environment.The trend of shopping centers engulfed Europe from north to south after WWII in the 1950s to 1970s.While governmentinitiated housing program obviously pushed forward modernity, private actors, in collaboration with public stakeholders, defined modernity through spaces imbued with the tantalizing logic of mass consumption (Gosseye and Avermaete 2017).The process once appeared in Europe happened in China in the 1990s, as depicted by this paper.For a country isolated with the outside world for 30 years, China was eager to import foreign knowledge and design in the 1980s (Xue 2006).Portman and other American firms filled the demand.Although the main stream shopping mall design was from the US, "star architects" were less involved (Alaily-Mattar, Ponzini, and Thierstein 2020).Star architects are mostly seen in the cultural buildings initiated by the government (Xue 2005).
The dominant spread of American or Americanstyle products, customs, and institutional models has resulted in modern globalization being equal to "Americanization" (Strikwerda 2000).The architectural field is no exception.The export of American architecture is the result of the global distribution of capital, involving a massive and rapid accumulation of talents and experience, which inevitably overflows the city and radiates to the region, the country and the world, and brings with it the intersection and collision of design concepts, techniques and technologies with local habits (Xue, Ding, and Chen 2021).This export is filling the desire of developing countries to upgrade the city image and the need for new town construction.The recession of the late 1980s decimated domestic projects in the US, whereas the rapid economic growth and drastic urbanization of China/East Asia opened up opportunities to the world.Since the Reform and Opening in 1979, China has been actively involved in the globalization of modern architecture and become the largest consumer of American architecture, which is most evident in the importation of American shopping malls.By 2021, China has achieved an urbanization rate of 64.72% compared with 82.90% of the United States, 84.20% of the United Kingdom, and 91.90% of Japan, and the market potential remains huge (NBSC 2022).
The geographic and period distribution of 170 American malls in China macroscopically illustrate that this transnational architectural trade is spontaneously generated by the market economy, whereas intentionally amplified by regional development positioning and subject to changes in the international situation.The concentration of American malls in East China and South China results from the high demand driven by the highest population density, GDP per capita, and UDI per capita.The prominence of Southwest China, on the other hand, suggests that the introduction of transnational malls, as a symbol of soft power and international metropolitan image, is influenced by the city's pursuit of status, new town development patterns, and transformation toward more sustainable consumption-led urbanization.In terms of fluctuation over time, American malls and overall malls in China demonstrate a similar development trend, but a diametrically opposite growth exhibited around 2010 and 2021 due to the combined effects of the surplus of malls, China's real estate regulation policies, the 2008 global economic crisis, and the COVID-19 pandemic.
The scale and type distribution further reveals the key features of local needs and development from the micro level.American malls are imported as superregional landmarks with striking geometric appearances and are majorly designed as the podiums of mixed-use complexes to achieve the maximum clustering effect for commercial benefits.In contrast to the apparently blind and massive expansion of local malls, the development of American malls in China has based on the premise of market trends and demands, maintaining careful exploration and cautious progression.
The changes in forms and design vocabulary, together with the development and design characteristics of top designers, answer the question of how the design of American malls has evolved over the past three decades to maintain their lasting attractiveness to Chinese consumers.The basic reason for the prevalence of Americanshaped shopping malls in China stems from their deep understanding of the business logic, high degree of professionalism, and unparalleled accumulation of experience/momentum.The complexity and great expectation of mall projects make the clients, especially strong foreign capitals, more willing to work with long-established and time-tested architects.The resulting dominance and inheritance relationship of top designers form an obvious economic moat that local design institutes with a late start in modern retail design can hardly compete with.The fundamental reason for the lasting appeal, however, is not the superficial play of spectacular forms and hightechs but the respect for the harmony of people, architecture, and the environment; constant innovation in response to the changing market; and persistent pursuit of more optimal green, resilience, and wellbeing.
The analysis of the above aspects outlines a full picture of importing American shopping mall in an emerging country.In the interaction between the globalization of architecture and the development of modernization and urbanization in China, no outcome indicates the beginning or an end but an ongoing process.The situation, development, and impact of American shopping mall design in China provide a continuous perspective on the accumulation of experience, contributing to the integrity of the knowledge of transnational production of modern architecture around the world, and providing a timely and valuable lesson for other countries striving to modernize and achieve balance among globalization, internationalization, and local development in the 21 st century.

Figure 1 .
Figure 1.The types of projects in China by the top 10 American architectural firms.Statistics by the authors.

Figure 2 .
Figure 2. Geographic distribution of the designers for China's 2021 top shopping malls: (a) all designers; (b) foreign designers.Drawn by the authors.

Figure 3 .
Figure 3.The selection of 26 U.S. architectural firms included in this study.Drawn by the authors.

Figure 4 .
Figure 4.The geographic distribution of American shopping malls in China.Drawn by the authors.
(2013) (The People's Government of Sichuan Province 2018; China Development Observation 2019).By 2021, Chengdu ranked first among 16 new national cities 7 with the most flexibility and development potential in three dimensions: concentration of commercial resources, vitality of urban residents, and diversity of lifestyle

Figure 5 .
Figure 5.The city distribution of American shopping malls in China.Drawn by the authors.

Figure 7 .
Figure 7.The time distribution of American malls and overall malls in China.Drawn by the authors.

Figure 6 .
Figure 6.The geographical distribution of American shopping malls in Beijing and Chengdu.Drawn by the authors.

Figure 8 .
Figure 8.Comparison of the growth rate of American malls and overall malls in China.Drawn by the authors.

Figure 9 .
Figure 9.The of scale and types of American malls in China: (a) types; (b) scale.Drawn by the authors.

Figure 10 .
Figure 10.The geographical distribution of scale and types of American malls in China.Drawn by the authors.

Figure 11 .
Figure 11.The time distribution of scale and types of American malls in China.Drawn by the authors.

Table 3 .
The design vocabulary classification of American malls in China.Photo courtesy to KPF, SOM, Steven Holl Architects, Architectonica, AECOM, and 5 + Design.上海前灘太古里 Hong Kong in 1995, entered the mainland China through Hong Kong in 2000, and set up AIA Shanghai Chapter in 2016 as one of the founding members (ARCHINA 2022; Jerde 2022).Starting with the first mall projects Grand Gateway 66 (1999) and Super Brand Mall (2002), CallisonRTKL and Jerde has been actively practicing in China for more than 20 years, designed a wide variety of malls, most of which are over 100,000 m 2 in size.Jon Jerde's deep thinking and understanding of placemaking, experiential retail, the way places work, and the user experience are what the firm is built on.While many architects simply concentrate on the beauty of the building, Jerde was a pioneer in recognizing that the human experience is everything -and that it should come first (Jerde 2022).His use of avant-garde, flashy entertainment often challenged industry standards, promoting the creation of retail experience as well as common spaces for ordinary people.Besides the notable Langham Place in Hong Kong (2004), Super Brand Mall in Shanghai (2022), Northstar Xin He Delta in Changsha (2012), Powerlong in Xiamen (2018), and Wuhan Riverfront (2019) are all innovative examples.

Figure 12 .
Figure 12.The distribution of forms and design vocabulary of American malls in China: (a) forms; (b) design vocabulary.Drawn by the authors.

Figure 13 .
Figure 13.The time distribution of forms and design vocabulary of American malls in China.Drawn by the authors.

Figure 14 .
Figure 14.Top mall designers and their representative projects in China.Provided by Guo Nu 9 , adapted by the authors.

Table 1 .
(Ibrahim et al. 2018;Pitt and Musa 2009)pical characteristics.Compiled and adapted by the authors.Generally speaking, there are three different physical configurations of shopping malls/centers: enclosed, open-air, and hybrid(Levi et al., 2012).Both a mall and a shopping center refer to a large space which allows a person access to more than one shop.The only dispute is over which one necessarily has to be in an enclosed space, but there is not yet a unanimous consensus(Hasa 2017; Difference Between 2022).These two words are often used as synonyms in the fields of design, business, management, and research(Ibrahim et al. 2018;Pitt and Musa 2009). 4

Table 2 .
The correlation between regional distribution of American shopping malls and the five indicators.Statistic by the authors.: National Bureau of Statistics of China https://data.stats.gov.cn/easyquery.htm?cn=E0103; Statistics Bureaus of each province and city *|r|<0.3 weak correlation, **0.3≤|r|<0.5moderate correlation, ***0.5≤|r|<1strong correlation.The data of the five indicators are averaged and weighted by the proportion of "The Number of Malls in a Specific City/The Total Number of Malls in the Region".Sources

Table 4 .
The top 10 U.S. firms with the greatest number of mall projects in China.Compiled by the authors.
2The latest mall project developed by Swire Properties.The first shopping mall in mainland China to achieve WELL Platinum 2 The first project in China to combine old building restoration, renovation, and new construction.2Thefirst commercial complex that received investment from and was designed and developed by American architects in China.The tallest building in Shanghai when completed.