Only half of visitors to malls come to shop, says IIT study
The HinduAnyone who has tried to visit the malls in the city knows how difficult it is to simply cross the street to get to them, or even walk out of them with shopping bags in both hands. The study, published in the journal Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, found that 53% of users visit malls for reasons apart from shopping, indicating they provide options for leisure and entertainment. With the change in lifestyle in urban areas and the availability of a large number of shopping malls that offer recreation, these trips have increased,” said professor Gopal Patil of the department of civil engineering at IIT Bombay, the lead author of the study. To begin with, said prof. Patil, all major stations could have modern shopping malls. Prof. Patil said the data on use of public transport in Mumbai is encouraging: it is one of the few cities in the world where more than 70% of the trips, excluding those for work, are by public transit systems.