The battle for relevance

A shopping mall’s prime address used to be enough. If the location was right, the tenants would follow and the crowds would usually come with them.

Today, that equation no longer holds true in every case. The way people use cities has changed. Online shopping has lowered the need for routine retail trips, hybrid work has changed daily commuting patterns and consumers are seeking experiences instead of transactions.

Seeing this, developers and mall operators are finding that simply securing tenants is no longer the finish line. The real challenge is attracting people and giving them a reason to return.

That shift is changing just what makes a successful development. Malaysia’s retail market offers a glimpse into this changing landscape.

Nearly 1,000 malls and shopping centres now provide around 186.22 million sq ft of retail space across the country, while an estimated 77.8% of Malaysians or about 28.3 million people, are expected to live in urban areas by 2026.

Yet overall retail occupancy remains at around 79%, leaving roughly one in five retail lots vacant. The issue is no longer a shortage of consumers or commercial space.

Instead, it is a question of how developments can remain relevant in an increasingly competitive market.

The divide between those that succeed and those that struggle is also becoming more apparent. Prime malls in major urban centres continue to record occupancy rates of between 85% and 90% while weaker assets often remain below 60%.

Even within Kuala Lumpur where average retail occupancy ranges from 83% to 87%, performance varies considerably between developments. Good locations still matter but location alone is not enough to guarantee sustained visitor traffic.

Getting visitor traffic

For developers and asset managers, footfall has always been one of the clearest signs of whether a property is performing as intended.

Occupancy rates and rental yields remain important benchmarks but they often reflect what has already happened. Visitor traffic offers a more immediate measure of a development’s appeal.

Strong footfall typically translates into healthier tenant sales, greater leasing demand and more stable occupancy. When visitor numbers decline, vacancies often follow. This is changing the way developments are conceived from the outset.

Revitalising existing assets

Urban regeneration is also becoming a practical response to the realities of city development. As mature urban areas become increasingly built, opportunities to develop on vacant land are becoming more limited.

Rather than looking outward, many developers are looking inward by identifying ageing commercial buildings, former industrial sites and underutilised properties that can be given a new lease of life.

Revitalising an existing asset allows developers to tap into locations that are already connected by infrastructure and surrounded by established communities. With transport links, utilities and nearby amenities already in place, the focus shifts from creating a destination from scratch to repositioning one that has lost its appeal.

This approach also reflects changing market expectations. Consumers today are placing greater value on convenience, walkability and developments that offer multiple uses within a single destination.

Instead of travelling between separate locations to work, dine, shop or unwind, people increasingly favour places where these activities come together naturally. For developers, that means the success of a project depends not only on what is built but on how well it fits into the rhythm of everyday urban life.

A place to spend time

Rather than simply creating more commercial space, developers are beginning to design places where people want to spend time. Mixed-use developments combine homes, offices, retail, dining and leisure within a single place because they recognise that people rarely visit places for a single purpose anymore.

Someone may stop by for coffee, stay for dinner, meet friends afterwards or attend an event in the evening. The longer people stay within a development and the more reasons they have to return, the more resilient that development becomes.

This same thinking is driving a growing number of urban revitalisation projects. Across cities, ageing buildings, underutilised commercial properties and neglected precincts are being designed as vibrant mixed-use destinations.

Instead of seeing these older assets as liabilities, developers are investing in adaptive reuse, upgraded public spaces and carefully curated tenant mixes to reconnect and resonate these places with their surrounding communities.

Features such as walkable streets, landscaped plazas, public art shows, community events and green spaces are no longer seen as nice additions.

They have become part of a broader placemaking strategy that makes people comfortable and happy enough to linger, interact and return.

These spaces also encourage people to treat developments as part of their daily routine rather than somewhere they visit only when they need to make a purchase. A lunchtime stroll, an evening concert or a weekend market can help create familiarity and repeat visits, strengthening both the commercial performance of the development and its connection with the surrounding community.

More visitors generate stronger tenant sales, attract new businesses and support the project’s occupancy levels, creating a cycle that benefits both the property and the surrounding neighbourhood.

Urban renewal

The impact often reaches beyond the development itself. As activity returns, nearby businesses benefit from increased spending, fresh investment follows and new employment opportunities emerge.

In many cases, revitalised developments become catalysts for wider urban renewal, helping to breathe new life into precincts that had previously been overlooked.

For developers, success is therefore measured in different ways. Beyond occupancy rates and rental income, there are new questions to answer.

How long do people stay? What encourages them to return? Has the development become part of people’s daily routines rather than just an occasional visit?

Developers are no longer competing solely on location or scale. They are competing to create places that remain relevant even long after construction is complete. As cities continue to evolve, that competition is very likely to go up a few notches.

The developments that stand out will not necessarily be those with the largest floor areas or the tallest towers, rather ones that successfully bring people together and become part of everyday urban life.

In today’s property market, the battle is not simply for footfall. It is for relevance.