Focus on reusing spaces that are already available

RECENTLY, I visited a shopping mall in Kuala Lumpur and was shocked at seeing how empty it was. Once a bustling place, its tenants now are just a beauty facility, a Chinese vegetarian restaurant and a few shop lots converted into offices.

There are other malls that have also seen better days. Yet, new malls continue to be built across the country. This makes me wonder why we keep building new commercial spaces when existing ones are clearly underutilised.