The third space is dead. 

Take a walk through your local mall and I guarantee you’ll leave with a sense of dread and desolation. It looks the same, sure, but where is the joy? Where are the crowds of people? 

Why isn’t anyone out and about? 

You’ll find no anchor stores at the corners of the mall, the food courts  are all closed and no one is selling pretzels. You wander aimlessly, you forget why you came and then you leave. We are left to inherit the ruins of a greater civilization, one whose crumbling temples we merely inhabit. 

So what? 

What makes a mall so important? It’s just a big collection of stores, and people can shop online. 
But it was never about the building itself. It was about what the malls represented. What function they once served. And the troubling meaning of their absence. 

People can no longer gather. 

You might go to a mall, but do you really linger? Take your time? Go just to go? 

Most people go to a mall, if at all, for one store or item. They spend no unnecessary time and leave as quickly as possible. Teenagers don’t walk around the stores anymore. But why should they? There aren’t any stores that will let them in. And the mall walkers have left, because how can they stay without a mall to walk? 

Sociologist Ray Oldenburg defines three spaces that people inhabit: 

There’s a first space where you spend most of your time: this is often the home. 
Your workplace or school is the second space: that’s where you spend the rest of your time. 
But the third space, that’s where Oldenburg says you choose to spend your free time. 

Third spaces are public spaces that belong to no one. They host human connection that are separate from home and work. You don’t need an invitation, formality or even a purpose; you just go to go. 

Malls were once these third spaces, but they are no longer. 

But it’s not just malls; it’s also parks, arcades, movie theaters, bars, and coffee shops. When was the last time you went to any of those places?  

People no longer congregate at coffee shops or bars. Malls are dead and lifeless. Social activities like bowling or roller-skating have gone extinct. Stores require you to pay and get out. Parks are gated off, derelict and will kick one out for loitering.  

We live in a culture of waiting in line for your coffee, then drinking it and leaving as quickly as possible. All while making eye contact with no one. 

Where can people go to expand their social circles?  

Third spaces once served the vital function of not being workplaces, homes or churches. They enabled people of different backgrounds to gather and share common interests. Bars, coffee shops and libraries allowed us to spend time with other regulars and to develop a sense of community. 

And that’s what humanity is built on: personal connections that aren’t obligatory or superficial.  

But humanity is outdated. It’s no longer compatible with our culture of rapidity. Third spaces don’t maximize profit; people spending every waking hour at their workplaces do. 

People need third spaces, enrichment and common community. Third spaces are a requirement for empathy and social cohesion.  

And so, I grieve for the mall.