In the U.S., a trip to the mall always seemed to involve either a drive to the far edges of town, or a drive out of town to a larger city. Not so in Setubal.
Setubal is bounded on two sides by water, and although there is a road through the Arrabida open space to the west, most car traffic enters Setubal from the north. A driver catches their first sight of Setubal as they enter the traffic circle, adorned with a huge statue of frolicking dolphins. On the South side of the circle, the city’s name rises in letters three meters high.
From there, you can walk south to Baixa (downtown) in 25 or 30 minutes, and many of the newer neighborhoods spread east and west. It’s not far to anywhere. And here, on the northwest side of the circle, is our mall, Alegro.
Alegro is big – much bigger than we expected in our city of around one hundred thousand people. It occupies a large city block, similar to our mall back in Washington but, unlike our single-story American mall, it rises to three floors. It’s home to a parking garage, cinema, and an Auchan (the French version of a WalMart Superstore). It’s air conditioned, and on hot summer afternoons it’s packed with people talking, sitting on the sofa and upholstered armchairs, watching their kids play in the indoor play yard, or drinking coffee in the cafe as they escape the summer heat.
That all seems similar “just like a mall in the U.S.”, but… Alegro’s design doesn’t just “allow” these things. It facilitates them. It’s designed with the idea that it will serve as a community center. That might not be as obvious from inside – it’s easy to assume, for example, that the playground, with its huge window and two-story play equipment just occupies a weird spot in the architecture that they couldn’t use for a store. We certainly assumed so, until the day we were out running an errand and found ourselves approaching Alegro from the opposite direction – from the traffic circle, where new arrivals would first see it.
Our usual entry point is by the parking garage and cinema – up the stairs, inside to the escalator and up to the stores we are there to visit. But approaching from the other side, we found ourselves walking through a large plaza, with seating and a water feature. As we walked past the Auchan entrance, we discovered – a small soccer pitch! On our other side was a small dog park. Alegro has a “dog passport” program: if you bring health records and proof of liability insurance (required for pet owners), they will give your pet a “passport” that allows them to walk inside the mall. And if Fido gets bored or needs a bathroom break – there’s a place for him right at the front door (as opposed to “at the farthest side of the back parking lot”, as in many supposedly pet-friendly places). The dog park also contains a small play area, with a ramp and other doggie play equipment set into the dirt.
It’s not earth-shatteringly different. But it is one more reflection of the differences in base assumptions that inform the development of cities in our new home. Our mall isn’t just “a place for people to come give us their money.” It’s a place that welcomes our community, whether they are buying or not, and relies on them to also spend their money there when they need something. In other words – it treats the residents of Setubal as neighbors, not just marks.
Welcome to the City of Dophins.
