Let's go to the mall!

There is something odd about the Kings Avenue Mall in Paphos. The enormous, futuristic building with its neat and green garden areas and fountains upfront, sets itself apart from the otherwise dry and unfinished environment; unfinished, because roads and buildings nearby are under construction. Apart from familiar brand names, the window-less facades reveal nothing of what happens inside this place. This impenetrability, and the fact that it can therefore not really be interacted with from the outside, somehow further isolate the mall from its surroundings.

The place itself seems to demand a code of conduct, that is no different from other places of the same nature - typical "mall behavior". A couple that approaches the mall in nothing but swimwear slips over normal street wear before entering.

Once inside, Kings Avenue Mall appears just like every other shopping mall. The only aspect disrupting the familiar experience, are the two heavily armed policemen that are on patrol. Distributed over two floors, one can shop for clothes, home furnishings, parents can drop their children off in a designated area, and a large food court invites exhausted shoppers to take a rest and eat. And of course the brands present are well-known names. There is Adidas, Bershka and Lacoste; Tommy Hilfiger, Yves Rocher and Zara Home. The food court is home to Burger King and KFC. And a Taco Bell - who would have known that I would see my first real Taco Bell in the Kings Avenue Mall in Paphos? I thought those exist only in the U.S..

The fact that the mall looks somehow alien and "non-local" from the outside, makes it appear as if had not been built for the local population, yet it is visited not only by tourists, but by Paphians alike. If one was to determine the essence of what distinguishes the Kings Avenue Mall from the rest of Paphos, one would realize that the very concept of a mall does not fit into the rest of the city. There is an abundance of mini-markets and kiosks in Paphos -  individual smaller, privately run stores at every second street corner. A mall that provides a sort of centralized shopping experience, run by international corporations fundamentally contradicts that system. 

Eventually, the fact that the mall is attracting an audience indicates that somewhere else, local stores are loosing theirs. The Kings Avenue Mall's Facebook page states its mission statement: "To become the leading shopping center in Cyprus" - how ironic. Nic Costa, a Cyprus-born artist that has created an art project in a once vibrant neighborhood that is now neglected and abandoned, comments on this development

"The area is so depressed, they can't find anybody to let their shops to. It's actually a nice and pleasant are to walk through. 15 years ago it was the heart of Paphos and it was very alive. They should never have allowed the Paphos Mall. It killed it. Or if they allowed it, they should have built it 20 kilometers outside of Paphos. Where it was before little shopkeepers running their own businesses, now they are employees of big corporations and the money is taken away and does not even stay in Cyprus."

If the Kings Avenue Mall is disrupting the environment, and harming local business owners, then one can impossibly say that it has truly been built for Paphians. Who has it been built for? The European Capital of Culture festival?