After centuries of open-air markets the shopping mall became a development paradigm as corporations and planners created fully enclosed, environmentally controlled, consumption spaces for the masses. Today the most popular mall in the US has an annual footfall of 40 million visitors and is a social space where you can eat, shop, watch a film or even get married. However the 50-year hegemony of the mall is now threatened by the rise of online, which in turn has driven a new level of innovation to the sector as retail pitches battle with the web to win the hearts and souls of the consumer.