Abstract

The mall has physically and financially taken a central position in urban life in less developed countries like the Philippines. Corporations backing private malls have the capacity to establish condominiums and satellite stores in strategic areas with mall chains effectively taking over sections of cities. Mall culture is no longer contained within the four walls of the shopping center but has seeped into urban development including public services. This paper reads the architecture of market redevelopment proposals for the Baguio City Public Market through the lens of “mallification,” highlighting the implications of the proposed physical structures on the character and culture of the pre-existing market complex and community of local vendors and residents. Through an analysis of SM Prime Holdings’ proposal on the market redevelopment plan contrasted with the proposal of the local vendors’ cooperative, BAMARVA, this paper asserts that the shopping center has become a model for purported “modern development” but it, in fact, fuels homogenization and local disempowerment by displacing local culture, local vendors, and community spaces.

Keywords: consumer culture, local resistance, mallification, Baguio City Public Market

DOI: https://doi.org/10.64743/KFAV9402