Abstract
It has been 30 years since multinationals started building gigantic enclosed air-conditioned shopping centres, notably in Brazil (a dozen in 1980, more than 300 in 2002 and near 500 today). These malls (literally "public avenues where people go out to shop") are alleged to recreate, beyond their mercantile objectives, an inner city "public culture" that has been deserted since the 1980's:…