Within the past 40 years, shopping centres have increasingly formed the European cityscape and gained in importance, not only from an architectural and urban planning perspective, but also from an economic and social point of view. Owing to its rising significance, the European shopping centre necessitates an analytic statement on the part of architectural research. By comparing the shopping centre sector of a selection of countries, this pilot project offers a holistic approach to a better understanding of the shopping centre's role in the architecture of our cities and the urban structure...