"Developers are technically correct when they point out that the mall is private property, not the village square. According to a Gallup Poll in 1990, nearly three-quarters of shoppers surveyed believed the mall should keep out political activists, which is consistent with what we know of the average person's tolerance for commotion (especially when it interferes with shopping). And yet the fact is, the mall phenomenon took the place of the town square, the public zone."

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/magazine/articles/2004/02/2...

Next time you browse in a bookstore, check out Paco Underhill's "Why We Buy" and "Call of the Mall"