If I could buy a large abandoned mall, I would absolutely love to turn it into an affordable community housing complex where shops can be set up alongside the housing units. There's definitely more than enough space in any mall I've ever been to in America where you could easily renovate and turn stores into either single unit housing or maybe 2-3 units (big stores like JCPenney or Sears not included in this count because you could turn those into tens upon tens of units, assuming they're as big as the ones at the mall near where I live).

They've turned one mall in my city into a community college and office space, and the other is going strong and attracting new tenants

they've already started turning them into rental units because that's apparently the entire American economy now

when internet still basically consisted of angelfire and geocities (yes, even before myspace), we used to go to the mall and pester the goth kids smoking cigarettes by the mall entrances who were there because they also had nothing else to do

As is often mentioned, the plumbing situation makes this somewhat untenable.

But, as the world warms and outdoor recreation becomes impossible, I think they could be repurposed into indoor recreation centers, not that different from a regular mall, just less focused on shopping and more on fun and exercise.

It'll be just like "Dawn of the Dead"

Imagine how much money you could make by ripping off retired people who cannot leave the mall anymore due to old age.

Not that I would endorse this. Combining retirement homes with retail sounds dangerous for the retired.

Malls are actually doing fine.

Apparently they were already shutting down the too-many-malls that there were, but there are still a few hundred and they're doing well.

Specifically, for the reasons you're saying, because they have a food court and arcade stations and basically our community centers, more than just shopping outlets.

It looked like all the malls were dying out because there were simply too many for the American population, but now that number's kind of stabilized and slowly growing again.

But as for the disused ones that were built during the boom 20 years ago? sure.

They'd make good housing.

In Austin (when I lived there) the main mall finally closed down in the 2Ks. It was obvious that nobody was going to pick it up so the city turned it into an Austin Community College campus.

In other countries, malls are still alive and well. In Philippines, that is where people literally chill in a hot tropical climate because of 24/7 air conditioning!

Malls are also seen as a sign of progress and modernity for many developing countries, so there is some cultural expectations to building and maintaining malls.

God, imagine living in a retirement community that has a Hot Topic.

Oh damn...

This is now my favorite housing idea ever.