"That's the only place where you can hang out": Urban young people and thespace of the mall

Consumption spaces such as shopping malls have become central parts of many young people's geographical imaginations and social worlds. In this paper, we utilize qualitative evidence to examine the role of the shopping mall i n the lives of young people (ages 12 to 13) living in a set of economically distressed inner-city neighborhoods in a southern city. We argue that unde rstanding these young people's preference:for the space of the mall require s an approach that takes into account aspects of their local context, inclu ding their perception of neighborhood violence and resource availability. O ur findings suggest that many of these young people's expressed preferences for the mall reflect relatively mainstream desires, such as to be safe, to interact with other young people, and to feel a sense of possibility and c hoice, which they cannot successfully enact in other spaces. These findings can inform recent debates regarding young people's use of "public" spaces.