I don’t have intentions to launch my own serious investigation or research on the social spaces of malls, but I’ve found it very interesting to observe mall spaces here in Poland and their use.
All photos in this post were taken in August 2026 at a mall in Poland
Early on during our time living here, 5 years ago, in southern Poland, I remember my first experiences in malls. I remember thinking malls here often felt different than malls in other countries I lived in.
The difference?
It appeared that lounging and hanging out was not only permitted (in some countries, such activity would be patrolled and restricted at malls), but actively encouraged here!
There are often many comfortable seating areas with multiple outlets to allow for charging up your device(s).
I saw teens chilling on plush couches, pre-teens moving in groups together and young children in play areas with their parents. There were multiple (free) play areas accommodating different age groups.
At a meeting with a local child-activity-focused NGO recently, I shared some of my mall observations, as we were discussing how teens use spaces of the city.
We all agreed that teens need more spaces of their own, but in the same conversation, the locals reflected that, for sure, malls in Poland are very actively used as third spaces.
This has been my observation as well- a robust culture of using malls as third spaces, which I have continued to observe across three regions my family and I have now inhabited in Poland.
Perhaps it’s research or investigation I can be involved with tangentially. There’s a lot to explore and unpack there.
-Annika