In the swiftly-evolving retail environment of today, in which the shopping malls of yesteryear are bulldozed and redeveloped through the lens of New Urbanism and increasingly converted into mixed-use developments, we revisit the life and bold-thinking of one of America’s great urban planners: Victor Gruen.

Victor Gruen (1903–1980) was an Austrian-born architect and urban planner, who significantly influenced the development of modern retail spaces and shopping centers. He is often referred to as the "father of the modern shopping mall" - a paternity he later rejected.

Gruen designed and built the world’s first "regional shopping centers" in the United States, blueprints for the modern shopping mall, which would eventually transform America’s built environment during the latter half of the twentieth century.