Zirui Liu
Prof. Vinson
Eng 126
13 Dec. 2016
Sun Valley Mall, A Cosmopolitan Canopy
Most of the time in urban areas, people rush from place to place and avoid looking at each other directly in the eye. People are afraid of crime or worried that someone will ask them for money, or they might not want people to think that they are strange by making eye contact. Elijah Anderson describes this common urban behavior in his essay, “The Cosmopolitan Canopy.” He writes, “In places such as bus stations, parking garages, and public streets and sidewalks, many pedestrians move about guardedly” (15). This is the standard pattern for public space. However, there are also places where people are not as nervous, and they are more willing to make eye contact, smile or even talk with strangers. One of these places in the Bay Area is the Sun Valley Mall.
The picture above was taken standing in the Sun Valley Mall in front of a Starbucks Café. I took this picture with my iPhone 6. Sun Valley Mall is located in Concord, California. It is an older mall and opened in 1967, but it was remodeled a few years ago (Sun Valley Shopping Center). It has two levels and some anchor stores including Macy’s, as well as restaurants and cafes. It is an indoor mall, unlike some other California malls that are outdoor shopping areas. Because it is indoors, it feels more protected and enclosed, and it is separate from the city streets and sidewalks. On the other hand, anyone can go inside, and it is possible to see people of many different backgrounds and ages walking along the hallways and going into the stores. The picture shows people behind me going in and out of the Starbucks. Everyone looks Asian, and there are many Asians who visit this mall. However, the mall shoppers come from every race and background, also including whites, blacks, Latinos, and Middle Eastern people. There is a mix of ages, and also people seem to have different income levels. On the other hand, the majority of people there seem middle class or working class, and no one looked especially rich. Rich shoppers might be more likely to go to a mall with more expensive stores, such as the stores that are located in downtown Walnut Creek.
This location can be described as a place where strangers feel safe enough to interact with each other. This type of place is what Anderson calls a “cosmopolitan canopy.” Anderson writes, “Yet there remain numerous heterogeneous and densely populated bounded public spaces within cities that offer a respite from this wariness, settings where a diversity of people can feel comfortable enough to relax their guard and go about their business more casually” (Anderson 15). The Sun Valley Mall fits this description because it is heterogeneous, densely populated and bounded, as Anderson mentions. The atmosphere in the mall is cheerful and relaxed. Most people walking around still ignore each other, but when I smiled at people they usually smiled back. It would not seem too strange to go up to someone and ask a question, or even to comment on something to a person nearby. There is not necessarily anything that encourages people to talk, but there is also not the same feeling that it would be wrong or dangerous to talk. Therefore, this qualifies as a cosmopolitan canopy, or at least a partial cosmopolitan canopy. There are still probably some barriers between people, such as not spending too much time talking too them or following them around.
One reason why people might feel more relaxed at this mall is because there are security guards, and also it is harder for someone to rob another person because they cannot run away as quickly or easily. If this is the reason why people lower their guard, this raises a complication in Anderson’s argument. He seems to be suggesting that people react to a cosmopolitan canopy because it is one of the few places where people still mix easily, but he did not consider that it is also usually a place where it is crowded and security measures are in place. The feeling of safety caused by higher levels of protection could be what makes people respond to these places more than the diversity of access. Therefore, the classification of a place as a cosmopolitan canopy might depend on how much control there is by authorities.
Another complication that Sun Valley Mall brings up as an issue is whether there are different levels of cosmopolitan canopies for different classes of people. Sun Valley Mall is an older mall, and the stores are mostly the type that middle class people like to shop in. Therefore, almost anyone could walk through Sun Valley Mall and feel comfortable, and security guards probably do not confront anyone who does not appear to be homeless or a shoplifter. However, if the stores were all very expensive, high-end stores that only wealthy people could shop at, the level of security and screening might be higher, even if the location was still technically open to the public. Teenagers who are dressed too casually or people who are loud and seem to be working class could be chased out of such places. Therefore, even cosmopolitan canopies might have hierarchy.
Urban life is dangerous and stressful, and so most people have developed a habit of avoiding strangers as much as possible when they are in public spaces. However, there are some places that are still open to the public but where people feel more relaxed and willing to interact with strangers. These cosmopolitan canopies bring a lot of people together, and they can be a place where diverse people see each other more often than other places. Sun Valley Mall is an example of this type of cosmopolitan canopy, and thousands of people from many different backgrounds visit there every day. The interior setting makes it feel more protected, and so do the crowd and security. However, although people from different ages and ethnic groups all go there, there is still some economic division. Cosmopolitan canopies might be open to everyone, but they are not always attractive to everyone.
Works Cited
Anderson, Elijah. “The Cosmopolitan Canopy.” Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, vol. 595, 2004, pp. 14–31.
Sun Valley Shopping Center. “Media.” ShopSunValley.com, n.d., http://www.shopsunvalley.com/media.
