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Showing posts from June, 2010

Discouraging Consumerism-Encouraging Social Interactions

Recently, I was in Stockholm, Sweden to attend an academic seminar at The Royal University of Fine Arts, Department of Architecture. And in a typical European way, Stockholm was a great city experience - pedestrian friendly streets, lots of cycling tracks, the efficient & connected Metro network and of course very few people to enjoy all this, which made it even more fun for us Indians who are often faced with unending lines and bulging crowds. But, more than these urban amenities which have been written about everywhere, what struck me was the fettish of the malls and particularly, the small shops to close at 5 pm on weekdays and at 4 pm (would you believe it!) on weekends. So just to clarify your unasked questions, yes, the shops and all shopping related services (malls, streetside stalls etc) operate typically only between the "conservative office work hours" of 10 am to 5 pm. "How is that possible?" was my first question to our hosts when much to our frustra