People avoid malls because they were all built an hour drive from the houses and then traffic has only been getting worse and worse. The point of places like assembly is that they're meant to weave into the urban fabric (bit of a cliche phrase at this point I know) and replicate what makes more natural places possible while turning it up to eleven even to the point it's almost like a charicature of it's own idea. But also keep mind assembly is still an unfinished project