Plato's Argument Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Plato's Argument - Essay Example One notable thing about the Allegory of the Cave is that it presents, although in brief form, a number of Plato’s philosophical assumptions. In this regard, I am referring to his belief that the way the world is revealed in our senses is not a replica of the real world but a very poor copy as such. This belief which forms one of the most prominent philosophical assumption is best manifested in the Allegory of the Cave by Plato’s likening of this state of unrealistic world view with chained prisoner’s who think that the shadows that they see behind their chained position is what constitute reality, which unfortunately is fundamentally wrong. There are those who might voice several objections on Plato’s allegory. First, they might question the huge gap that he draws between the intelligible and the invisible realm. It appear like to him it is either you are chained or not, but nothing in-between. Experience has shown me that the degree at which people acquir e Plato’s idea of ‘education’ is never in those two extremes that Plato describes in this allegory. Looking at real life, even the most simple-minded prisoner in this sort of a shadow interrogates the validity of what he/she sees while posing epistemological questions that point to a deeper understanding of the intelligible realm. Failing to undergo the entire painful transformation does not necessarily mean that a person is totally unaware or in denial of â€Å"reality and understanding†, as is the case with Plato’s prisoners. Perhaps we are supposed to understand that some people are further ahead of others in their exit from the cave, something that Plato capture perfectly when he acknowledge that a prisoner would require time to adjust before he/she get used to the world above (Kraut, 2011), which essentially suggests that enlightenment take time. However, he proceeds to paint a picture of two separate groupings; those who digest what they perce ive at face value and those others who strive to get truth and understanding via knowledge. I strongly believe that this allegory would have been more precise and easier to apply in today’s life if it had addressed the gray areas between somebody in the visible realm and the other completely immersed in the truth in the intelligible realm. Secondly, I fail to understand why enlightenment should end the moment a prisoner exit the cave. At first, the prisoner believed that the shadow of those artefacts that he/she saw constituted the truth. Since they were wrong in believing that, what assurance do they have that whatever they will see once out of the cave will be errorless? And as if to show that whatever the prisoners will see once out of the cave will not necessarily constitute the truth, Plato uses words like â€Å"truer and clearer† in describing the intelligible realm. According to me, it would make sense to assume that these prisoners, rather than being satisfied with â€Å"truer and clearer† world out of the cave, would be more doubtful of their observation of the world and

Originally and Lanarkshire Girls Essay Example for Free

Originally and Lanarkshire Girls Essay Compare and contrast two poems, one by each poet, taking account of the methods (situation, form and structure, and language, including imagery and tones) which each poet uses to write about her mother.  The poems ‘Originally’ by Carol-Ann Duffy and ‘Lanarkshire Girls’ by Liz Lochhead both deal with the theme of journeys. The former poem is about a situation in which the speaker and her family moved cities. It describes the speaker’s uncertainty with regards to her identity. The second poem, ‘Lanarkshire Girls’ recalls the first time the speaker as a fourteen year old took the bus into the city of Glasgow with her friends. For both the speakers, the journey and experience are new to them. They both share similar environments in which they travel, with the speaker in ‘Originally’ riding in a ‘red room’ and the speaker in ‘Lanarkshire Girls’ travelling in a ‘red bus’. In exploiting the colour red, the poets may be conveying a sense of anxiety that accompanies the speakers on their unfamiliar journeys. However, any sense of anxiety felt by the speaker in ‘Lanarkshire Girls’ is short lived and replaced with excitement as with, ‘money burning a hole’ in the girls’ pockets, they began ‘dreaming’ themselves up. On the other hand, the anxiety felt by the speaker in ‘Originally’ doesn’t deteriorate but worsens and affects not only the speaker, but her entire family too, ‘My parents’ anxiety stirred like a loose tooth.’ This speaks to the permanency and consequences of each journey. For the speaker in Duffy’s poem, the consequences of the journey are large and the relocation is permanent as although she wants to return to her ‘own country’ desperately, she cannot. In contrast, the journey taken by the speaker in ‘Lanarkshire Girls’ is temporary and the consequences, little. Once the speaker has explored her destination of Glasgow city, she and her friends will return to t heir rural homes. ‘Originally’ is arranged in three stanzas, each with eight lines, this ridged structure allows the reader to consider fully, the impact of the journey. In addition, each stanza takes a different viewpoint; therefore by taking a separate stanza for each one the reader can follow each perspective more easily. The first stanza describes the journey through the eyes of the speaker as a child, the second takes a generic view of childhood overall and considers it metaphorically, and the third is from the speaker’s perspective again, this time as an adult who is still struggling with her identity. Similarly, ‘Lanarkshire Girls’ is arranged into three stanzas, however, each with a different number of lines, the poem is in free verse. This is to accommodate the anecdotal style of the poem. The poet arranges this poem into three stanzas to represent the three different stages of the journey, the first as the speaker is leaving the rural country-side, the second deals with the approach to the city, and the third describes the city of Glasgow itself.

Criminology Essays Ecological Crime Criminal

Criminology Essays Ecological Crime Criminal Ecological Crime Criminal Are ecological approaches to criminality appropriate to help preventing crime? For some years, a small group of criminologists have been attempting to understand crime using the ecology of crime (Brantingham, 1993; Stark, 1987; Taylor and Covington, 1988). This is about how criminal opportunities are created in neighbourhoods. Crime prevention seeks to reduce the frequency of criminal behaviour by means that operate outside the Criminal Justice System. Crime pattern theory is particularly important in developing and understanding of crime and place, because it combines rational choice and routine activity theory to explain the distribution of crime across places or locations. In this essay, I aim to evaluate the different ecological approaches and to see how useful they are as a deterrent or actual crime preventer. This will be achieved my looking at the models and theories that make up the ecological or environmental approach. Jock Young identifies a series of linked processes that transformed the way crime was viewed or perceived. Although it was assumed that improved conditions and economic restructure would lead to a drop in crime, it was found that the opposite happened. Despite increasing the size of the police and the capacity of the prison system, crime had been increasing year after year. (Newman, 1972). According to Young, the volume of criminal activity grows in all parts of the world, especially countries where economic development was more vigorous. But following a steady and seemingly harsh rise in recorded crime in England and Wales between 1955 and 1992, the last thirteen years has witnessed an almost unprecedented decline in both police recorded crime and estimates of crime from the British Crime Survey. Jock Young referred to the growth in recorded crime during the years of the Keynesian Welfare state in the UK as an aetiological crisis for criminology. The expectation had been that with rising living standards and increased welfare provision crime would fall. Criminologists have become so used to explaining rising crime that they might now face a second aetiological crisis – explaining falling crime rates Essentially the ecological, or holistic, view is that a neighbourhood is like an ecosystem. An ecosystem has many parts to it, which fit more or less together to give that system some form of balance. The same with safe neighbourhoods. Everything has its own place, just as everyone should feel to some extent that they belong, or are part of, some place. When that ecosystem experiences changes that are too rapid or too extensive, then the system often becomes dysfunctional and out of balance. This might happen when a few extra bars open up that start to create disorder and noise problems in the neighbourhood. It might also occur when large proportions of traditional residents move rapidly out of a neighbourhood and the tenure of local tenancy drops too quickly. Perhaps the number of abandoned buildings in a neighbourhood increased beyond a certain point, a tipping point, and crime begins to climb dramatically. These are all examples of a neighbourhood out of balance. In such neighbourhoods, a niche is created for crime opportunities. (Brantingham, 1993; Stark, 1987; Taylor and Covington, 1988). According to Jacob (1961), the neighbourhood diversity and social mix influences the opportunities for crime, this began the work of CPTED. CPTED is an approach that looks at those who engage in criminal, or nuisance behaviour in public. By watching them carefully you will see they prefer some areas over others, they choose certaintimes of the day and week, and they focus on specific targets while ignoring others. It can reduce the social and psychological impact of crime in neighbourhoods. Most importantly, it improves the liveability and safety of urban places. (Newman 1972). A policy-oriented explanation of crime that states that minor signs of disorder in a neighbourhood, left unchecked, can result in more severe disorder and ultimately serious crime.   This idea was known as the broken windows theory. The term comes from an influential 1982 article in The Atlantic Monthly by James Q. Wilson and George L. Kelling. The theory implies that if the first broken window in a building is not repaired, then people who like breaking windows will assume that no one cares about the building and more windows will be broken. Soon the building will have no windows. The theory endorsed the belief that crime was the result of lax police efforts and that stricter law enforcement policy is the primary ingredient to promoting safer communities. Wilson and Kelling theorized that if rude remarks by loitering youth were left unchallenged, they would be under the impression that no one cares and their behaviour will likely escalate to crimes that are more serious. Ever since Durkheim, many social scientists have subscribed to the premise that deviance and crime are normal properties of naturally functioning social systems. When trying to explain the causes of these behaviours, however, many social scientists typically resort to the idea of pathological origins. Overall, social scientists have yet to explain how and why normal individuals operating in unexceptional social environments deviate and commit crimes; recent developments in behavioural ecology and evolutionary biology provide new insights that promise to explain how deviance and crime arise naturally in populations of interacting individuals without necessarily implying genetic influences. We interpret criminal behaviours by which offenders expropriate goods or services from others as expressions of diverse behavioural strategies that derive from normal patterns of population-level social organization and interaction. This view accommodates both explanations that focus on individual causes of crime and those directed toward social factors. Our approach permits the generation of novel hypotheses and fully accommodates, simplifies, and helps unify important and diverse insights and findings amassed by a wide range of disciplines and theories that have tried to account for the nature and distribution of crime. A routine activity approach for analyzing crime rate trends and cycles. Rather than emphasizing the characteristics of offenders, with this approach one can concentrate upon the circumstances in which they carry out predatory criminal acts. Most criminal acts require convergence in space and time of likely offenders, suitable targets and the absence of capable guardians against crime. (Cohen and Felson 1979). Human ecological theory facilitates an investigation into the way in which social structure produces this convergence, hence allowing illegal activities to feed upon the legal activities of everyday life. In particular, the dispersion of activities away from households and families may increase the opportunity for crime and thus generates higher crime rates. (Hope, 1995). A variety of data is presented in support of the hypothesis, which helps explain crime rate trends in the United States 1947-1974 as a by-product of changes in such variables as labour force participation and single-adult households. Also the notion of absence of a capable guardian such as, police or security guards, locks or barriers, alarm systems and CCTV were thought to have also increase the likelihood of crime in that region or environment. The capacity of communities to prevent violence can be examinedfrom three perspectives: youth violence, child maltreatment,and intimate partner violence. The analysis suggests that communitysocial control and collective efficacy are significant protectivefactors for all three types of violence, but these need to befurther distinguished for their relationships to private, parochial,and state controls. It is argued that strong interpersonal tiesare not the only contributor to collective efficacy and violenceprevention. Weak ties, including those outside the community,and organizational ties are also seen as necessary. Violenceprevention programs should be structured in ways that contributeto the communities’ own capacity to prevent violence. Shaw and McKay argued that any city (in this instance they cited Chicago) could be divided into various concentric zones emanating from the centre of the city. You can visualise these zones by thinking about an archery target, for example, with the centre of the target (the Bulls-eye) being Zone 1 and each successive ring being named successively. The middle zone (Zone 1) is the central business district in any city. The next is the inner city (Zone 2), sometimes called the Interstitial Zone or Zone of Transition. This Zone is surrounded, respectively, by: Respectable working class housing (Zone 3), then by the (middle class) suburbs (Zone 4), the city fringe (rural / semi-rural areas) inhabited by the rich (Zone 5). Concentric Zones (Diagrammatic view) (Park and Burgess 1925) In examining crime rates in relation to each zone, Shaw and McKay found that one zone in particular (Zone 2) exhibited higher rates of crime than any other zone. This zone (which Shaw and McKay termed a zone of transition because it was to this area of cheap housing that successive waves of immigrants Irish, Italian, Polish and so forth came), had a consistently higher rate of crime than any other zone, regardless of which immigrant group dominated the cultural life of the area. This led Shaw and McKay (1969) to argue that the high crime rates were not a consequence of the behaviour of any one particular ethnic group (since it did not really seem to make much difference which ethnic group was dominant at particular times). Rather, they argued that something about the fact of living in such a zone was the root cause of the high levels of crime. This something was, according to Shaw and McKay, the fact that no settled community could establish itself in this zone because of the repeated waves of immigration into and emigration out of the zone. In effect, the high turnover of people in the zone of transition resulted in the idea of social disorganisation the idea that a lack of clear, moral, guide-lines deriving from a settled, stable, community structure resulted in a lack of informal social controls and hence a high rate of crime. However, as Felson and Clark (1998) suggest, there are 10 principles of crime opportunity theory. The first being that opportunity plays a major role in all crimes, not just property related crime, for example, studies of bars, and clubs show how their design and management play an important role in generating violence or preventing it. Their concept also notes that crime opportunities are specific (i.e. the theft of cars for joyriding has a different pattern for opportunity than theft for car parts). In addition, crime opportunities depend on everyday movements of activity and that one crime produces the opportunity for another. (Home Office, 2004). But they do suggest that reducing opportunities does not usually displace crime – Wholesale displacement is very rare and many studies have found little if no crime displacement, also focused opportunity reduction can produce wider declines in crimeas prevention measures in one area can lead to a reduction in another nearby, a diffusion of benefits. This is because offenders might overestimate the reach of those measures. To conclude, it is clear that ecological approaches to crime draw on the many different approaches such as, urban planning, decision making models, design, fear of crime and many more. As with many other approaches, they look at how and why is committed, and give the general understanding and in-look to crime but cannot it is not fully known whether such approaches can help to reduce crime. Although we know that crime is committed for many reasons, (e.g. money or gain, revenge, reputation etc.), even with the full understanding and application of ecological approaches, crime may be one of those things that can never be completely eradicated. References Crawford, A. (1998) Crime Prevention and Community Safety: Politics, Policies and Practices. Harlow: Longman. Eck. J.E., Weisburd. D. (1995). Crime Place: Crime Prevention Studies. Volume 4. Criminal Justice Press. Garland, D. (2001) The Culture of Control: Crime and Social Order in Contemporary Society. Oxford: Oxford University Press Felson Clark. (1998) cited from http://www.crimereduction.homeoffice.gov.uk/learningzone/scpprinciples.htm Accessed 12th January 2005. Hesseling, Rene B.P. (1994) Displacement: A review of the empirical literature. In Crime Prevention Studies, Vol. 3. R.V.G. Clarke, Ed. New York: Criminal Justice Press. pp. 197-229. Hope, T. (1995) Building a Safer Society: Strategic Approaches to Crime Prevention in Tonry, M. Farrington, D.P. (eds) Crime and Justice: Volume 19. Chicago: University of Chicago Press Jacobs, Jane. (1961). The Death and Life of Great American Cities. New York: Vintage. Kaplan, H.M., K.C. OKane, P.J. Lavrakas, and E.J. Pesce. (1978) Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design. Final report on commercial demonstration in Portland, Oregon. Washington, D.C. Westinghouse Electric Corporation. Newman, Oscar. (1972) Defensible Space: Crime Prevention Through Urban Design. New York: Macmillan. Sherman, L.W., Gartin, P.R. and Buerger, M.E. (1989) Hot spots of predatory crime: routine activities and the criminology of place. Criminology. 27:27-55 Stark, Rodney. 1987. Deviant places: A theory of the ecology of crime. Criminology. 25:893-909.

Summary of Beowulf Attacks Grendels Mother :: Anglo Saxon English Literature Essays

Summary of Beowulf Attacks Grendel's Mother The epic story of Beowulf is about a young hero who fights in battles against the monster Grendel and his mother and later concerns Beowulf's final fight with a dragon. Beowulf is the prince of the Geats. He is also the son of Ecgtheow, who travels to Heorot where the great mead hall of Hrothgar king of the Danes, is located. Hrothgar, is the great grandson of Scyld Scefing. In this passage Beowulf goes underwater and fights with Grendel's mother in a cave. During his descent to her lair, Beowulf is attacked by Grendel's mother and dragged to her cave. He tries to hit her with his sword but he does not succeed in piercing her skin. In rage and frustration Beowulf attacks her with his bare hands. He manages to knock down Grendel's mother, however, she is swift and manages to fight back and ends up sitting on top of him. With her dagger she desperately tries to kill Beowulf, but his armor protects him from her attacks. Beowulf then spots a large sword made by giants on the wall of the cave and throws Grendel's mother off him and grabs the sword. The sword Beowulf finds is amazing. It has a very ornamented handle called a hilt and the blade is bigger than the average sword. Beowulf strikes Grendel's mother with the sword slicing her in two and splitting her collarbones. After the attack, a light illuminates the cave, "just as from the sky heaven's candle shines clear." (Norton 47) Beowulf notices Grendel's body and he instantaneously cuts off the monster's head to present it to Hrothgar. The blade of Beowulf's new sword then begins to melt because the blood is too hot and poisonous for it. Beowulf notices all the great treasures in the cave but he does not take any of them. He swims to shore with Grendel's head in one hand and holding the hilt with the other. He is then received by his fellow warriors who are waiting in hope to see Beowulf again. Four warriors carry Grendel's head to Heorot where the victory will be celebrated. The head is carried around as a trophy for all to view in the great mead hall of Hrothgar. Summary of Beowulf Attacks Grendel's Mother :: Anglo Saxon English Literature Essays Summary of Beowulf Attacks Grendel's Mother The epic story of Beowulf is about a young hero who fights in battles against the monster Grendel and his mother and later concerns Beowulf's final fight with a dragon. Beowulf is the prince of the Geats. He is also the son of Ecgtheow, who travels to Heorot where the great mead hall of Hrothgar king of the Danes, is located. Hrothgar, is the great grandson of Scyld Scefing. In this passage Beowulf goes underwater and fights with Grendel's mother in a cave. During his descent to her lair, Beowulf is attacked by Grendel's mother and dragged to her cave. He tries to hit her with his sword but he does not succeed in piercing her skin. In rage and frustration Beowulf attacks her with his bare hands. He manages to knock down Grendel's mother, however, she is swift and manages to fight back and ends up sitting on top of him. With her dagger she desperately tries to kill Beowulf, but his armor protects him from her attacks. Beowulf then spots a large sword made by giants on the wall of the cave and throws Grendel's mother off him and grabs the sword. The sword Beowulf finds is amazing. It has a very ornamented handle called a hilt and the blade is bigger than the average sword. Beowulf strikes Grendel's mother with the sword slicing her in two and splitting her collarbones. After the attack, a light illuminates the cave, "just as from the sky heaven's candle shines clear." (Norton 47) Beowulf notices Grendel's body and he instantaneously cuts off the monster's head to present it to Hrothgar. The blade of Beowulf's new sword then begins to melt because the blood is too hot and poisonous for it. Beowulf notices all the great treasures in the cave but he does not take any of them. He swims to shore with Grendel's head in one hand and holding the hilt with the other. He is then received by his fellow warriors who are waiting in hope to see Beowulf again. Four warriors carry Grendel's head to Heorot where the victory will be celebrated. The head is carried around as a trophy for all to view in the great mead hall of Hrothgar.

Zinc and Hydrochloric acid :: essays research papers

Zinc and Hydrochloric-Acid Abstract: We observed the reaction between zinc and hydrochloric acid and recorded it in a table and learned wether the percentage of zinc is effected by the amounts of both substances added to the solution. Introduction The purpose of this experiment is to determine if the amount of zinc and hydrochloric acid will effect the percentage of the zinc in the out coming solution. We are reacting zinc metal with hydrochloric acid to produce a compound of zinc and chlorine atoms. We are then recording our data and observations and place it in a logical data table. Purpose The whole purpose of this experiment is to determine wether or not the amount of the zinc and or hydrochloric acid effects the out coming percent of the solution after under going chemical reaction. Procedure $  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1. Weigh the zinc metal pieces and place them in a test tube $  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  2. Pour some hydrochloric acid over the zinc pieces. Observe $  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  3. Allow the zinc d hydrochloric acid to set over night to make sure that the reaction reaches completion. $  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  4. Weigh a clean dry evaporating dish. $  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  5. Decant the liquid remaining in your test tube into the evaporating dish. $  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  6. Pour 2-3 ml distilled or de-ionized water into test tube and rinse any remaining zinc with water and decant the water into the evaporating dish also. If you have no remaining zinc pieces, rinse the test tube and decant the liquid into the dish. $  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  7. Heat the evaporating dish until there is no more liquid remaining in the dish. The solid remaining will have a puffy and waxy look. Do not overheat but remove from the hot plate and turn off the heat source because the product has a relatively low melting point and it will melt and evaporate away in a white cloud $  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  8. When th evaporating dish has cooled sufficiently, weigh the dish with its contents. $  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  9. Clean up by washing and drying your evaporating dish. $  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  10. Calculate and report your % zinc in the compound to your teacher for comparison with other lab groups. Data and Observations I observed that as the chemicals reacted together in the test tube the solution began to create bubbles while the zinc rested at the bottom and then the test tube became hot to the touch from the chemical reaction.

Philippine Literature During Japanese Period Essay

During the Japanese Occupation, when Tagalog was favored by the Japanese military authority, writing in English was consigned to limbo. It picked up after the war, however, with a fervor and drive for excellence that continue to this day. Stevan Javellana’s â€Å"Without Seeing the Dawn† (1947), the first postwar novel in English, was published in the United States. In 1946, the Barangay Writers Project was founded to help publish books in English. Against a background marked by political unrest and government battles with Hukbalahap guerrillas, writers in English in the postwar period honed their sense of craft and techniques. Among the writers who came into their own during this time were: Nick Joaquin, NVM Gonzalez, Francisco Arcellana, Carlos Bulosan, F. Sionil Jose, Ricaredo Demetillo, Kerima Polotan Tuvera, Carlos Angeles, Edilberto K. Tiempo, Amador Daguio, Estrella Alfon, Alejandrino Hufana, Gregorio Brillantes, Bienvenido Santos, Dominador Ilio, T.D. Agcaoili, Alejandro R. Roces, Sinai C. Hamada, Linda Ty-Casper, Virginia Moreno, Luis Dato, Gilda Cordero-Fernando, Abelardo and Tarrosa Subido, Manuel A. Viray, Vicente Rivera Jr., and Oscar de Zuà ±iga, among many others. Fresh from studies in American universities, usually as Fulbright or Rockefeller scholars, a number of these writers introduced New Criticism to the country and applied its tenets in literature classes and writing workshops. In this way were born the Silliman Writers Summer Workshop (started in 1962 by Edilberto K. Tiempo and Edith L. Tiempo) and the U.P. Writers Summer Workshop (started in 1965 by the Department of English at the U.P.). To this day, these workshops help discover writing talents and develop them in their craft.

Emergence of Malls in India

Malls as we understand, is a form of organized retailing. They lend an ideal shopping experience with an amalgamation of product, service and entertainment, all under a common roof. Before going into the details of emergence of malls, let's see how the Indian retail sector has evolved over the years and how the concepts of malls came into being. The era of rural retail industry could be categorized into two formats:  weekly markets  and  village fairs.Primarily, weekly formats catered to the daily necessities of villagers. Village fairs were larger in size with a wide variety of goods sold from food, clothing, cosmetics and small consumer durables. The traditional era saw the emergence of the neighborhood ‘Kirana' store to cater to the convenience of the Indian consumers. The era of government support saw indigenous franchise model of store chains run by Khadi ; Village Industries Commission. The KVIC has a countrywide chain of 7000 plus stores in India.This period also w itnessed the emergence of shopping centers with car parking facility. The modern era has a host of small and large formats with exclusive outlets showcasing a complete range of products. The department stores and shopping malls targeting to provide a complete destination experience for all segments of the society. The hyper and super markets are consistently trying to provide the customer with the 3 Vs (Value, Variety ; Volume).Over the last three years, this sector has witnessed an exorbitant growth due to the establishment of numerous international quality formats to suit the Indian purchase behavior, the improvement in retail processes, the development of retail specific properties and the emergence of both domestic and international organizations has witnessed the emergence of malls. it is not just the north of the country that is seeing a furious construction of malls. Visakhapatnam, a fast-growing city in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh, is witnessing a huge demand for sh opping malls.The biggest of them, CMR Shopping Mall, occupies 60,000 square feet over five floors. The throngs of buyers who visit the mall are working class and office employees of the numerous public and private sector outfits that are based in Visakhapatnam. Similarly, Ahmedabad in western India is slowly becoming a magnet for shopping malls. More than half a dozen malls have sprung up in Ahmedabad, known as a fading city of dying textile mills until a few years back. The biggest of them, aptly called Super Mall, occupies a gargantuan 90,000 square feet and has 200 shops in its folds.But the biggest mall-construction activity in India is taking place, as expected, in Mumbai, the country's financial and business capital. In all, 25 malls are under construction, each measuring anything between 90,000 and 600,000 square feet. A hefty Rs. 4 billion (US $87 million) is being pumped into these projects by 20 investors. About a dozen malls are already up and running in the up-market sou th side of the city, as well as the downmarket distant suburbs. Making the job easier for the anchors is a gradual change in the Indian economy from a socialistic to a capitalistic one.This has led to a rise in the numbers of middle-class consumers, their wallets stuffed with more disposable income. According to one estimate, over the past three years, consumer spending has increased at a respectable rate of 12% per annum. Another reason for the ongoing boom in mall activity is the opportunity to retailers for a greater accessibility to real estate at affordable prices. Part of this is due to easier availability of bank and institutional finance. And in places such as Mumbai, the freeing up of much-needed real estate.This has happened with the many closed textile mills in the central part of the city now being allowed to exploit their real estate for other commercial purposes. Investors are attracted by the 14% returns in the malls business, compared to 11% in the office segment and 6% in the residential segment. For the young crowd, malls have become areas in which to â€Å"hang out†, to catch up with friends in stores like Cafe Coffee Day and Barista, each vying to be the Starbucks of India. There's also an entertainment factor, with more and more of the youngsters beginning to see shopping as an enjoyable thing to pass the time.