That is exactly the solution. I remember when I used to live in a country outside of the US, the first time a mall came to my city. It was built around a community experience. It was a place where people used to go, just like the park, to hang out. There was no obligation to spend any money. We’d hang out after school every day for a few years. Sometimes we spent money, sometimes we didn’t. The time we stopped going, which kind of aligned with overall decline of the space, was when they tried to turn every square inch of the mall into a revenue generating piece of real estate.

The most popular malls had community spaces. There were events for kids, there were spaces to hang out, there were sports being broadcast on the wall for free, the mall itself was an indoor + outdoor experience with plenty of green space, there were gyms, an entire lobby of pool tables and other games (you had to surrender an id to play, but otherwise it was free). So many attractions that would bring people over again and again while driving up business naturally.