Town centre development of indoor shopping malls in major towns and cities. Examples include the Manchester Arndale Centre, the St. James Centre in Edinburgh and the Bullring Centre in Birmingham. They tended to be constructed in a Brutalist or Modernist fashion reflecting the architectural styles of the period. During the Thatcher government of the 1980s, a change in planning policy allowed competing out-of-town shopping and leisure centres to be developed. Examples include the Metro Centre in Gateshead, the Merry Hill Shopping Centre in Dudley, and the Gyle Centre in Edinburgh. Developments of this type have, in a number of places, resulted in
Meadowhall (shopping centre) 19th century Meadow Hall Iron Works, owned by John Crowley and Co., the shopping centre was built by Bovis on the site previously occupied by Hadfields' East Hecla steelworks. The centre was opened on 4 September 1990. With a floor area of , it is the eighth largest (second largest when first opened) shopping centre in the UK. It is similar in concept to the Merry Hill Shopping Centre at Brierley Hill in the West Midlands, which was completed just before Meadowhall. With over 280 stores, Meadowhall has been widely blamed for the closure of shops in Sheffield City Centre