Urban development engines. Case study – Iași Mihai Cristea 15/12/2020 | 11:45 The first shopping malls in Romania were opening in the early 2000s, in Bucharest and Iași. This marked an innovative, vibrant and modern shopping concept that embellished the life of communities. The years have passed, Romania developed, and the mall became too small of a concept for a world with big dreams and development plans to match. That is how mixed-use projects came about, revitalizing obscure areas in big cities and promoting the live-work-play concept via the mix of office, retail and entertainment uses, a concept that is a hit to this day.