I think cities with dead malls in the U.S. prefer waiting before leveling legacy mall real estate mostly to keep it on the local jurisdictional tax base rolls. Our anchor stores in dying malls in the US have shifted to liquor stores, and restaurants, and leased out office space, (even for the local .gov units).

For some moribund infotainment when anyone is in the mood for some depressing yet fairly well-produced Youtube shows, check out Dan Bell's Dead mall series where he catalogs dying or dead all American malls from the last century, deliciously depressing. It's best to crack a cold one while enjoying this series.🍺