A festival marketplace is a realization by James W. Rouse and the Rouse Company in the United States of an idea conceived by Benjamin C. Thompson of Benjamin Thompson and Associates for European style markets taking hold in the United States in an effort to revitalize downtown areas in major US cities in the late 20th century. Festival marketplaces were a leading downtown revitalization strategy in American cities during the 1970s and 1980s.
In the second half of the 20th century, Rouse and his company became major developers of suburban strip shopping centers and pioneered large shopping malls. In many cities, these were seen as escalating the failure of retail businesses and causing further deterioration of older, downtown core areas.
In the late 1970s, Rouse and his company responded to critics of their suburban development by studying inner cities for similar development potential despite the widely held belief of investors and developers that downtown areas were both dirty and dangerous and not desirable destinations for their residents. In response, inspired by projects such as Ghirardelli Square in San Francisco, the Rouse Company worked with architects, urban planners, and city governments to develop the festival marketplace concept as a way to reverse the negative trends and to attract both suburban residents and out-of-town visitors to the downtown areas.
A typical festival marketplace would include local involvement in the creation of a safe and trendy attraction intended to serve as a major catalyst for other redevelopment. Generally, a festival marketplace offers major restaurants, specialty retail shops, and an international food court. Often, there is an exciting nightlife with music, dancing and live entertainment. The more successful projects seemed to benefit from waterfront locations and secure parking.