“This is the happiest day of my life,” said one little girl, a participant in our UŠĆE Eco Fest ESG project, as she learned about the importance of bees to our planet while wearing a beekeeper’s suit at a mixed-use building owned by MPC Properties.
These kinds of experiences – unique, perhaps unexpected in the business world, but nonetheless extremely useful,
emotional, and engaging – combined with new shopping opportunities in retail spaces, reflect the evolving purpose of retail facilities: They serve as vibrant community centers.
In a nutshell, shopping centers should act as platforms that bring people together around entertaining, educational,
creative, and purpose-led experiences, in addition to tech-driven retail experiences, within a carefully curated tenant mix that includes a diverse food & beverage offer.
What, then, is the content that is relevant to this community-driven purpose?
Credit: MPC Properties
AI: ARTIFICIAL, BUT NATURALLY INTEGRATED
Looking from a broader perspective, we are witnessing a time in which artificial intelligence is transforming all spheres of life and business. From apps to software that simplify everyday tasks and procedures, AI is also gaining momentum in terms of the entertainment content that a shopping center can offer to the community. Its numerous features bring people and families together to enjoy, relax, and learn.
With that said, MPC Properties is leveraging AI and tech-friendly concepts to create a community around its retail portfolio. The projects listed below serve as our case studies that have proven attractive to the general public and have brought the idea of community to life.
The Christmas project at the Delta Shopping Center featured a specially designed Santa Claus house on the central square. The wooden house included real windows and roof openings and was divided into two sections. The first section offered an immersive animated “elevator” experience to the North Pole via three flat-screen TVs. In the second section, visitors met Santa and took photos. The house was fully decorated, inside and out, and the attraction generated a lot of interest and footfall, with an increase in both visitor numbers and photos taken.
Credit: MPC Properties
Over the course of the Dino Project at the same shopping center, visitors had the opportunity to learn about dinosaurs through interactive sessions with three expert guides. The exhibition featured 11 life-size dinosaur replicas. To enhance the experience, augmented and virtual reality activations (using AR tables and VR Glasses) allowed visitors to see the dinosaurs “come to life.”
At the BEO Shopping Center, an interactive setup featuring the Buddy robot captivates visitors with exciting messages and guides them through a fun game in which they can win prizes for Women’s Day. Upon arrival, the robot warmly welcomes guests, delivers interesting content tailored to the event, and seamlessly introduces an entertaining challenge that encourages participation and the pursuit of rewards. The entire experience is hands-free, emotionally engaging, and orchestrated by Buddy’s intuitive AI.
These types of projects offer an exciting and educational experience, especially for children and families, by combining science with immersive technology. We continue to build our community through various technology-oriented projects for all generations, pursuing our vision of MPC shopping centers as platforms of change.
WHAT AWAITS ON THE OTHER SIDE OF AI AND OTHER TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATIONS?
Our vision is to reimagine shopping centers as inclusive, experiential community spaces that promote long-term well-being. Through thoughtful design, development, and forward-thinking property management, covering areas such as energy consumption, water systems, waste disposal, installed solar panels, beehives, and charging stations for eco-friendly vehicles, MPC Properties has already achieved significant results. Our commitment to community well-being is also reflected in the figures and activities outlined in a recently published GRI report.
Credit: MPC Properties
MPC Properties is working to integrate a variety of non-retail experiences into our shopping centers: sustainable initiatives, creative and educational workshops, interactive zones (such as the “First Kids on Mars” project, which brought hundreds of families and children together for a fun interactive learning journey), and communal spaces that encourage participation and curiosity. One such place is our UŠĆE BeeZ Square, where we have already organized the aforementioned UŠĆE Eco Fest, Green Wheels Adventure (a children’s program in collaboration with Porsche on electric vehicles and sustainable transportation), the French Film Festival, and other community projects that complement our on-site urban vegetable gardens. We also use digital platforms to communicate ideas that promote community engagement and personal development. For example, in 2024, we hosted a podcast series called Generational Jazz at the UŠĆE Shopping Center, where celebrities from different generations came together to share stories, perspectives, and experiences.
Credit: MPC Properties
Our goal is to promote understanding between generations, build community, and inspire personal growth through open, stimulating conversations. Our marketing and communications strategies reflect this shift toward hubs by highlighting stories and messages that emphasize human connections, creativity, and a shared sense of place.
The principle of collaboration is equally important. As our tenants, that is, the retail brands, play a central role in this transformation to hubs, their involvement and partnership are crucial. We will increasingly engage with the brands in our portfolio to develop joint activities, campaigns, and community-focused initiatives. These sessions will serve as platforms for creative exchange and shared responsibility for community goals.
This collaborative model moves us away from isolated decisions and toward a more integrated, co-creative process that creates space for innovation and a deeper connection to the community. Imagine a retail environment in which tenants, local communities, and external experts work together to shape the shopping experience and make it more relevant, attractive, and meaningful to a broad audience.
With five shopping centers in our portfolio that make up a dominant share of the Serbian commercial real estate market, MPC Properties is well positioned to lead this transformation. We are creating a new path forward for the retail industry – one that embraces the changing expectations of the 21st century and creates inclusive spaces that benefit the community, the planet, and the economy.
