Website lets public check how crowded malls are for safe distancing

This article is more than 12 months old

Apr 06, 2020 06:00 am

Those heading out to buy essentials can check online how crowded shopping malls are before leaving their home.

A new website, Space Out, colour codes shopping malls according to current crowd levels, in hopes that people will make better decisions about where to go amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Launched by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) with 50 malls across the island, the website provides regular updates to users based on data from retail malls on shopper traffic.

Each mall is represented on the map by a coloured circle - green for not crowded, yellow for some crowding, orange for crowded, and red for maximum capacity.

The URA said shoppers can help to ease the pressure on retail mall operators in terms of crowd management by changing their plans to go to less crowded malls.

Malls with no crowd-level information currently appear in grey on the website.