Intellectual critique, both from North and Latin America, has described malls as tightly controlled, socially homogeneous private spaces that are indifferent to their urban context. In Chile, this also implied a critique ofthe neoliberal model established during the dictatorship, which however, did not deny the mall's success among citizens. In this article, through a qualitative and ethnographical analysis ofpractices and significations ofteenagers in the Plaza Vespucio Mall, we will discuss some ofthe most common discourses ofthe intellectual critique by asserting thatfor adolescents: (i) the mall, rather than being enclosed and indifferent to the larger urban context, is part ofa system including different types ofspaces; (fi) the private /public; inside / outside distinctions are not relevant; and (fii) the level ofsocial control in the mall is tolerated insofar as practices ofadaptation and emerging resistance.