Welcome To The New Frontier

With its cobblestone streets and arched Renaissance galleries, the medieval city of Kraków has long been Poland's most popular tourist attraction. But the biggest local crowds these days are flocking to monuments with a much shorter history, such as the very 21st century M1 shopping mall near the decrepit, socialist-era Nowa Huta steel mill on the outskirts of town. The M1's architectural splendor consists mainly of faux Greek columns, cloud murals and a scattering of disconcertingly lifelike stuffed pigeons. Even so, the mall drew more than 6 million visitors last year. Some of them were lured by free entertainment — a...