>So what aspects of this are truly anticompetitive?
None of what you said is anti-competitive since you left out the anti-competitive part of the story.
The only mall that is allowed is that one single mall. You are not allowed to start your own mall and since there are no other malls you cannot move to another one. You are basically stuck putting your store in that mall or not having a store at all.
Would you move to a city where you knew before hand that some of the regulations weren’t appealing when you could easily move to another city right next door?
Many people don't think about the regulations about malls before moving to a city. (I am guessing the HN crowd might be a bit different than the average person). They see all their friends moving to the city. They know the city is the hip, cool city and they move. Once they get used to the city they realize the regulations are restrictive.
While it is possible to move to another city people have grown accustomed to the city they live in. There could be certain amenities that are not available in that other city (imessage being the biggest one. Some people get less messages since they have a different color bubble if they are not on imessage.).
People may want to vote for different / changed restrictions on malls but they realize the city they moved to is not a democracy. It is a dictatorship. The person who owns the mall also makes all the laws and they won't allow you to start your own mall since it would cut into their profits. They make the claim it is about your security. If somebody starts their own mall they won't be able to ensure you won't get mugged. Instead of letting you take a chance in a new mall they just ban their competitors outright.
None of what you said is anti-competitive since you left out the anti-competitive part of the story.
The only mall that is allowed is that one single mall. You are not allowed to start your own mall and since there are no other malls you cannot move to another one. You are basically stuck putting your store in that mall or not having a store at all.