I don't see the contradiction. There are lots of suburban-styled malls inside "traditional cities" (dense urban areas), that look and work basically the same way, but are urban. Seattle has one or two of them, Portland has one, Minneapolis has one, London Ontario has one -- all of these within the core downtown.
Suburban malls are not uniquely suburban. Many of them are in suburbia because they originally targeted average/regular/middle-income people, so they are built in the places where those people are allowed to live (which in the US, is almost exclusively suburban areas).
Generally speaking, "Dead Malls" has little to do with malls dying (in the US, we're still building brand new malls today), but has more to do with demographics shift (middle income people now live in different areas) and target market shifts (many new malls have moved up-market, there are less wealthy people than working-class people, and wealthier people generally don't live in the then-new 1970s/1980s suburbs anymore, they now generally live either full-downtown-urban or far-exurban)
The Eaton Centers in Toronto and Montréal also come to mind. They're huge, and intimately plugged into the center of the city, including being directly connected to subway stations.
That said, they're also, I suspect, mostly for tourists.
The Milwaukee area's malls really make the situation for suburban malls clear: The city buses do go to the malls, but the malls wouldn't let them drop people off by the door. They stop at an open air bus shelter at the far end of the parking lot.
My first guess would be concern that buses driving all the way up to the mall would somehow impede the flow of traffic for cars.
My second guess would be that, Milwaukee being such a suburban flight city, there are certain. . . perceptions. . . about public transit and the people who use it. I used to end up in some rather uncomfortable conversations when people found out I regularly used public transit.
My best guess would be that it's officially one, and unconsciously both.
Note that those three cities are also quite cold in winter - connected shopping matters when it’s -30 in January. Montreal’s underground city/malls are literal lifesavers, not just shopping. Matters much less in moderate areas.
Suburban malls are not uniquely suburban. Many of them are in suburbia because they originally targeted average/regular/middle-income people, so they are built in the places where those people are allowed to live (which in the US, is almost exclusively suburban areas).
Generally speaking, "Dead Malls" has little to do with malls dying (in the US, we're still building brand new malls today), but has more to do with demographics shift (middle income people now live in different areas) and target market shifts (many new malls have moved up-market, there are less wealthy people than working-class people, and wealthier people generally don't live in the then-new 1970s/1980s suburbs anymore, they now generally live either full-downtown-urban or far-exurban)