The revival of Main Streets in Shopping Centres : Simulacrum or the real deal?

Sammanfattning: There has been a continual emergence of shopping centres in the 21st century. In recent years the prevailing shopping centres have been designed as an indispensable part of city centres having all the urban elements and qualities of traditional streets in combination with convenience, commercial efficiency, and high functioning design. The evolving shopping malls are challenged to add diversity to the range of shopping facilities and add on to the new experience keeping up with the ever-changing trends in society. This study aims to investigate if shopping malls are over-managed consumer spaces embedded in privatisation and commercialisation, thus creating a hindrance for true public spaces to emerge, or do they have a possibility of becoming a real public realm with true public spaces. Two case studies of shopping centres provided valuable insights on how stakeholders pursued planned public spaces in shopping centres and how the public perceives them. The placemaking model, highlighting the fundamental rights in a public space by covering the tangible and intangible aspects, has been central to this research. The results indicate that the malls should integrate more into the cities. They should focus on incorporating adaptive flexibility with the diversity of usage inclusive of changing demographics and increased urbanisation, which means a greater need for public spaces for mingling and congregation.