Abstract
In South Africa, shopping malls have emerged as the public places that are
frequented every day by ordinary people. Indeed, community shopping malls
have proliferated across South Africa’s suburbs and townships in the early
twenty-first century. This proliferation is driven by consumers’ demand for
convenience and mirrors the spread of the typical enclosed shopping mall in
twentieth-century North America. In the early twenty-first century, the
phenomenon of dead malls has become reality. Thus, contemporary global
trends work towards creating meaningful shopping experiences that build loyalty
in shoppers. Indeed, the typical enclosed postmodern shopping mall is widely
criticised to lack a sense of humanness. Of the greatest concern is that standard
postmodern shopping malls have been identified to fail to provide the opportunity
for lingering and pause.
This research is underpinned by Tuan’s (1977) seminal theory that place is of
pause. The metaphor of Tuan’s (1977) ‘tree’ illustrates how places to pause and
gather can elicit place attachment regarding both the small pause and gathering
place and the setting within which it is located. This research aims to understand
if contemporary shopping malls function as meaningful public places to which
surrounding communities become attached. This research thus searches for
places to pause and gather within early twenty-first century shopping malls in
Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
The research design implemented in this multiple case study is crafted to elicit a
rich understanding of the experience of shopping malls as meaningful public
places. The approach to the research is described as pragmatic interpretivism in
everyday life and includes unstructured, participant observations and
unstructured open-ended interviews.
M.Tech. (Interior Design)