Main streets as resilient public spaces: Zooming in on ground floors in Stockholm

This research focuses on how main streets and ground floors can be adaptable and resilient public spaces. Main streets are vital components of the urban fabric of cities worldwide, serving dual roles as both links and places. They have played a major role in Western cities since the turn of the twentieth century; however, their significance as places has diminished over the years due to modernist planning. Contemporary planning approaches have struggled to address the link and place dimensions simultaneously (von Schönfeld and Bertolini 2017; Carmona, de Magalhães, and Hammond 2008a; Carmona et al. 2003). Main streets are pivotal nodes for socializing, commerce, and mobility. Their character is largely determined by the spatial features and functions of continuous ground-floor spaces, and the small businesses inhabiting those who create comfortable and sociable sidewalks (Jacobs 1961; Mehta 2011). Yet, spatial, social, and economic shifts driven by processes of privatization, globalization, and digitalization have transformed the main street character. Despite generally being considered to be adaptable and resilient places, main streets require dedicated planning, design, and management support in order to contribute cities being sustainable (Kickert and Talen 2022; Carmona 2015; Jones, Roberts, and Morris 2007; Zukin, Kasinitz, and Chen 2016). The research presented in this thesis aimed to provide an in-depth examination of how ground floors change from a socio-spatial perspective and how they are adaptable and resilient, in order to understand how planning, design, and management can support the future existence of main streets. The question that guided the research presented in this thesis was: What role do ground floors play in the creation of adaptable and resilient main streets, and how can planning, design, and management support this process? The research presented in this thesis reveals a reciprocal relationship between the spatial features of main streets and their ground floors and socio-economic dynamics, which are fundamental components of adaptable and resilient public spaces. To study main streets, ground-floor change was examined using Google Street View, focusing on three main streets in Stockholm between 2009 and 2018. This analysis showed a substantial transformation, with almost half of the ground floors changing during the studied period. This supports the idea that main streets are dynamic ecosystems capable of adapting to shifting