Beyond an Eyesore: Re-Imagining Scarborough’s Strip Malls as a Network of Public Spaces

Abstract

This thesis celebrates the vitality and public life of the post war era strip malls located in Toronto’s inner suburb of Scarborough. These spaces are ritualistically utilitarian and informal social destinations due to their easy accessibility and the variety of small local independent retailers. The question examined by this thesis is, what is the everyday accessible public space of a pluralistic society in an inner suburban context? By building upon theory and design precedents, this thesis materializes the potential in the future for community vibrancy without diminishing the existing vitality and public life of Scarborough’s strip malls. This full potential of strip malls is realized by reimagining them as a connected network of public spaces, which are pluralistic social destinations with permanent and impermanent spatial interventions that promote gathering for daily use and events in indoor and outdoor conditions. This thesis is accomplished through texts, narratives, maps, photographs, and drawings which outline the present situation and propose a future design approach.