The Recent Transformation of Central Squares

In this chapter, I follow a series of central and well-connected urban squares in Malmö and Lund, Sweden, from the 1960s up until today. The chapter investigates how these squares have developed in relation to the practice of shopping, following the introduction of car traffic, the deterioration of the open urban markets, and the development of squares as important places, first for retail and then for restaurants, events, and recreation. All the chosen squares, Clemenstorget and Botulfsplatsen in Lund, and Stortorget and Lilla torg in Malmö, have during these years oscillated between shopping, recreation, and transport. In the chapter, I especially look at how these urban squares, as territories of shopping, have changed over the years, and how different forms of specializations, i.e. the development of public place subtypes, alternately have been both stabilized and destabilized.