What drives evolved commercialization and transformation of residential into mixed-use neighbourhoods?

This study investigates the organic transformation of residential areas into mixed-use neighbourhoods through evolved commercialization, with a focus on customer attraction dynamics. While mixed-use development has been extensively studied, the factors driving incremental commercialization and its relationship with mixed-use formation remain underexplored, particularly in the context of developing cities. This research focuses on examining how commercial typology, clustering, local mixedness, and connectivity contribute to customer attraction and the broader evolution of mixed-use environments. The study employs a mixed-methods approach, combining survey-based data and spatial analysis from sixteen selected mixed-use streets in different zones of Delhi, India. Using ordinal logistic regression, it identifies significant factors influencing customer attraction, such as store size, operational hours, clustering of businesses and informal activities and level of mixedness between storekeeper's place of trade and residence. It further highlights the role of connectivity and accessibility metrics, in context of enhanced walkability and driving customer attraction. This study fills a critical gap by offering empirical insights in understanding the interaction between evolved commercialization and evolution of mixed-use neighbourhoods, particularly in the Global South, where organic transformations are prevalent.