Resumen de Public space: notes on why it matters, what we should know, and how to realize its potential
This book is a compendium of notes on public space, and as public space is a window into the social world, it is inevitably a book that touches on many aspects of urban life, but always anchored in a spatial design frame of reference. Its stated aim is to provide a panoramic view into public space as a dialogue between the socio-political and the material-physical. The book is structured into five chapters, which reflect the subtitle of the book. The first chapter sets the context for arguing that the public space matters, outlining its many important functions and benefits. It is an essential infrastructure, a repository of memories and meanings, a saviour during the pandemic, a pause in the motion of life, a social glue, a place for visibility and contact with strangers, and a place for play and joy. The second chapter develops an understanding of what public space is, stressing the symbolic nature of all public space. It outlines the distinctive ways that public space is presented, engaging in the question of who the public are and how there are multiple publics, dismissing the idea that public space can be a universal, all-inclusive and balanced space. It explains the different terminologies, such as public sphere, public domain, public realm, and their relations with public space, the relationship between public good and common good, and how public space could mean different things to different people.
The third chapter investigates the paradoxes of public space, such as the notion that everyone knows it and yet no one knows it. It is the place where different forces are at play, and thereby it can never be neutral. The chapter critically surveys the diverse aspects of public space and public life, with sensitivity to the nuances, conflicts and incompatibilities that are the reflections of life in complex and unequal cities. The fourth chapter explores the possibilities that public space offers, calling it a unifier, a leveller, and an equalizer of status, while also acknowledging that it is where differences and inequalities in wealth, class and power can be visible. The final chapter offers some principles and proposals about the design of public space. The core of these principles is formed of open-endedness and systems thinking. It emphasizes that the public space in its normative definition is an ideal. The book ends with a final statement, written in large fonts and spread out on two pages: ‘Public space has immense capacity … only limited by our imagination’.
The book engages in a diverse range of themes about urban space and society, and as such it opens many pathways for exploration and discussion. Readers may agree or disagree with some of the points that are raised, and the author is open about the paradoxes and contradictions that can be found among the pages of the book, but the value of the book is that it stimulates the readers to think about these points and perhaps delve deeper into what these points might mean for urban design and development. The literature on public space has grown substantially over the recent years, showing the significance of the subject and a greater recognition that it requires proper attention. These books may err on the side of practices of design, or on the theoretical discussions about public space and urban life. This is a book that is well aligned with both aspects, trying to weave them together in a playful and flexible way.
This is shown both at the level of the structure and detail. The book is structured in a nonlinear way, like a friendly companion that can be consulted in different ways. On almost every page there is a short title to indicate a theme that is relevant to the public space. This title is supported by an image and a standalone sentence that explains the title. The text of the page then expands the subject matter more fully. Every page may be read as part of a chapter, or just be read on its own. The key messages of the book are shown on single pages with large fonts. This format is consistent with the book’s subtitle, which introduces it as ‘notes’. These page-long texts are indeed a series of extended notes on different aspects of public space, offering the reader a better understanding of the public space in its richness. It is supported by a list of further reading for those who wish to delve deeper into the subject of public space. This format opens up the book to different ways of reading it: a linear reading from the beginning to the end, or occasional exploration through different encounters. Like a public space, it offers the possibility of unexpected discoveries, both to those who might stay longer and follow a sequence of themes and to those who may just dip in and out in multiple short visits. The pocket size of the book is well suited for this flexible use. The book is richly illustrated with caption-free line-drawings and greyscale photographic images.
Overall, the book is a welcome addition to the literature on public space. It is written by an experienced professor of urban design, who has produced major collections on the topic of public space, drawing on years of investigating the subject. It draws on the author’s experiences of living and working in different continents, thereby benefiting from an expanded horizon. Its accessible presentation and clear language make it an appropriate platform for encouraging the students to become familiar with the subject, and for supporting the professionals who want to know more about a central concern in an urbanizing world. Its format of presentation in independent but related fragments provides an entry into the vast range of complex issues and the associated controversies and conflicts, as well as creative potentials of the urban public space, opening the door to its readers for exploring the subject further.
