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Public Space as Contested Space: The Battle over the Use, Meaning and Function of Public Space
Abstract
Abstract—Background: The optimists among the public
space scholarship argue that instead of a well-organized,
carefully concerted and highly controlled urban social life,
what unfolds in regulated public spaces are a mélange of
manifold incongruous lifestyles and a spatial condition.
Thistheoretical proposition claims that public spaces are
contested spaces offering a potent description of everyday
reality in privatized public spaces like the shopping mall. But
is a similar mechanics available outside the developed world?
Objective: The study looked into the empirical validity of the
urban spatial experiences of a developing country like the
Philippines. Method: Case study method is employed. Verbal
and observational data were analyzed using the process of
pattern matching. Findings: Evidence indicates that
oppositional politics exists in the public spaces of the
privatized built environments. And this oppositional politics
springs from three competing conceptualizations: the “by us”,
“for us”, and “up to us” mentalities. Lessons Learned: Public
space is not just about regulation; it is also about opposition.
But unlike traditional forms of oppositional politics, these are
not organized conquest of mall spaces; instead, they simply are
individual acts of passive defiance.
... These activities shift the formal use of the street as a transportation infrastructure. The classification was carried out based on the concept reference of community activity in interpreting the street space use (Alca˘ntara De Vasconcellos 2004;Capulong Reyes 2016). Table 2 shows the classification reference in each bottom-up practice quadrant group on Gang Baru street. ...
... Source: (Mela 2014;Capulong Reyes 2016) The classification shows that the public space use is fragmented by the collective dialogue of community practices on a bottom-up basis. ...
As a trade center, Semarang Chinatown contributes to developing the economic activities of the city. The expansion of the economic network creates various opportunities through informal activities. This is reflected in the inclusiveness of the local community, using roads as venues of economic activities, especially on Gang Baru Street in Semarang Chinatown. The street connects the neighborhood, accommodates informal activities, and serves as a traditional market. Furthermore, it has been privatized by trading activities from the shophouses and street vendors. The claim trend has commodified the formal use of the street as access infrastructure. Consequently, the differences in formal and informal activities cause the use of road space to be fragmented. Therefore, this study examines the fragmented use of Gang Baru street caused by the segmented informal activity interests. The qualitative method is used for a thorough bottom-up observation of the street’s activities. Various activities are classified based on the street user segmentation by organizational practices and spontaneous community behavior. This categorization is also based on the users’ participatory or antagonistic response to the street’s formal use. The result shows activity diversity portrays a dialectic interest representing the fragmented use of Gang Baru Street.
... Public space is the result of complex social processes from a broader socio-political context or from multiple, contrasting, overlapping ways in which many different kinds of forces and actors interact, combine, conflict , and oppressive, in order to determine how urban space should develop [3]. There has been many studies of public spaces as the result of interactions or struggles between different forces and actors [4][5][6]. The complexity of the social processes influencing the production of public spaces and their implications for urban design practice are seldom discussed or analyzed. ...
... [4,6]. The regional regulations are need for the sustainability of RPTRA in the future.The land and fund of RPTRAs development are the factors that differentiate what facilities are provided in each RPTRA. ...
Public spaces in the big city of Jakarta are decreasing from year to year due to the ever expanding physical development. However, since 2015 until October 2019 290 RPTRA units had been built in DKI Jakarta where previously public spaces have not been paid much attention to and have always been defeated by more commercial developments. The objectives of this study are to find what structuring forces affect, who actors were involved in the production of those public spaces, and how they affect physical public spaces at all stages of physical life cycle in different RPTRAs. For those objectives this study used an analytical framework of institutionalist understanding and used descriptive qualitative descriptive approach and chose 4 RPTRAs in East Jakarta as case studies. The results of case studies show there are the structuring forces and the different actors operating in each RPTRA but what are structuring forces and who are the actors are relatively the same in each RPTRA. The results of this study suggest that urban design practitioners need to have greater understanding of the social processes guiding the production of public spaces and need to incorporate such understanding into their practice.
... Parks are often categorized as inherently crime prone (Blair et al. 2017;Haberman and Ratcliffe 2015;Wilcox and Eck 2011) and as contested spaces (Hilborn 2009;Reyes 2016) where conflicting use of the area complicates regulating activities there. Additionally, establishing the effect that parks have on neighborhoods and neighborhoods have on parks (Boessen and Hipp 2018;Groff and McCord 2012) may contribute to issues with establishing crime prevention practices at parks. ...
... Second, the increased number of users may provide already present unlawful users additional suitable targets for victimization (Brantingham and Brantingham 1995;Felson 2006). Lastly, the increased number of users and the increased number of amenities of potentially conflicting use (McCord and Houser 2017), may make the park a more contested space (Hilborn 2009;Reyes 2016). For example, use conflict may arise when individuals with dogs occupy the park next to children using the playground, and individuals using the field; more individuals on varied amenities therefore contributing to crime (Kimpton et al. 2017). ...
This study provides an evaluation of a park amenity, a fenced dog enclosure, on crime in its vicinity. This study also includes geographic variability and assesses the intervention’s impact at multiple distances from the intervention. This study uses an interrupted time series analysis focused on a before-and-after comparison. Monthly incidents of police calls-for-service (CFS) from 2010 to 2016 are analyzed (n = 84). We analyze two series: (1) within 50 feet of the intervention site; and (2) within 700 feet of the intervention. After the installation of the dog park, CFS within 50 feet of the intervention increased (b = 0.776, p < 0.05). However, the expanded geographic coverage of 700 feet shows that the intervention has no statistically significant effect on the series (b = 5.25, p > 0.05). This work found that the dog park intervention increased CFS immediately around the park, and that decisions regarding level of geographic aggregation can change the conclusions of an evaluation.
... SROs may contain shared spaces, be subject to inspection without notice, and possess variably qualified management, complicating the lives of those living within and around properties (Kruppa et al., 2021). When use-conflicts arise in public settings, urban planning and legislation are used to help regulate and control these places to impose "what is properly public" (Mitchell, 1997;Reyes, 2016). Properly public is a distinction made by policymakers and persons less negatively affected by the consequences of regulation in these spaces. ...
... (Semi-)Public spaces can facilitate a variety and diversity of functions, and be places for self-expression, exchange, protest and social engagement (Harrouk, 2020). They regulate human behavior but also allow constitution and expression of individual identity (Capulong Reyes, 2016) and facilitate exposure to different types of people (Harrouk, 2020), enabling both creation and disruption of social encounters (Stavrides, 2016). ...
In this book, we compare and contrast the various forms of play that occur in urban environments or are dedicated to their design and planning, with the notion of the playable city. In a playable city, the sensors, actuators, and digital communication networks that form the backbone of smart city infrastructure are used to create novel interfaces and interventions intended to inject fun and playfulness into the urban environment, both as a simple source of pleasure and as a means of facilitating and fostering urban and social interactions.
... The mall in itself represents a suitable, cheap outing, and convenient way to break the daily routine and be immersed in a different world (Farrag et al., 2010). We need to be reminded that the mall as a place of refuge and comfort is also a place that is, at the same time, reappropriated by visitors through their practices to satisfy their own purposes (Backes, 1997;Reyes, 2016). Some of the new malls in Egypt have demonstrated success of this new integrated model such as the CFCM that has plans for expansion as mentioned above, and the Mall of Arabia that has successfully opened its new expansion. ...
Contemporary shopping malls in Egypt have created new public spaces for lifestyle and leisure, which complement the commercial logic of consumer behavior. Mega malls in Egypt are simultaneously merging shopping, leisure, and entertainment, creating an ambivalence. They are representations of the globalized economy, but also manifest a certain uniqueness through their typology, their mode of insertion in the urban fabric and the type of public spaces created in them. This paper traces four new typologies in the design of six mega shopping malls in Egypt, constructed since 2010, as they integrate new public gathering spaces for leisure, recreation, and entertainment. Data on the new malls in Egypt was collected from corporate websites and promotional brochures, Google Maps and Street View, TripAdvisor, social media websites, visitor comments and news articles. A key finding is the trend of integration of large outdoor recreational spaces such as courtyards and plazas in mall design, the inclusion of a water element for attraction as well as the transition in function from simply offering goods and services to one that offers experiences and events to encourage recurring visits to the mall. The transformation of the mall parallels changes in conceptualizing the city of the 20th century as a large marketplace, an emporium of consumption, to conceptualizing the city of the 21st century as a large theatre and a festive place.
... As a consequence, the homeless often must engage in private activities in public settings. When use-conflicts arise in public settings, urban planning and legislation is used to help regulate and control these places so as to impose "what is properly public" (Mitchell, 1997;Reyes, 2016). Properly public is a distinction made by policy makers and persons less negatively affected by the consequences of regulation in these spaces. ...
... (Semi-)Public spaces can facilitate a variety and diversity of functions, and be places for self-expression, exchange, protest and social engagement (Harrouk, 2020). They regulate human behavior but also allow constitution and expression of individual identity (Capulong Reyes, 2016) and facilitate exposure to different types of people (Harrouk, 2020), enabling both creation and disruption of social encounters (Stavrides, 2016). ...
Augmented Play Spaces (APS) are (semi-) public environments where playful interaction is facilitated by enriching the existing environment with interactive technology. APS can potentially facilitate social interaction and physical activity in (semi-)public environments. In controlled settings APS show promising effects. However, people’s willingness to engage with APS in situ , depends on many factors that do not occur in aforementioned controlled settings (where participation is obvious). To be able to achieve and demonstrate the positive effects of APS when implemented in (semi-)public environments, it is important to gain more insight in how to motivate people to engage with them and better understand when and how those decisions can be influenced by certain (design) factors. The Participant Journey Map (PJM) was developed following multiple iterations. First, based on related work, and insights gained from previously developed and implemented APS, a concept of the PJM was developed. Next, to validate and refine the PJM, interviews with 6 experts with extensive experience with developing and implementing APS were conducted. The first part of these interviews focused on influential (design) factors for engaging people into APS. In the second part, experts were asked to provide feedback on the first concept of the PJM. Based on the insights from the expert interviews, the PJM was adjusted and refined. The Participant Journey Map consists of four layers: Phases, States, Transitions and Influential Factors. There are two overarching phases : ‘Onboarding’ and ‘Participation’ and 6 states a (potential) participant goes through when engaging with an APS: ‘Transit,’ ‘Awareness,’ ‘Interest,’ ‘Intention,’ ‘Participation,’ ‘Finishing.’ Transitions indicate movements between states. Influential factors are the factors that influence these transitions. The PJM supports directions for further research and the design and implementation of APS. It contributes to previous work by providing a detailed overview of a participant journey and the factors that influence motivation to engage with APS. Notable additions are the detailed overview of influential factors, the introduction of the states ‘Awareness,’ ‘Intention’ and ‘Finishing’ and the non-linear approach. This will support taking into account these often overlooked, key moments in future APS research and design projects. Additionally, suggestions for future research into the design of APS are given.
Green Bangkok 2030 has been the BMA’s policy by enhancing 30% of the coverage areas of green public space by 2030. Amidst its numerous constraints such as the land acquisition, the post-occupancy management, and the vibrant programming creation, the researchers have studied upon the chance in enhancing green public space via the National Health Assembly’s mechanism and via the policy dialoguing among communities, civil actors, state agencies, and private sectors, since 2018. One of the conditions has been incorporating more with private sectors. This study has been conducted via participatory observation on two neighborhood park’s case studies in Bangkok. By challenging upon the enhancing privately-owned public spaces, two prominent questions are addressed; 1) what the conditions are in persuading private sectors into the comanaging scenarios along with the BMA; and 2) how the operations include non-state agencies in the process? The study highlights that BMA has gained some land plots from private sectors for being public green spaces and enthusiastically engaged in creating good programs upon them because of new land tax policy. However, the study underlies the significant managerial gaps within BMA’s internal bureaucracy to carry on if any exponentially accelerating numbers of neighborhood park project comparing to its limited fiscal expenditure. The recent insights from this study shed some lights upon the triangular model of the working group at the district level including state, community, and private sector as a commission platform.
First published in 1992, this book is about making connections that may lead towards a new professionalism, since the past several decades have given rise mainly to new kinds of specialists in the areas of programming, evaluation, and participation. The implications for such integration are far reaching, with profound future effects on the physical environment, the design professions, and the education of designers. The book is split into four sections dealing with facility programming, several forms of evaluation, participatory design, and the application of Theory Z principles. This book will be of interest to students of architecture and design.
Theme identification is one of the most fundamental tasks in qualitative research. It also is one of the most mysterious. Explicit descriptions of theme discovery are rarely found in articles and reports, and when they are, they are often relegated to appendices or footnotes. Techniques are shared among small groups of social scientists, but sharing is impeded by disciplinary or epistemological boundaries. The techniques described here are drawn from across epistemological and disciplinary boundaries. They include both observational and manipulative techniques and range from quick word counts to laborious, in-depth, line-by-line scrutiny. Techniques are compared on six dimensions: (1) appropriateness for data types, (2) required labor, (3) required expertise, (4) stage of analysis, (5) number and types of themes to be generated, and (6) issues of reliability and validity.
In this tour de force, authors Stewart R. Clegg, David Courpasson, and Nelson Phillips provide a comprehensive account of power and organizations, unlocking power as the central relation of modern organizations and society. The authors present an excellent synthesis of organization, social and political theory to offer an overview of power and organizations that is historically informed, addresses current issues, and is comprehensive in scope.
In recent years, many governments have tended to take a rational and development-oriented approach to planning, designing and managing city spaces. Some sociologists, however, have started to criticize this approach, and have begun to advocate instead the importance of taking into consideration the everyday lives of ordinary people. These sociologists offer us a new perspective for examining how "city users" are tactically living in their cities. This perspective may not be accepted by all, and may have quite a lot of practical limitations; nevertheless, it at least offers today's designers as well as policymakers and other professionals some reflections and inspirations for further exploration and discussion. Through a theoretical review of how theorists and sociologists see city space and its order from different perspectives, and through empirical longitudinal studies done on three Hong Kong market streets, this article attempts to ascertain whether the inhabitants of a city-city users-are "tactical practitioners." The article then explores the role of city users and their interactions with the spaces in which they are living, and offers advice to designers who aim for more people-environment fit designs.
The nature of public space in contemporary society is changing. This paper uses the turmoil over People's Park in Berkeley, California, as a means for exploring changing ideas about and practices in public space. I argue that as public space is increasingly privatized or otherwise brought under greater control, possibilities for democratic action are minimized. To make this claim, I provide a brief outline of the roots of the August 1991 riots at People's Park. I then examine the role that public space plays in modern democracies, and how ideas about public space have developed dialectically with definitions of who counts as “the public.” In American democracy, “the public” is constituted by private individuals. In this paper, I suggest that the presence of homeless people in public spaces raises important contradictions at the heart of this definition of “the public.” Many commentators suggest that these contradictions have led to “the end of public space” in contemporary cities, or at the very least, the removal of its political functions to the “space” of electronic communication. I examine what this move means for democratic action in the city and show that material public spaces remain a necessity for (particularly) oppositional political movements. This returns us to People's Park, as these were precisely the issues that structured the riots in 1991. I conclude the paper with a sketch of where People's Park and the issues raised by the riots now stand.
