The Catalan geographer upholds the city as a collective project and describes how it can help to improve people’s quality of life. He afirms that public space should be considered at the metropolitan level and highlights the importance of recovered spaces with collective connotations.
The Catalan urban planner reflects on the role of public space in both the city and the metropolitan area – through the territory-city. His favourite public space is El peine de los vientos (Wind Comb) in San Sebastian, marking a point where the city meets the sea.
The post-colonialism and modernity theorist explains how he considers public spaces and the need to discuss the new global affairs in them. He also speaks of a symbolic space of Kolkata, the Esplanade, as his favorite public space.
Diane Davis, an American sociologist and geographer, and Charles Dyer Norton Professor of Regional Planning and Urbanism at Harvard University, reflects on the nature of public space giving special attention to the need for people to give sense to places in the city. Davis has worked for much of...
The American political scientist, president of the Social Science Research Council and former president of the American Political Science Association (APSA), defines the characteristics of public space: localisation, expression, vicinity and democracy. He describes the New York subway as a space...
The writer and film-maker reflects on how the act of walking, and the shared memory of all the inhabitants, two of the basic public qualities of city life, are the most threatened in contemporary city-development schemes.
The city advisor thinks that parks and streets are fundamental for the health of cities, enhancing solidarity among residents with different social backgrounds, and reinforcing the sense of belonging to the city.
The historian offered a brief reflection on the evolution of public spaces, from their elitist monumentality to their popularization and final commercialization.
The political scientist reflects on the historical role of public squares, the changes in our societies and the possibilities of Internet as a public sphere.