Why Public Space Matters

Public spaces are essential for a healthy civic life, promoting social justice, democratic practices, creativity, health, urban resilience, and environmental sustainability. However, they are threatened by urban development, privatization, and neglect. Setha Low's book "Why Public Space Matters" argues that fleeting moments of visibility and encounter in these spaces foster a broader worldview and our willingness to accept difference, enhancing flexible thinking, problem solving, creativity, and inclusiveness. We are losing public spaces to accelerated urban development and the privatization of public space by corporate actors. Low explores why public spaces matter today, how they are at risk, and what we can do about protecting these essential places.

Format: Hardback
Length: 272 pages
Publication date: 01 March 2023
Publisher: Oxford University Press Inc

Drawing from decades of research, Setha Low demonstrates how public space contributes to a flourishing society by promoting social justice and democratic practices. Thriving public spaces also enhance creativity, health, urban resilience, and environmental sustainability. However, more than ever, public spaces across the world are threatened by urban development, privatization, and neglect.

Public spaces, where people from all walks of life play, work, meet, talk, read, think, debate, and protest, are vital to a healthy civic life. As the eminent scholar of public space Setha Low argues in Why Public Space Matters, even fleeting moments of visibility and encounter in these spaces tend to foster a broader worldview and our willingness to accept difference. Such experiences also enhance flexible thinking, problem-solving, creativity, and inclusiveness. There are many such spaces, but they all enhance social life. Sidewalks and plazas offer business opportunities for small-scale entrepreneurs who cannot afford store space. Public parks have long provided major cultural attractions, from plays to concerts, at little or no cost to the public. Central squares have a storied tradition as arenas for demonstrations and political protests. Parks and waterways create sustainable greenways, and during disasters, all manner of public spaces become centers for food delivery and shelter.

To illustrate their value, Low draws from decades of research in public spaces across the Americas, from New York to Costa Rica. Yet, we are losing public spaces to accelerated urban development and the belief that public spaces are expendable. Just as important is the broad-scale and ongoing privatization of public space by corporate actors. Low explores why public spaces matter today, how they are at risk, and what can be done to protect and preserve them for future generations.

In conclusion, public spaces are essential to a healthy civic life and a thriving society. They promote social justice, democratic practices, creativity, health, urban resilience, and environmental sustainability. However, they are threatened by urban development, privatization, and neglect. We must take action to protect and preserve these spaces for future generations. By doing so, we can create a more inclusive and equitable world.

Weight: 658g
Dimension: 243 x 166 x 31 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780197543733