Public spaces mirror the complexities of urban societies: as historic social bonds have weakened and cities have become collections of individuals public open spaces have also changed from being embedded in the social fabric of the city to being a part of more impersonal and fragmented urban environments. Can making public spaces help overcome this fragmentation, where accessible spaces are created through inclusive processes? This book offers some answers to this question through analysing the process of urban design and development in international case studies, in which the changing character, level of accessibility, and the tensions of making public spaces are explored.
The book uses a coherent theoretical outlook to investigate a series of case studies, crossing the cultural divides to examine the similarities and differences of public space in different urban contexts, and its critical analysis of the process of development, management and use of public space, with all its tensions and conflicts. While each case study investigates the specificities of a particular city, the book outlines some general themes in global urban processes. It shows how public spaces are a key theme in urban design and development everywhere, how they are appreciated and used by the people of these cities, but also being contested by and under pressure from different stakeholders.
Contents :
1. Introduction - Ali Madanipour
Part 1. Changing Nature of Public Space in City Centres - Ali Madanipour
2. Less Public Than Before? Public Space Improvement in Newcastle City Centre - Müge Akkar Ercan
3. Youth Participation and Revanchist Regimes: Redeveloping Old Eldon Square, Newcastle upon Tyne - Peter Rogers
4. Can Public Space Improvement Revive the City Centre? The Case of Taichung, Taiwan - Hong-Che Chen
5. Change in the public spaces of traditional cities: Zaria, Nigeria - Shaibu Bala Garba
Part 2. Public Space and Everyday Life in Urban Neighbourhoods - Ali Madanipour
6. Marginal Public Spaces in Europe - Ali Madanipour
7. Gating the Streets: The Changing Shape of Public Spaces in South Africa - Karina Landman
8. Public Spaces within Modern Residential Areas in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia - Khalid Nasralden Mandeli
9. The Design and Development of Public Open Spaces in an Iranian New Town
10. Making Public Space in Low Income Neighbourhoods in Mexico - Mauricio Hernández Bonilla
11. Co-Production of Public Space: Redefinition of Social Meaning, the Case of Nord-Pas de Calais, France - Paola Michialino
12. Whose Public Space? - Ali Madanipour
Ali Madanipour is Professor of Urban Design at the School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape, Newcastle University, UK.
