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Why public spaces are important
Essay on the question of public spaces
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Parks, Plazas, Main Street, shopping centers among other places are considered to be public spaces. The ideology of public space can be traced back to the “Greek agora and its function as: the place of citizenship, an open space where public affairs and legal disputes were conducted” (Moseley). Throughout the nation and even the world the local government can establish places designed for people to gather, meet up friends, take a lunch break, or simply enjoy the view. Usually public spaces are designed for the comfort of the citizen and well for the comfort of the “public.” Modern urbanized cities tend to focus more on public space they create public spaces for children like playgrounds and parks. They create public spaces for everyone. Living in an urbanized setting usually indicates a small space for physical activities since most people live in apartment buildings and if the weather allows it many can spend their afternoon going for a walk in a park, or simply window shopping in Main Street. Usually folks in the country side have so much space in their land that they do not depend on the local government to create public spaces for them to enjoy their afternoons or outings. Public space as much “public” as it claims to be it can have invisible boundaries or restrictions for individuals who do not meet the “expectations” of the public desired it can target or neglect individuals depending on their economic position or gender which will be explained later on. The main focus of this essay is to describe the promising aspect and danger of the public space.
Public space main purpose is positive. The public space contains various positive or promising aspects to their existence. Like stated in The Introductory Reader in Human Geogr...
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... want to be in public spaces but with those they most find “appropriate.”
Public spaces that have been created for the public provide essentially positive aspects, like mentioned before, their main purpose since the beginning was positive. Individuals enjoy these public spaces for various activities. Urban settings take public spaces more serious than any other landscapes since these places depend on public space for their citizens daily activities. In the other hand it seems like the public is chosen certain individuals and not everyone is considered part of the public. Public spaces are meant to be pleasing and those who do not make it pleasing like homeless individuals tend to not be allowed in the public spaces. Public spaces create positive and negative aspects in society but despite the negative effects they are needed since they are a big part of society.
All of us grew up in places where we see how public space acts as a social glue. It is a space where the public can experience, values, history, interests and culture together. Public spaces give all of us a chance to relax after our busy lifestyles. It is a space where we can hang out, eat, play, show our culture or just simply sit on the benches and relax. Mike Davis’ chapter “ Fortress L.A.,” from City of Quartz, uses a prose style in describing how reconstruction in Los Angeles was made in a sense to improve the public spaces but, it changed public spaces drastically. The urban designers redeveloped Love Park, by claiming reconstructions can make park more tremendous vista. In certain cases, redevelopments of the public spaces can
... all, people need and should have marginal places, activities, and things in order to
The author of this website, which would be the National Council on Public History, is specifically looking at what exactly is public history and what exactly is meant by public history. Public History can be defined as history in the field. It is the use of history in real life situations. It is history applied and goes outside the realm of academic history. The author does mention that while there used to be clear definitions between public and academic history with public history being more multi-disciplinary, history as an academic subject has also increasingly become multi-disciplinary. Public historians have many different names such as archivists, museum professionals, and local historians. The author’s main argument surrounding these definitions of public history is that there are different forms of history with public history being the kind that the average person sees. Public historians can deeply impact their local communities and many collaborate with local community members on projects to ensure that the history they’re detailing is that of the community who is affected by it. The author does note that while many public history projects can be educational, the purpose might be more for an intellectual history like for a business’s archives. Public history projects could also be used to promote the local town or for the town’s own economic development.
The importance of public space and life is an important aspect of any given society. Without such spaces, society will continue to be dived among class lines. When a certain group of people hold power and it’s all about power and control, there will always be those that are excluded and denied access to the public sphere. As long as imaginary and irrational fears are instilled into the private lives of the public, society will continue to build fortress around its buildings and to use surveillance cameras outside the doors. Public space is a right to all citizens and due to fear of the unknown; it is diminishing right before our eyes. In this day and age, to be an American means to always be under the watchful eye of another.
This paper will be predominantly focusing on public housing within Ontario. Not only will it look at the basics of Ontario but examine more directly on Regent Park within Toronto. It will discuss what public housing is and the explanation for why it exists, the government housing programs that are present with regards to public housing and the results of the government programs. The Purpose of this essay is to argue that the problem of public housing will never
Tony Hiss Author of The Experience of Place brings to our attention that as humans “We react, consciously or unconsciously, to the places where we live and work, in ways we scarcely notice or that are only now becoming known to us…In short, the places where we spend our time affect the people we are and can become.” Place defines characteristics in both human and extended moral communities. Place is not necessarily specific to gender, race, generation or specie. This understanding and recognition of place is fundamental when thinking about institutionalizing ecological and social responsibility.
It has been given due priority in urban design and planning for promoting social cohesion as a constituent concept of the sense of belonging and community values through ethnic mixing to deal with challenges of multiculturalism in the West especially in England and Canada. The limitation of social cohesion to deal with multicultural challenges has led to contemporary planning imaginations that emphasize the meaningful engagements among different cultures. In the multicultural context, although contemporary planning imaginations do not directly refer to the role of public space at the level of local living per se, it nevertheless consider the significance of socio-physical setting public space provides for 'meaningful intercultural interactions' (Sennet, 1994), ‘openness to unassimilated otherness’ (Donald, 1999) and, as settings for ‘active civic engagements with clearly defined goal’ (Sandercock 2003). Trying to deal with the problematic of contested nature of public space in multicultural context, these imaginations in a way argue for the active civil engagements in public space through broad social participation with clearly defined goal for promoting social and civic solidarity by maintaining the meaningful distance or unassimilated otherness to live together
Public land. "Public," meaning everyone owns it. Every United States citizen has a right to recreate on the lands preserved for us. So, what does that mean? There are a lot of us, and we all have different ideas of what's fun to do outside. How do we decide which activities can be allowed without someone getting their toes stepped on? If the land belongs to all of us, and we have a responsibility to preserve it for generations to come, then how should we manage it?
Homelessness is associated with a culture unique to individuals who have, unstable housing or no housing who live on the streets, public places, shelters, halfway homes or in their cars. Homelessness is defined statistically as a state of not having a place to stay (Ravenhill, 2016). The statistical definition of homelessness conflicts with the perception of homeless people because for some homeless individuals the concept of home refers to a refuge, safe place, relationship with other homeless individuals, a unique personal space or an emotional and psychological refuge (Ravenhill). Even though homeless individuals do not have a stable place to stay they may have a place they call home.
Public Spaces provide unique experiences and contribute to the identity of a city. Found as places like plazas, parks, marketplaces, within buildings, lobbies and many more. Public spaces are important to our society and therefore face more arguments in design and construction compared to private spaces.
Again, this section will give a working definition of the “urban question’. To fully compare the political economy and ecological perspectives a description of the “urban question” allows the reader to better understand the divergent schools of thought. For Social Science scholars, from a variety of disciplines, the “urban question” asks how space and the urban or city are related (The City Reader, 2009). The perspective that guides the ecological and the social spatial-dialect schools of thought asks the “urban question” in separate distinct terminology. Respected scholars from the ecological mode of thinking, like Burgess, Wirth and others view society and space from the rationale that geographical scope determines society (The City Reader, 2009). The “urban question” that results from the ecological paradigm sees the relationship between the city (space) as influencing the behaviors of individuals or society in the city. On the other hand...
There are various influences on everyone’s lives while growing up. I believe the greatest of these influences is the neighborhood you grew up in. I grew up in a quite large, welcoming neighborhood. While living in this neighborhood, I was outgoing and remarkably talkative. Making friends became second nature to me. Playing outdoors from sunrise to sundown playing sports or exploring the outdoors with my friends became a daily routine for me. I was outgoing, talkative, and active. I believe this is the result of the neighborhood I grew up in.
With more needs for nature experience and sustainable development in urban areas, increasing importance has been attached to urban open spaces since they play a crucial role to support the ecology system and form a natural network in the cities (Chiesura, 2004; Tzoulas et al., 2007). Urban open spaces include plazas, parks, campus, greenways and other green spaces. They serve as islands of nature, enriching urban landscapes, adjusting the microclimate, promoting biodiversity and providing habitats for other species (Chiesura, 2004; Do, Kim, Kim, & Joo, 2014; Morimoto, 2011). Apart from these benefits, they also show a great impact on urban dwellers’ health, since open spaces offer places for outdoor activities and opportunities for contact with nature (Chiesura, 2004). Tyrväinen et al. (2014) indicated that even short-term visits to urban green spaces have positive psychological and physiological effects on perceived stress relief. People were attracted to urban open spaces for physical activities, social interactions, and a relief from daily life, which benefit their mental and physical health (Thwaites, Helleur, & Simkins, 2005). A large epidemiological study in Britain looked at mortality and morbidity among three income levels in relation to urban residents’ access to green open space (Mitchell & Popham,
Fundamentally, all human being’s capabilities and performances reflect a complex collaboration of biological and social-environmental factors. In fact, unique environments that are “nurtured” in one’s life can greatly influence the “nature” of basic biological processes. Such is the case with personal space. Even though human beings have a “natural” need to interact through human contact, the social-environmental factors in a human being’s culture dictate how much personal space is acceptable. Thus, it isn’t nature alone that determines what exact distance is comfortable between human beings during conversations. Instead, it is the individual’s cultural environment that determines the appropriate personal space necessary to feel comfortable. Indeed, research on personal space is an excellent example of how a supposed biological factor is influenced by social-environmental factors.
pedestrian parts of the streets- serve many purposes besides carrying pedestrians” (The uses of sidewalks: Safety, pg 29). The author is trying to say that besides walking and carrying vehicles, the sidewalks play a major role in protecting our lives. Certain factors that contribute to the safety are there should be a line that will be able to separate private and public, people should use it continuously. These people also misuse the sidewalks. For instance, it is always visible people dumping their small trashes on the sidewalk. The people will not understand the value of sidewalk until they lose it. They forget the part that these sidewalks serve as a means of communication. Every day, we see people socializing on sidewalks. Jacobs introduces a neighborhood where the citizens leave their keys with the shopkeepers.