Monday, January 13, 2014

From Guggenheim Blogs
The Power of Public Space

The discussion around public space today is one that touches every aspect of human life in cities. It encompasses our right to gather in solidarity and protest, as we witnessed in Istanbul’s Gezi Park earlier this year; our prioritization of people over vehicles; and our commitment to joyful urban experiences. Public space has become a priority for city makers and city dwellers the world over, and even UN-Habitat, with their recent commitment to developing an official resolution on sustainable urban development through access to quality urban public spaces, has set public space at the top of their agenda.
Clearly, public space is now seen as being more that a luxury. But what, then, is it? And where do we need to take the discussion from here in order to push it forward? To answer some of these questions, I caught up with place maker extraordinaire and one of the world’s most well-versed and active players in the world of public space development: Ethan Kent, Vice President of Project for Public Spaces (PPS). Founded in 1975 by Fred Kent to expand on the work of urbanist and author William H. Whyte, PPS has worked in thousands of communities around the world to improve public spaces. Read more: TBC: The Power of Public Space - Guggenheim Blogs

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