Throughout the world’s cities, public places are
playing an ever more important role in the production of urban identity.
Places, parks and gardens have become cores of contradicting demand. On the one
hand, they have come under the influence of a neo-liberal commercialisation of
the cities, while on the other; they have increasingly been adopted by civil
society as a space of self-definition and cultural action. The old role of
public space as a set format of the state and the government’s self
representation is obsolete and new approaches for a co-production of public
space are needed to turn contested public space into an element of inclusive
urbanity.
The RE-PUBLIC Workshop: REMAKING the PUBLIC SPACE will
focus on the complex and diversified layers of public space within the context
of the place-making logic. Public space is more than a physical component such
as a park, a square or a street. Public space is a social space that is open,
accessible and inviting to all, regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, age or
socio-economic level. It is a space of unrestricted access and right of way; it
is a meeting space where strangers meet (Sennett, 2008); it is a cultural space
where people socialise in such a way that its uses contributes to citizenship
and strengthening civil society (Zukin, 1995); it is a political space which is
open to all and freely chosen action (Lynch, 1992). Public space plays an
important role in making the identity of cities and neighbourhoods. The
relations are manifold and reciprocal: Public space is designed and made by
people and at the same time, public space by its design and form influences
people in their everyday and political life. Citizens contribute to the
identity of the places and places are influencing the spatial reality and the
social life of the cities. In this sense, we should develop a thinking of space
with reference to the different levels of collectivity as defined by Morales (2008),
social integration (and disintegration/segregation) and borders as described by
Madanipour (2003) and territorial organisation (physical, territorial and
cultural order) by Habraken (1998). However, today, our cities are increasingly
experiencing the withering of the public realm including the loss of the
quality of public space and the loss of “the public” as an important element of
urbanity. While neglect and deterioration are among the factors for this
withering; the transformation into pseudo-public spaces (e.g. shopping malls)
is also effective in conjunction with privatisation and an extension of market
principles to the provision of public space. Commodification, commercialisation
and even militarisation of public space are indicators of its declining quality
as a factor of urban culture and the freedom of communication. Regarding this
new conceptualisation, the RE-PUBLIC Workshop will be a platform to rethink and
remake the public space as a bridge between the past, the present and the
future while emphasising the current economic-political processes and
socio-spatial challenges.
Among the key questions the Workshop intends to
respond to are:
- What role does public space play in defining the urban cultural, social and spatial identity of cities in rapidly transforming societies?
- How is public space transforming cities and citizens in the interplay of the public and the private in cities at a time of increasing marketisation?
- What is the role of the citizens in the using and making of the public space?
- How to research and map the various actors and influences shaping public spaces?
- What are the meaning and role of public space in building democracy, cultural identity and in reviving city’s image, economy and liveability?
- How can public space be qualified to build a bridge between the past, the present and the future?
- What are the driving and restraining forces in remaking public space?
- What are the characteristics of good quality public space?
- How should design, planning process and maintenance of public space respond to the changes in society and to the current financial crisis of the public sector?
- How can the theories and concepts of place-making be utilised to improve the relations in the triangle between urban politics and planning administration, the economic realm, and the citizens as owners?
By responding to these questions, the RE-PUBLIC
Workshop will test a number of innovative research and planning methods to
improve teaching in planning studies. A major impact is expected from the
cross-country approach and the joint learning of students and teachers with the
partly diverse background of the professions and experiences in the various
countries taking part. Knowledge transfer and management will play an important
role and the experience of the RE-Public Workshop will filter into the teaching
and learning methodologies of the universities taking part.
The academic objectives of the RE-PUBLIC Workshop are:
- To construct an interactive research and hands-on practice arena to develop a better understanding of the complex and diversified relations in the triangle between city, citizens and planners, and the logics of place-making.
- To test theories and planning practices to improve the tool-boxes of urban planning for better public space and o provide a platform to rethink and remake the public space as a bridge between the past, the present and the future while emphasizing the current economy-political processes and socio-spatial challenges.
- To explore the cultural, historical, economical, ecological and political spheres of remaking the public space.
- To question the ways in which the public space is transforming the cities and in how urban populations are transforming public space. .
- To identify the diversified, multi-layered and complex meaning and role of public space.
Hiç yorum yok:
Yorum Gönder