ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a subtle but significant transition from emphasis on individual action to cooperative collaboration in 'do-it-together' development. A more autonomous, ideological approach views public life on a continuum of voluntary service from grassroots activism, community organizing, informal urban development to being a 'good neighbour'. The social dimensions of public space are usefully explored with reference to what Georg Simmel has to say on the significance of co-present social interaction. In contemporary cities, the public sphere is increasingly being seen to comprise dead public spaces, privatized shopping malls and gated communities, eroding the essence of city life. Just as 'liveability' can appear to be both self-evident and abstract, definitions of public life are similarly contested. Envisioning is about acting on a possibility to turn an idea into a reality where it is the process of the realization which is as transformational, if not more so, than the end result.
