ABSTRACT
This chapter explores how public space is actually practised and consequently made. It proceeds on the basis that there is something to be gained from breaking more fully from the seductions of resistance when it comes to discussing the everyday practice of public space. The chapter draws on interview data and observations to argue that playful aspects of social life in urban public spaces might usefully be conceptualised in terms of play per se, rather than as resistant to or accordant with dominant place-making tropes and their associated regulatory regimes. It considers the ways in which certain architectural elements at South Bank are treated in playful ways. The chapter attempts an empirical consideration of the second of Lyn Lofland's six point inventory of utility for the public realm. It develops a particular take on Johan Huizinga's direct association between play and freedom. The chapter explains there is a danger of skateboarding being over-theorised, and deprived of its essence simply riding.
