ABSTRACT
Jane Jacobs has called sidewalks “the main public place of a city” and “its most vital organs.”2 Urban sidewalks have long been considered the city’s public boardroom. Nevertheless, how sidewalks can be used and by whom-in other words, the “publicness” of sidewalks as well as their “primary purposes”—have been long debated in court by municipal governments, civil rights advocates, and political activists. Municipalities have historically issued ordinances and
regulations to define the appropriate uses of sidewalks. Cities have also used design strategies in an attempt to “tame” the sidewalks and ensure a preconceived urban order. Today sidewalk democracy remains contested as design and regulatory strategies have serious constitutional implications for First Amendment speech and assembly rights.
