ABSTRACT
Public space has always been a crucial feature of the urban landscape. It is the necessary venue in which people from various class, ethnic, racial, and cultural backgrounds “rub shoulders,” learn from each other, and socially interact. The public realm is meant to be unbounded and an expansive space for social interaction, political action, and the free exchange of ideas. The prolonged erosion of public space – through government regulations or increased private sector control – is of utmost concern to urbanists. In this reading, Setha Low first summarizes the condition of public space in New York City in the post-9/11 years. Previously open spaces closed after 9/11. Many New Yorkers feel comfortable with the number of surveillance cameras within public spaces as the price paid for so-called enhanced safety. As Low explains, privatization is the driving force behind the shrinkage of public spaces. Public/private partnerships have become more prevalent and decisions over how the space is to be used and by whom is increasingly predetermined by an elite set of actors. The World Trade Center, and in particular the use of the space at Ground Zero, is an example of this. The redevelopment of the site could have provided an opportunity for a public space that could respond to citizens’ feelings and concerns, but instead private sector involvement prevailed. Low interviewed residents of nearby Battery Park City and found their ideas contrasted sharply from media and governmental representations of the reconstructed site. For example, residents felt too many memorials in their community spaces challenged the neighborhood’s vibrancy. Low’s point is that public space should remain part of the public sector, especially given the many ethnic and cultural groups who live in and visit New York. Public space, Low feels, could be used to promote diversity in gender, class, culture, nationality, and ethnicity. Low ends the discussion by looking at how this diversity can be promoted.
