Preface

Public space is a slippery concept and a notion that embraces many, sometimes conflicting meanings. Urban researchers have found that security and private interests have been prioritised in recent decades, transforming public space into a series of highly regulated sites of consumption. The issue of order is central to the discussion of public space. Accordingly, a contemporary reading of order, of social interaction and of public space should be a pluralistic one, taking dissent and disruption into account. Several developments also contribute to put public space at the heart of the contemporary political agenda. Simultaneously, Western cities have transformed from places of production to places of consumption, which has resulted in the emergence of quasi-public spaces as the preferential arena for interacting and mingling. The authors examine these conflicts by bringing to the table issues related to what kind of behaviour should be tolerated in public spaces and to the regulation of protests in such places.