ABSTRACT
Young (1990) presents the urban condition are one of ‘being together with strangers,’ an increasingly apt description in the mobile demographics of the twenty-first century. In this chapter I examine the outdoors as a venue for being collectively public: the challenges and the benefits of this. The ‘public’ and the ‘open’ in Public Open Space inform a varying visibility of individuals: being outdoors is not neutral. While informal hanging-out can be an important first step to belonging, it can also result in a sharp point of ‘un-belonging,’ as evidenced by rises in hate crime and racial harassment. Migration is a time of personal upheaval, and can be especially stressful for forced migrants, asylum seekers, and refugees. Restorative qualities of spending time in parks and other recreational public spaces can offer temporary respite from the dehumanizing experience of bureaucratic systems. Newcomers find points of recognition in oblique ways, from nature connections, memory prompts, and opportunities for socializing. I conclude by exploring the idea and practice of ‘curated sociability’ developed in the #refugueeswelcome in parks project. These examples underline the potential for public spaces to allow for mundane inclusion, where the process of ‘becoming local’ is grounded in shared collective joys.
