ABSTRACT
The next two chapters look at public space management from an international perspective. The focus, however, is not on public spaces in general but instead on a particular type of public space from the typology in Chapter 3 (see Table 3.1), namely public open (or green) spaces. The research looked at the experience of open space management in a number of cities around the world; cities chosen because of their reputation for high-quality public open space, and/ or for their innovative management practices. The aim was to identify lessons from these experiences that could be applied elsewhere where management practices are less developed. This chapter first discusses the analytical framework against which comparison of the cases was made. Next, the research methodology used for this and the next chapter is discussed. The third and fourth parts of the chapter focus on the first two of six dimensions of open space management identified in the analytical framework: the types of public open space and their needs; and the aspirations for public open space. Finally a set of conclusions are extracted from the analysis.
