Discussion about the meaning of the public space is rich and complex. It comes through different areas of sociology, from the theoreticians of the modernity to the urban visionaries of the so-called post-modernity. The public space idea overlaps very little with the reality: any “ideal kind” of public space was strongly mythicised as referred to by scholars like Jane Jacobs, Nancy Fraser, Margaret Crawford, Sharon Zukin. The paper focuses on three aspects: a) the nature of public space should be checked from time to time, in terms of accessibility, social mix and freedom of expression; b) public space is no longer considered an exclusively publicly owned space accessible to all; c) similarities between Italian and North America cities emerge, regarding the idea of public spaces as “hybrid spaces” that lie along a private-public/controlled-free continuum that people use in an undifferentiated way, until they perceive signs of disorder and explicit exclusions. These issues emerged from a study in 20 Italian cities within the years 2011- 2013. The actual trend looks oriented towards an increasing privatization of public spaces, where the need for social safety and the pervasiveness of consumerism play a central role. This trend would guarantee access to the public space only to some classes of people. That doesn’t mean that the request for public spaces is decreasing: though it is no longer a place where the community civic culture is created, it still reflects urban society, mirroring conflicting interests and few common values.

Discussion about the meaning of the public space is rich and complex. It comes through different areas of sociology, from the theoreticians of the modernity to the urban visionaries of the so-called post-modernity. The public space idea overlaps very little with the reality: any ideal kind of public space was strongly mythicised as referred to by scholars like Jane Jacobs, Nancy Fraser, Margaret Crawford, Sharon Zukin. The paper focuses on three aspects: a) the nature of public space should be checked from time to time, in terms of accessibility, social mix and freedom of expression; b) public space is no longer considered an exclusively publicly owned space accessible to all; c) similarities between Italian and North America cities emerge, regarding the idea of public spaces as hybrid spaces that lie along a private-public/controlled-free continuum that people use in an undifferentiated way, until they perceive signs of disorder and explicit exclusions. These issues emerged from a study in 20 Italian cities within the years 2011- 2013. The actual trend looks oriented towards an increasing privatization of public spaces, where the need for social safety and the pervasiveness of consumerism play a central role. This trend would guarantee access to the public space only to some classes of people. That doesnT mean that the request for public spaces is decreasing: though it is no longer a place where the community civic culture is created, it still reflects urban society, mirroring conflicting interests and few common values.

Public Space. Theoretical Approach and Sociological Research / Mazzette, Antonietta; Spanu, Sara. - (2015), pp. 1606-1606. (Intervento presentato al convegno 12th Conference of the European Sociological Association. Differences, Inequalities and Sociological Imagination tenutosi a Praga nel 25.08.2015-28.08.2015).

Public Space. Theoretical Approach and Sociological Research

MAZZETTE, Antonietta;SPANU, Sara
2015-01-01

Abstract

Discussion about the meaning of the public space is rich and complex. It comes through different areas of sociology, from the theoreticians of the modernity to the urban visionaries of the so-called post-modernity. The public space idea overlaps very little with the reality: any “ideal kind” of public space was strongly mythicised as referred to by scholars like Jane Jacobs, Nancy Fraser, Margaret Crawford, Sharon Zukin. The paper focuses on three aspects: a) the nature of public space should be checked from time to time, in terms of accessibility, social mix and freedom of expression; b) public space is no longer considered an exclusively publicly owned space accessible to all; c) similarities between Italian and North America cities emerge, regarding the idea of public spaces as “hybrid spaces” that lie along a private-public/controlled-free continuum that people use in an undifferentiated way, until they perceive signs of disorder and explicit exclusions. These issues emerged from a study in 20 Italian cities within the years 2011- 2013. The actual trend looks oriented towards an increasing privatization of public spaces, where the need for social safety and the pervasiveness of consumerism play a central role. This trend would guarantee access to the public space only to some classes of people. That doesn’t mean that the request for public spaces is decreasing: though it is no longer a place where the community civic culture is created, it still reflects urban society, mirroring conflicting interests and few common values.
2015
978-80-7330-272-6
Discussion about the meaning of the public space is rich and complex. It comes through different areas of sociology, from the theoreticians of the modernity to the urban visionaries of the so-called post-modernity. The public space idea overlaps very little with the reality: any ideal kind of public space was strongly mythicised as referred to by scholars like Jane Jacobs, Nancy Fraser, Margaret Crawford, Sharon Zukin. The paper focuses on three aspects: a) the nature of public space should be checked from time to time, in terms of accessibility, social mix and freedom of expression; b) public space is no longer considered an exclusively publicly owned space accessible to all; c) similarities between Italian and North America cities emerge, regarding the idea of public spaces as hybrid spaces that lie along a private-public/controlled-free continuum that people use in an undifferentiated way, until they perceive signs of disorder and explicit exclusions. These issues emerged from a study in 20 Italian cities within the years 2011- 2013. The actual trend looks oriented towards an increasing privatization of public spaces, where the need for social safety and the pervasiveness of consumerism play a central role. This trend would guarantee access to the public space only to some classes of people. That doesnT mean that the request for public spaces is decreasing: though it is no longer a place where the community civic culture is created, it still reflects urban society, mirroring conflicting interests and few common values.
Public Space. Theoretical Approach and Sociological Research / Mazzette, Antonietta; Spanu, Sara. - (2015), pp. 1606-1606. (Intervento presentato al convegno 12th Conference of the European Sociological Association. Differences, Inequalities and Sociological Imagination tenutosi a Praga nel 25.08.2015-28.08.2015).
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11388/54352
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