Research – What is Public Space(or public sphere)?
Below is a list of various definitions of public space from different sources. Understanding what public space is is very important as Expression Space is supposed to be an extension of public space. I’ve decided that a more relaxed definition of public space is required for my project to get it off the ground.
“A public space refers to an area or place that is open and accessible to all citizens, regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, age or socio-economic level. One of the earliest examples of public spaces are commons. For example, no fees or paid tickets are required for entry, nor are the entrants discriminated based on background. Non-government-owned malls are examples of ‘private space’ with the appearance of being ‘public space’.”
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_space
The Wikipedia reference is of particular importance with regard to the last line. A lot of people I speak to regard private spaces such as malls as public spaces. I don’t subscribe to this idea and I’d rather call them pseudo-public spaces, or some kind of prefix that distinguishes it from public space that is government owned and not privately run. An example of a perceived digital public space(more about digital public space in another post) would be facebook. It is a place where the public congregate in large numbers and has many characteristics of a public space. But at the end of the day it is privately owned, if they decided you could no longer share certain information, or limited your use of it for some reason, you have no rights that protect your use of the space as it is privately owned and governed.
“…’public space’ is used to designate a location which is (i) designed, however minimally, such that (ii) everyone has the rights of access, (iii) encounters in it between individual users are unplanned and unexceptional, and (iv) their behaviors towards each other is subjective to rules none other than those of common norms of social activity.”
Public space: design, use, and management By Beng Huat Chua
This definition uses a more liberal approach in defining public space, in that it does not specify who the owner of the space is, be it private or government etc. This is the kind of definition I am using when testing and experimenting Expression Space and its application. This definition lends itself well to Expression Space as it doesn’t define what you should do in the space, it only defines loosely what you shouldn’t do as described in the final sentence.
This next definition does not define public space, it defines public sphere’s. I only learned recently of the two distict differences between a public space and a public sphere. The latter having the distinct intention to promote debate and political discussion in a space that is also public.
“The public sphere is an area in social life where people can get together and freely discuss and identify societal problems, and through that discussion influence political action. It is “a discursive space in which individuals and groups congregate to discuss matters of mutual interest and, where possible, to reach a common judgment.” The public sphere can be seen as “a theater in modern societies in which political participation is enacted through the medium of talk” and “a realm of social life in which public opinion can be formed“”
After reflecting on the differences of a public space and a public sphere, the latter seems to describe the intentions of Expression Space far better than a simple definition of public space. It has always been the intention for Expression Space to be an extension of public space with added meaning and definitions, and I think public sphere does a good job of describing more clearly what I mean.
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