Tag Archives: public space

Inclusive or exclusive spaces?

I’ve been thinking a lot recently about public spaces and spatial justice (which “links together social justice and space”). Two books have greatly influenced my thinking on this. In his book, Convivial Urban Spaces (Earthscan 2008), Henry Shaftoe talks of  inclusive and exclusive urban spaces. Inclusive spaces he argues are the aim of “the New Urbanists, Urban Villagers and 24 Hour City people who want to ‘crowd out crime’ through mixed use and maximizing activity in public areas”.

Exclusive spaces, by contrast are the domain of  “the ‘designing out crime’ proselytizers who seek closure and limitation of use of spaces”.

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Spatial justice on Södra Vägen

View near Frank's, Södra Vägen

Sitting outside in the July sun at Frank’s Coffee, on Södra Vägen in Göteborg, Sweden is very different from sitting outside in the sun at Simon’s, on Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, US. OK, so the coffee’s much better at Simon’s, but in this blog entry, the coffee is not my main concern. I’m interested in the spatial dynamics of the street outside each cafe: Södra Vägen (South Street in English) and Massachusetts Avenue.  At Frank’s and Simon’s, the streets are roughly the same width, but the streetscape is very different.  See for yourself: click the link for each (Frank’sSimon’s), click the red push pin, then click “street view” and do a 360 turn.)

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