In cities around the world people use a variety of public spaces to relax, to protest, to buy and sell, to experiment and to celebrate. Loose Space explores the many ways that urban residents, with creativity and determination, appropriate public space to meet their own needs and desires. Familiar or unexpected, spontaneous or planned, momentary or long-lasting, the activities that make urban space loose continue to give cities life and vitality.

The book examines physical spaces and how people use them. Contributors discuss a wide range of recreational, commercial and political activities; some are conventional, others are more experimental. Some of the activities occur alongside the intended uses of planned public spaces, such as sidewalks and plazas; other activities replace former uses, as in abandoned warehouses and industrial sites. The thirteen case studies, international in scope, demonstrate the continuing richness of urban public life that is created and sustained by urbanites themselves

• Presents a fresh way of looking at urban public space, focusing on its positive uses and aspects.
• Comprises 13 detailed, well-illustrated case studies based on sustained observation and research by social scientists, architects and urban designers.
• Looks at a range of activities, both everyday occurrences and more unusual uses, in a variety of public spaces -- planned, leftover and abandoned.
• Explores the spatial and the behavioral; considers the wider historical and social context.
• Addresses issues of urban research, architecture, urban design and planning.
• Takes a broad international perspective with cases from New York, London, Berlin, Amsterdam, Rome, Guadalajara, Athens, Tel Aviv, Melbourne, Bangkok, Kandy, Buffalo, and the North of England.

About the Author

Karen A. Franck is a Professor in the School of Architecture and the Department of Humanities at the New Jersey Institute of Technology.
Quentin Stevens is a Lecturer in urban design at the Bartlett School of Planning, University College London.

Reviews

'What the collection draws attention to is the growing interest in the cultural importance of urban fringes and terrains ... there are challenging ideas in these essays, and the issues raised are timely and indeed urgent.' - Green Places

'A fascinating book ... contrasts with more traditional urban design texts.' - Urban Design

'What the collection draws attention to is the growing interest in the cultural importance of urban fringes and terrains ... there are challenging ideas in these essays, and the issues raised are timely and indeed urgent.' - Green Places

'A fascinating book ... contrasts with more traditional urban design texts.' - Urban Design

'[T]heroetically and empirically innovative... Certainly a worthwhile read for people interested in critical and emancipatory interpretations of the deployment of urban space." Harold A. Perkins, Ohio University, Annals of the Association of American Geographers

Book Information
ISBN 9780415701174
Author Karen Franck
Format Paperback
Page Count 320
Imprint Routledge
Publisher Taylor & Francis Ltd
Weight(grams) 580g