New Index for Public Space

<p><i>A New Index for Public Space: After Distancing </i>offers readers a re-evaluation of the notion of publicness as a lens to unpack the complexity of urban space. A new index is proposed to reconstitute the promises and the predicaments of public space to better prepare for the contemporary challenges of post-pandemic conflict-ridden society. Part I provides a theoretical introduction to the idea of public space and publicness laying out the book’s rationale; Part II offers a new index of terms including affects alignments atmosphere conviviality diagrams documenting flow and more; and Part III applies the proposed lexicon with a random walk approach inviting the reader to use the lens of nonlinear evolutionary dynamics as a means for envisioning the future of publicness. This book is the outcome of a conversation across disciplines – specifically urban design and social theory – revolving around the recognition that public space is inherently fragile messy conflicted and evolving. This book will be of interest to urban planners architects and urban designers as well as human geographers sociologists political theorists and those working in community development.</p>