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Why public spaces are important
Essay on the question of public spaces
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Parks, Plazas, Main Street, shopping centers among other places are considered to be public spaces. The ideology of public space can be traced back to the “Greek agora and its function as: the place of citizenship, an open space where public affairs and legal disputes were conducted” (Moseley). Throughout the nation and even the world the local government can establish places designed for people to gather, meet up friends, take a lunch break, or simply enjoy the view. Usually public spaces are designed for the comfort of the citizen and well for the comfort of the “public.” Modern urbanized cities tend to focus more on public space they create public spaces for children like playgrounds and parks. They create public spaces for everyone. Living in an urbanized setting usually indicates a small space for physical activities since most people live in apartment buildings and if the weather allows it many can spend their afternoon going for a walk in a park, or simply window shopping in Main Street. Usually folks in the country side have so much space in their land that they do not depend on the local government to create public spaces for them to enjoy their afternoons or outings. Public space as much “public” as it claims to be it can have invisible boundaries or restrictions for individuals who do not meet the “expectations” of the public desired it can target or neglect individuals depending on their economic position or gender which will be explained later on. The main focus of this essay is to describe the promising aspect and danger of the public space.
Public space main purpose is positive. The public space contains various positive or promising aspects to their existence. Like stated in The Introductory Reader in Human Geogr...
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... want to be in public spaces but with those they most find “appropriate.”
Public spaces that have been created for the public provide essentially positive aspects, like mentioned before, their main purpose since the beginning was positive. Individuals enjoy these public spaces for various activities. Urban settings take public spaces more serious than any other landscapes since these places depend on public space for their citizens daily activities. In the other hand it seems like the public is chosen certain individuals and not everyone is considered part of the public. Public spaces are meant to be pleasing and those who do not make it pleasing like homeless individuals tend to not be allowed in the public spaces. Public spaces create positive and negative aspects in society but despite the negative effects they are needed since they are a big part of society.
... all, people need and should have marginal places, activities, and things in order to
The solution to this was to create green spaces in the city environment so that nature was accessible by all. A couple examples of this would be Central park in New York and Stanley Park itself. Both Central and Stanley Park are large parks that are centered in a large city and are surrounded the concrete jungle of the city. The idea of the urban park was created during the 19th century and was under the premise that the city was a dirty and unhealthy environment to be in. While, the park showed a natural, clean, and healthy environment. The unhealthy environment of the city was due to the industrialization of the major cities, which were full of epidemic and constant violence . This would be much different from the natural feel of parks and “natural” landscape, as these areas would have little development and be “pristine”. Also, they would be more peaceful and lack the human epidemics of the city. Thus, the building of green spaces in the city was meant to calm and relax the citizens and provide a chance of pace to “cleanse” the mind and body of the weary citizens
This paper will be predominantly focusing on public housing within Ontario. Not only will it look at the basics of Ontario but examine more directly on Regent Park within Toronto. It will discuss what public housing is and the explanation for why it exists, the government housing programs that are present with regards to public housing and the results of the government programs. The Purpose of this essay is to argue that the problem of public housing will never
The importance of public space and life is an important aspect of any given society. Without such spaces, society will continue to be dived among class lines. When a certain group of people hold power and it’s all about power and control, there will always be those that are excluded and denied access to the public sphere. As long as imaginary and irrational fears are instilled into the private lives of the public, society will continue to build fortress around its buildings and to use surveillance cameras outside the doors. Public space is a right to all citizens and due to fear of the unknown; it is diminishing right before our eyes. In this day and age, to be an American means to always be under the watchful eye of another.
Public land. "Public," meaning everyone owns it. Every United States citizen has a right to recreate on the lands preserved for us. So, what does that mean? There are a lot of us, and we all have different ideas of what's fun to do outside. How do we decide which activities can be allowed without someone getting their toes stepped on? If the land belongs to all of us, and we have a responsibility to preserve it for generations to come, then how should we manage it?
It has been given due priority in urban design and planning for promoting social cohesion as a constituent concept of the sense of belonging and community values through ethnic mixing to deal with challenges of multiculturalism in the West especially in England and Canada. The limitation of social cohesion to deal with multicultural challenges has led to contemporary planning imaginations that emphasize the meaningful engagements among different cultures. In the multicultural context, although contemporary planning imaginations do not directly refer to the role of public space at the level of local living per se, it nevertheless consider the significance of socio-physical setting public space provides for 'meaningful intercultural interactions' (Sennet, 1994), ‘openness to unassimilated otherness’ (Donald, 1999) and, as settings for ‘active civic engagements with clearly defined goal’ (Sandercock 2003). Trying to deal with the problematic of contested nature of public space in multicultural context, these imaginations in a way argue for the active civil engagements in public space through broad social participation with clearly defined goal for promoting social and civic solidarity by maintaining the meaningful distance or unassimilated otherness to live together
Tony Hiss Author of The Experience of Place brings to our attention that as humans “We react, consciously or unconsciously, to the places where we live and work, in ways we scarcely notice or that are only now becoming known to us…In short, the places where we spend our time affect the people we are and can become.” Place defines characteristics in both human and extended moral communities. Place is not necessarily specific to gender, race, generation or specie. This understanding and recognition of place is fundamental when thinking about institutionalizing ecological and social responsibility.
Sidewalks an overlooked luxury, a path for everyone to take that makes their lives a bit easier. Sometimes I feel like a sidewalk, hilariously enough, but not because I am made of concrete, because it is a hand to hold through life or support through a hard time and that is what I have seen, my path. And now it is what I hope to help others find, I wish to be a path for the weary. We all know a person that is our sidewalk, our support from this jungle of a world. My support has always been my family, they are a very important aspect in my life. My family helped shape me into the “sidewalk” I try to be. That is why I would like to be support for another because I know the lost feeling and how fantastic it feels to take that weight off your shoulders with the help of a friend.
From the quaint café on the corner of First and Main that booms on Sunday mornings, to the community park and pond where families feed the ducks and children play in the midday sun, reminders of an urban area’s identity are scattered within its limits. This identity is composed of a certain level of community shared by the inhabitants of urban areas, and this sense of community develops over generations as people become personally intertwined with other people and structures contained within the fabric of their environment. This sense of community is the heartbeat of thriving urban centers and is what encourages people to take pride in their city — to take pride in their home. It is therefore alarming when one rounds the corner of Main to discover their favorite café has closed up shop, or the duck pond is gated because of contaminated water, or the historical home is deserted and falling apart. As building blocks of community like the café, pond, or the home are eliminated, the identity of urban environments is lost. Cities’ sense of being erodes and the vitality and joy of the area and its inhabitants decays.
Homelessness is associated with a culture unique to individuals who have, unstable housing or no housing who live on the streets, public places, shelters, halfway homes or in their cars. Homelessness is defined statistically as a state of not having a place to stay (Ravenhill, 2016). The statistical definition of homelessness conflicts with the perception of homeless people because for some homeless individuals the concept of home refers to a refuge, safe place, relationship with other homeless individuals, a unique personal space or an emotional and psychological refuge (Ravenhill). Even though homeless individuals do not have a stable place to stay they may have a place they call home.
Public Spaces provide unique experiences and contribute to the identity of a city. Found as places like plazas, parks, marketplaces, within buildings, lobbies and many more. Public spaces are important to our society and therefore face more arguments in design and construction compared to private spaces.
Fundamentally, all human being’s capabilities and performances reflect a complex collaboration of biological and social-environmental factors. In fact, unique environments that are “nurtured” in one’s life can greatly influence the “nature” of basic biological processes. Such is the case with personal space. Even though human beings have a “natural” need to interact through human contact, the social-environmental factors in a human being’s culture dictate how much personal space is acceptable. Thus, it isn’t nature alone that determines what exact distance is comfortable between human beings during conversations. Instead, it is the individual’s cultural environment that determines the appropriate personal space necessary to feel comfortable. Indeed, research on personal space is an excellent example of how a supposed biological factor is influenced by social-environmental factors.
With more needs for nature experience and sustainable development in urban areas, increasing importance has been attached to urban open spaces since they play a crucial role to support the ecology system and form a natural network in the cities (Chiesura, 2004; Tzoulas et al., 2007). Urban open spaces include plazas, parks, campus, greenways and other green spaces. They serve as islands of nature, enriching urban landscapes, adjusting the microclimate, promoting biodiversity and providing habitats for other species (Chiesura, 2004; Do, Kim, Kim, & Joo, 2014; Morimoto, 2011). Apart from these benefits, they also show a great impact on urban dwellers’ health, since open spaces offer places for outdoor activities and opportunities for contact with nature (Chiesura, 2004). Tyrväinen et al. (2014) indicated that even short-term visits to urban green spaces have positive psychological and physiological effects on perceived stress relief. People were attracted to urban open spaces for physical activities, social interactions, and a relief from daily life, which benefit their mental and physical health (Thwaites, Helleur, & Simkins, 2005). A large epidemiological study in Britain looked at mortality and morbidity among three income levels in relation to urban residents’ access to green open space (Mitchell & Popham,
There are various influences on everyone’s lives while growing up. I believe the greatest of these influences is the neighborhood you grew up in. I grew up in a quite large, welcoming neighborhood. While living in this neighborhood, I was outgoing and remarkably talkative. Making friends became second nature to me. Playing outdoors from sunrise to sundown playing sports or exploring the outdoors with my friends became a daily routine for me. I was outgoing, talkative, and active. I believe this is the result of the neighborhood I grew up in.
pedestrian parts of the streets- serve many purposes besides carrying pedestrians” (The uses of sidewalks: Safety, pg 29). The author is trying to say that besides walking and carrying vehicles, the sidewalks play a major role in protecting our lives. Certain factors that contribute to the safety are there should be a line that will be able to separate private and public, people should use it continuously. These people also misuse the sidewalks. For instance, it is always visible people dumping their small trashes on the sidewalk. The people will not understand the value of sidewalk until they lose it. They forget the part that these sidewalks serve as a means of communication. Every day, we see people socializing on sidewalks. Jacobs introduces a neighborhood where the citizens leave their keys with the shopkeepers.