The Journal of Public Space 2016 | Vol. 1, n. 1 https://www.journalpublicspace.org Founding Editors Luisa Bravo, City Space Architecture, Italy Mirko Guaralda, Queensland University of Technology, Australia Scientific Board Davisi Boontharm, Sophia University, Japan Simone Brott, Queensland University of Technology, Australia Julie-Anne Carroll, Queensland University of Technology, Australia Margaret Crawford, University of California Berkeley, United States Philip Crowther, Queensland University of Technology, Australia Simone Garagnani, University of Bologna, Italy Pietro Garau, University of Rome “La Sapienza”, Italy Carl Grodach, Queensland University of Technology, Australia Miquel Marti, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Spain Darko Radovic, Keio University, Japan Estanislau Roca, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Spain Joaquin Sabate, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Spain Robert Saliba, American University of Beirut, Lebanon Claudio Sgarbi, Carleton University, Canada Hendrik Tieben, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Editorial Board Glenda Caldwell, Queensland University of Technology, Australia Linda Carroli, Queensland University of Technology, Australia Debra Cushing, Queensland University of Technology, Australia Severine Mayere, Queensland University of Technology, Australia THE JOURNAL OF PUBLIC SPACE THE JOURNAL Editorial Support Paul Donehue, Queensland University of Technology, Australia Michael Marriott, Queensland University of Technology, Australia Marisha McAuliffe, Queensland University of Technology, Australia Journal Manager Luisa Bravo, City Space Architecture, Italy Correspondents Konstantinos Ioannidis, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece Massimo Santanicchia, Iceland Academy of the Arts, Iceland Lakshmi Priya Rajendran, Lancaster University, United Kingdom Matthew D. Lamb, The Pennsylvania State University, USA Editorial offices Queensland University of Technology City Space Architecture 2 George Street, Brisbane Via Paolo Giovanni Martini 26/d QLD 4000, AUSTRALIA 40134 Bologna, ITALY [email protected] [email protected] Publication Ethics Statement The Journal of Public Space aligns itself with the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) best practice guidelines for dealing with ethical issues in journal publishing. http://publicationethics.org/ Cover image by Leonardo Parra-Agudelo. ISSN 2206-9658 | © Queensland University of Technology The Journal of Public Space 2016 | Vol. 1, n. 1 https://www.journalpublicspace.org TABLE OF CONTENTS EDITORIAL An open access forum for the discussion and advancement of research about public space 1-4 Luisa Bravo & Mirko Guaralda, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia Public Space and the New Urban Agenda 5-10 Cecilia Andersson, UN Habitat OVERVIEW Public Space Update. Report from the United States 11-16 Margaret Crawford, University of California Berkeley, USA Measuring the Magic of Public Space 17-24 Pietro Garau, “La Sapienza” University in Rome, Italy Public Space Trends in Hong Kong. A view from the New Territories 25-34 Hendrik Tieben, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Learning, Thinking and Living Tokyo. 35-42 About doing urban research in cultures radically different to that of our own Darko Radovic, Keio University, Tokyo, Japan Mapping the lived experiences of Bangkok’s soi 43-52 Davisi Boontharm, Sophia University, Tokyo, Japan SPACE Urban morphology and the post-industrial city: commercial space in Manchester 53-62 Eamonn Canniffe, Manchester School of Architecture, UK THE JOURNAL OF PUBLIC SPACE THE JOURNAL Temporary Public Spaces: A Technological Paradigm 63-74 Philip Crowther, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia SOCIETY The Social Life of Gas Stations 75-94 Giulio Giovannoni, University of Florence, Italy Guerilla East and Bicycle Espresso. 95-112 The Changing Contemporary Food Culture of Urban Helsinki Mika Savela, Canadian Centre for Architecture, Canada Public Space for Street-Scape Theatrics. Guerrilla Spatial Tactics 113-128 and Methods of Urban Hacking in Brisbane, Australia Christopher Cox, Mirko Guaralda, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia SYSTEMS Private control and public openness. 129-146 The development of London’s public spaces since the Mayor’s 2009 manifesto Camilo Vladimir de Lima Amaral, University of East London, UK VIEWPOINT This is My City 147-150 Leonardo Parra-Agudelo, Queensland University of Technology, Australia Magic Carpet. Re-envisioning Community Space in Hong Kong 151-154 Hendrik Tieben, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Pop-up City. Searching for instant urbanity 155-158 Luisa Bravo, City Space Architecture, Bologna, Italy ISSN 2206-9658 | © Queensland University of Technology The Journal of Public Space 2016 | Vol. 1, n. 1 https://www.journalpublicspace.org EDITORIAL An open access forum for the discussion and advancement of research about public space Luisa Bravo & Mirko Guaralda Queensland University of Technology Creative Industries Faculty, School of Design [email protected] | [email protected] Human beings are social beings and public spaces have always been the stage of interaction, socialization and representation of a society as well as of a culture (Carmona, Heath, Oc, & Tiesdell, 2010). The role of public space has changed throughout history; the profound changes our cities have undergone during the industrial and technological revolution have modified the way people access and engage in the public domains (Gehl, 2010). The introduction of motorized vehicles and mass consumption commercial centres challenged the traditional view of publics and new types of public spaces in time have emerged. More recently, at the outset of the digital revolution, some analysts predicted THE JOURNAL OF PUBLIC SPACE THE JOURNAL that information technology would have sanctioned the death of public place, but the introduction of mobile technologies is instead fostering a renaissance of social public spaces (Foth, 2011). The way citizens relate to the public dominion has also deeply changed in recent decades with more and more bottom-up, pop-up and temporary interventions taking place in the public realms (Caldwell & Guaralda, 2016). Public space is still the centre of the contemporary social life; its forms and types have evolved in time and today we are facing with a variety, complexity and richness in public spaces rarely experienced in the past. The traditional role of the square as gathering and social place has evolved in a multitude of location, uses and interactions. Streets, parks, commercial centres, cultural precincts, techno-parks, libraries, but also infrastructures, stations or parking lot today accommodate publics in different ways. What in the 1990s was labelled as a ‘non-place’ (Auge, 1995) today has resulted in a ‘new-place’. The discourse about public spaces is generally dominated by exempla coming mainly from Europe and North America, where in the 1960s and 1970s main theories about use and navigation of the built environment have been developed (Arefi, 2004). If on one side cases from these cultural areas are more accessible, on the other side interesting and relevant experiences are today developed all over the world, starting with the innovative and highly socially relevant intervention in South American cities. New types of public spaces are also emerging in the Asia-Pacific region, due to the digital revolution, or in Africa, in consideration of the massive urbanisation this continent is undergoing. ISSN 2206-9658 | 1 © Queensland University of Technology Editorial Whilst there are several dedicated publications to cities, urban morphologies, urban dynamics and urban design, a forum where to discuss and share research, experiences and projects about public space so far was not provided in a structured and clear way. The Journal of Public Space aims to be the first international, open access journal, integrally dedicated to the discussion of public space in all its different forms and incantations. The objective is to provide a platform where academics and practitioners can share ideas and debate publics breaking traditional disciplinary boundaries. We are willing to engage also artists, to provide a different point of view. The Journal of Public Space, as a true public space, is meant to be an inclusive forum where people from different backgrounds can present their work and access other people’s experiences. This is possible through the use of an open access platform (Open Journal System), where authors publish their work and readers can download articles without the payment of any fees. The open access platform could be also used to comment articles and to send requests to authors and editors. Nowadays academic knowledge is often not easily accessible; most of the leading journals require a subscription fee to access contents. Universities, institutions or individual researchers have often to deal with the substantial cost of knowledge in the form of fees to publishers, not only to be able to read contents, but in some cases even to have one’s research reviewed and published. Publish or perish, they say, but how? A recent on line petition “The Cost of Knowledge”, signed by more than 15.000 researchers, is discussing the way knowledge is produced and disseminate in academia. Some illegal actions - like Sci-Hub, the first pirate website in the world to provide mass and public access to tens of millions of research papers - are standing against commercial enterprises.