The Journal of Public Space

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The Journal of Public Space The Journal of Public Space is promoted by City Space Architecture in partnership with UN-Habitat.

The Journal of Public Space is the first, international, interdisciplinary, academic, open access journal entirely dedicated to public space. It speaks different languages and is open to embrace diversity, inconvenient dialogues and untold stories, from multidisciplinary fields and all countries, especially from those that usually do not have voice, overcoming the Western-oriented approach that is

leading the current discourse. As a proper public space, The Journal of Public Space is free, accessible and inclusive, providing a platform for emerging and consolidated researchers; it is intended to foster research, showcase best practices and inform discussion about the more and more important issues related to public spaces in our changing and evolving societies.

A new issue of 'The Journal of Public Space', Vol. 9 n. 1 (2024), is on line!This thematic issue "Let Her Guide You" was...
01/11/2024

A new issue of 'The Journal of Public Space', Vol. 9 n. 1 (2024), is on line!
This thematic issue "Let Her Guide You" was developed in collaboration with the UN-HABITAT (United Nations Human Settlements Programme) Her City initiative and underscores the imperative of incorporating gender and youth perspectives into urban planning and design.

This special issue features papers by young academic scholars selected from the Her City Master students’ alumni network, including case studies of feminist planning from Heerlen (The Netherlands), Nairobi (Kenya), Stockholm (Sweden), and Weimar (Germany). It also includes a diverse range of invited viewpoints advocating for collaborative approaches to urban development together with girls and young women, complemented by illustrative case studies from around the globe, including Belgium, Iran, Italy, Jamaica, Mozambique, Palestine, Peru, South Africa, Sweden, Thailand, Uganda, and the United Kingdom.

By centring gender and youth perspectives in the urban planning process, this thematic issue highlights the potential to transform public spaces into more equitable, engaging, and sustainable environments. It calls on city makers, researchers, and community leaders to ensure that contemporary cities are designed with and for everyone.

You can read the full issue here: https://www.journalpublicspace.org/index.php/jps/issue/view/87
Editors: Anna Barker, Luisa Bravo

The Journal of Public Space is a diamond open access journal, contents are freely accessible under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY NC). It is promoted by City Space Architecture in partnership with the UN-Habitat (United Nations Human Settlements Programme)

Cover image: Her City mural in Kampala, Uganda.

UN-HABITAT's flagship programme “Inclusive Communities, Thriving Cities” Programme invites professional and emerging art...
27/07/2024

UN-HABITAT's flagship programme “Inclusive Communities, Thriving Cities” Programme invites professional and emerging artists worldwide to participate in a digital art competition on the theme “My Urban Vision”. Participants are invited to use their creativity to inspire change, leveraging their voices and vision for an inclusive and sustainable urban future.

The competition invites artists to submit digitally created artwork that reflect their vision for an inclusive and sustainable urban future.
Participants must choose one or more of the categories for the competition:
1. Inclusive and sustainable communities
2. Climate resilience in urban areas
3. Adequate housing and services for all
Participants are allowed to submit only one artwork per category.
Participants must be the authors of the artwork.

Submission deadline is 31 July 2024 and it is free of charge.
Read participation guide and key considerations: https://tinyurl.com/bdkeeke9
Submit online: https://tinyurl.com/26u8se8u

Parklets, Temporary Uses and Co-creation of Public SpaceSpecial issue to be published in 2025CALL FOR ABSTRACTS / deadli...
15/06/2024

Parklets, Temporary Uses and Co-creation of Public Space
Special issue to be published in 2025

CALL FOR ABSTRACTS / deadline 25 July 2024

The modern parklet was created in San Francisco in 2009, building upon a long legacy of temporary occupation of roadway space to create tiny public spaces. Initially conceived of as a temporary expansion of the sidewalk into the vehicular right of way, parklets have evolved into their own unique space typology. The City of San Francisco Parklet Program has been imitated and adopted globally and parklet-like spaces grew steadily in cities around the world from 2009 to 2019. 2020 witnessed a radical expansion of non-conventional use of the roadway as many communities sought to use outdoor public space in the streets as gathering places and for commercial outdoor dining and retail. While recent years have witnessed a contraction of these pandemic-era uses of streets, many communities are continuing to grapple with some fundamental questions about these spaces; such as: Are they public or private? How to balance commercial and community uses of the curb lane? Who administers these programs and how do municipalities manage a fee structure for public and commercial uses of the public right of way? How do cities balance this explosion of user generated uses of the public right of way while maintaining standards of accessibility, public safety, and design quality in the public realm?

We invite writings, reflections, research, case studies and photo essays related to parklets, temporary uses and co-creation of public space on a global scale. We invite scholars, designers, planners, urban practitioners, artists and community organisations to make critical and innovative contributions to the understanding of meanings and practices in plural and diverse contexts and climates. We welcome critical perspectives on challenges in policy-making, overbearing bureaucracies, reduced resources for implementation and lack of institutional support in improving conditions of everyday public space.

This issue will collect both full research articles (max 8.000 words), and shorter essays, case studies and photo essays (max 3.000 words).

The best abstract proposals will be selected to be presented at the International Parklet Symposium that will take place in Bologna on 19-20 September 2024, promoted by Museo Spazio Pubblico / Public Space Museum and co-organized by John Bela (Bela Urbanism), Luisa Bravo (City Space Architecture) and Ryan Smolar (Placemakingus), during the European Mobility Week and on the occasion of Park(ing) Day.

Submissions of abstracts are accepted ONLY through Oxford Abstracts.

Read the full announcement on our newsletter https://mailchi.mp/journalpublicspace.org/parklets-temporary-uses-and-co-creation-of-public-space or on our website: https://www.journalpublicspace.org/index.php/jps/announcement/view/37

Picture: San Francisco (2005) the first-ever Park(ing) Day installation designed and implemented by Rebar.

A new issue of 'The Journal of Public Space', Vol. 7 n. 1 (2022), is finally on line! This special issue on "Public Spac...
08/05/2024

A new issue of 'The Journal of Public Space', Vol. 7 n. 1 (2022), is finally on line!
This special issue on "Public Space and Placemaking in African Cities", developed in collaboration with CAPS - Centre on African Public Spaces, includes 15 academic articles and 9 case studies, from South Africa, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Angola, Mozambique, Zambia, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Northern Rhodesia, Namibia, Sao Tomé and Principe, Sierra Leone, Sudan and Morocco, presented in over 400 pages after a double-blind peer review process that engaged more than 60 African scholars and public space experts from UN-Habitat for more than one year.

You can read the full issue here:
https://www.journalpublicspace.org/index.php/jps/issue/view/83
Managing Editor: Luisa Bravo
Convenor: Ayanda Roji-Adalima
Guest Editors: Tariq Toffa, Josephine M. Malonza

The Journal of Public Space is a diamond open access journal, contents are freely accessible under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY NC).
City Space Architecture UN-HABITAT

Cover image: A public space in Johannesburg. Credit: GIZ VCP, Inclusive violence and crime prevention programme.

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The Journal of Public Space

The Journal of Public Space is a research project promoted by City Space Architecture, a non-profit organization based in Italy, in partnership with UN-Habitat, the United Nations Human Settlements Programme, based in Kenya.

“Public space in cities is a common good, meant to be open, inclusive and democratic, a fundamental human right for everybody.” Dr Luisa Bravo The Journal of Public Space, Founder and Editor in Chief City Space Architecture, Founding Member and President (from the statement submitted at the 26th UN-Habitat Governing Council held in Nairobi, Kenya, 8-12 May 2017) Stand up for Public Space! | UN-Habitat Global Urban Lecture by Dr Luisa Bravo (click here) | A global campaign launched at the Habitat III conference in Quito, Ecuador, 2016 (click here).

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