scholarly journals A Shared Everyday Ethic of Public Sociability: Outdoor Public Ice Rinks as Spaces for Encounter

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 143-154
Author(s):  
Mervyn Horgan ◽  
Saara Liinamaa ◽  
Amanda Dakin ◽  
Sofia Meligrana ◽  
Meng Xu

Everyday life in urban public space means living amongst people unknown to one another. As part of the broader convivial turn within the study of everyday urban life (Wise & Noble, 2016), this article examines outdoor public ice rinks as spaces for encounter between strangers. With data drawn from 100 hours of naturalistic and participant observation at free and accessible outdoor public non-hockey ice rinks in two Canadian cities, we show how ‘rink life’ is animated by a shared everyday ethic of public sociability, with strangers regularly engaging in fleeting moments of sociable interaction. At first glance, researching the outdoor public ice rink may seem frivolous, but in treating it seriously as a public space we find it to be threaded through with an ethos of interactional equality, reciprocal respect, and mutual support. We argue that the shared everyday ethic of public sociability that characterizes the rinks that we observed is a function of the (1) public and (2) personal materiality required for skating; (3) the emergence of on ice norms; (4) generalized trust amongst users; (5) ambiguities of socio-spatial differentiation by skill; and (6) flattened social hierarchies, or what we call the quotidian carnivalesque. Our data and analysis suggest that by drawing together different generations and levels of ability, this distinct public space facilitates social interactions between strangers, and so provides insights relevant to planners, policy makers and practitioners.

2013 ◽  
Vol 409-410 ◽  
pp. 883-886
Author(s):  
Bo Xuan Zhao ◽  
Cong Ling Meng

City, is consisting of a series continuous or intermittent public space images, and every image for each of our people living in the city is varied: may be as awesome as forbidden city Meridian Gate, like Piazza San Marco as a cordial and pleasant space and might also be like Manhattan district of New York, which makes people excited and enthusiastic. To see why, people have different feelings because the public urban space ultimately belongs to democratic public space, people live and have emotions in it. In such domain, people can not only be liberated, free to enjoy the pleasures of urban public space, but also enjoy urban life which is brought by the city's charm through highlighting the vitality of the city with humanism atmosphere. To a conclusion, no matter how ordinary the city is, a good image of urban space can also bring people pleasure.


Author(s):  
Christabella Nadia Angela ◽  
Franky Liauw

Rawa Belong is one of the village in Jakarta’s density. Then this village was filled by social interactions that give a life to the city. A public space that everyone can relax and leisure also express themselves freely. With a cultural background and plants, Rawa Belong began to be seen as something special. Various communities and people with a different background are in it. Freedom that should be in a public space is not happen here, because of the density both in the interaction between people and their environment. This project is based on “Everyday Urbanism” method to observe and analysis the urban life in Rawa Belong. Then this project was created to resolve what people in Rawa Belong needs such as a place to recreation and leisure where will be seen as a connection between lost spaces also to create a space that combine all the people and community that should be in a public space.   Keywords:  community; cultural; plants; public space; social interactioAbstrakRawa Belong merupakan salah satu kelurahan ditengah kepadatan kota Jakarta. Suatu kelurahan yang diisi oleh interaksi social yang memberi kehidupan bagi kota. Sebuah wadah dan ruang public dimana setiap orang dapat melakukan aktivitas rekreasi dan mengekspresikan dirinya secara bebas. Dengan latar belakang sejarah budaya betawi dan juga tanaman hias, daerah Rawa Belong dipandang sebagai sesuatu yang khas dan istimewa. Berbagai macam komunitas dengan berbagai latar belakang ada di dalamnya, kebebasan yang seharusnya ada dalam sebuah ruang public tidak terlihat di daerah ini karena begitu padatnya satu dengan yang lainnya baik dalam interaksi antar manusia maupun interaksi dengan lingkungannya. Proyek ini didasari  menggunakan metode “Everyday Urbanism” untuk melakukan pengamatan dan analisa terhadap kehidupan di Rawa Belong. Kemudian proyek ini diciptakan untuk menjawab kebutuhan wadah rekreasi yang ada, dimana wadah ini akan dilihat sebagai sebuah koneksi antar ruang-ruang yang hilang dan menggabungkan semua komunitas dan masyarakat yang seharusnya ada dalam sebuah ruang terbuka.


2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (7) ◽  
pp. 285
Author(s):  
Dasimah Omar ◽  
Maimunah Ramlee ◽  
Rozyah Mohd Yunus ◽  
Zalina Samadi

Revitalization of urban public space is a mechanism to redevelop the public space area in Core Zone, George Town World Heritage Site (GTWHS) in accordance with the development growth and population. This paper discussed the factors of revitalization which are related to urban public space. The objectives of this paper are to analyze the characteristics of urban public space which could effectively be adopted for revitalisation purposes; and how to generate the public space more functional with positive influence on modern urban life. A combination of qualitative and quantitative research method was applied. The recommendations can contribute to improve the planning and management of urban public space in GTWHS, Pulau Pinang.


Slavic Review ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 78 (2) ◽  
pp. 328-335
Author(s):  
Catherine Wanner

The war in eastern Ukraine continues to produce casualties and an ever growing number of refugees and displaced persons every day. When urban public space is dedicated to commemorating the dead who have died since the Maidan protests, the frontiers of war become inscribed in the urban landscape and in the everyday life of many Ukrainians. These commemorative spaces are an unrelenting reminder of the armed conflict in eastern Ukraine that threatens to remake political borders once again. Commemorative practices articulate new understandings of relatedness as symbolic statements that, once inscribed in public space, have the potential to affect the thinking of locals and far outlive the actual armed conflict that produced them.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (22) ◽  
pp. 9410
Author(s):  
Fereniki Vatavali ◽  
Zoi Gareiou ◽  
Fotini Kehagia ◽  
Efthimios Zervas

The COVID-19 pandemic that erupted in early 2020 has affected the everyday life, the practices, and the perceptions of the global population significantly. The aim of this paper is to investigate the perceptions, experiences, and practices of the active population regarding everyday urban life (working conditions, mobility, urban space, etc.) in the context of the first wave of the pandemic, by focusing on people who live and work in Greek cities. The data were collected using a structured questionnaire addressed to an active population. The majority of respondents declared that their personal and family lives were affected by the lockdown, with significant effects on their professional life and economic activities. Stress and fear were two feelings that increased. As far as mobility was concerned, the majority of respondents were unwilling to change their commuting practices. Although most of our findings presented a homogenous distribution in our sample, some changes in perceptions, experiences, and practices were correlated with the gender, age, and family status of the respondents. The results of the analysis provide useful information to policy makers and show that it is necessary to radically rethink aspects of urban space and urban mobility, in relation to the multiple problems and dynamics of the active population.


2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 325-335
Author(s):  
V. Petrova ◽  
V. Dvoinev

To date, the urban environment is considered as an interesting area of sociological research. Urban space represents a built environment, which includes buildings, streets, squares, parks, embankments, etc. Every day, citizens interact with this public space, build their routes, form impressions and the image of the city, they also evaluate its effectiveness in connection with opportunities for the realization of their needs of socio–cultural interaction. Public spaces are those places where holidays are held, social and economic relations are formed, verbal and non-verbal communications are created. In urban public space take place meetings of friends and acquaintances, the integration of various cultures, social groups with diverse goals, norms and attitudes. Public spaces act as a stage for the social life of individuals when they are a comfortable, accessible and safe environment. The article presents the results of a sociological study of the conformity of public spaces of the city of Vyazma in the Smolensk region with the needs of its population. The study was conducted using observation and interview methods. An analysis of the collected data helped to identify the main purpose of the urban public space as it is seen by the residents, the types of their interactions, to determine the structure, functions and effectiveness, as well as to assess the quality of the content and equipment of the urban public spaces, as well as to identify the most active groups of population and how their activities change in the daily and seasonal cycles. Based on the results obtained, recommendations were developed for improving and developing public space and urban life in general. Recommendations can become the basis for creating design solutions for a comfortable, safe and innovative environment for both small and large cities.


2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (12) ◽  
pp. 61-72
Author(s):  
Maimunah Ramlee ◽  
Dasimah Omar ◽  
Rozyah Mohd Yunus ◽  
Zalina Samadi

Revitalisation of urban public space in Core Zone, George Town World Heritage Site (GTWHS) is a mechanism to redevelop the public space area in accordance with the development growth and population. This paper has discussed the revitalisation factors in creating a great urban public space. The main objectives of this study are : 1) to identify urban public space characteristics which is significantly for revitalisation purposes, and 2) to derive the more functionally public space that fit the modern urban life. A combination of method was applied, including quantitative and qualitative method. It has been concluded that it is important to revitalise urban public space through planning and urban management. Keywords: public space; urban revitalisation; revitalisation strategies eISSN 2514-751X © 2019. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRAcE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open-access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians) andcE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia. https://doi.org/10.21834/aje-bs.v4i12.339


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 81-95
Author(s):  
Jonathan Fuller

This article explores how models of architecture, surveillance, and ownership define commercialised spaces, and in turn dictate how these spaces are experienced – not only by their users but also by the ethnographer. I argue that the supposedly inclusive and open design of Cabot Circus in the city centre of Bristol, UK, has resulted in a privatised, impersonal and exclusionary shopping centre. Its mode of operation and regulation threatens to encroach on the adjacent publicly accessible commercial area of Broadmead, through events like the Christmas market, which blurs the boundaries between the two environments. By reflecting on the difficulties I faced as an ethnographer when attempting to conform to my expected role in the space as an active and visible participant, I suggest that power has become so deeply embedded in the contemporary shopping centre that an innovative and reflexive methodological approach is necessary to capture the true machinations of the privatisation of urban public space. By directing attention towards recent efforts to privatise law enforcement and regulate visitor behaviour in these reconfigured commercialised spaces, this research also raises more ‘fundamental questions about how urban citizenship and social exclusion are defined’, simultaneously exposing the ‘importance of consumption… to daily urban life’ (Flint, 2002: 66).


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