Private sector involvement in public space management and its varying degree of publicness

Abstract

This paper aims to get a better understanding on the subject of private sector involvement in the management of public space and the degree of publicness of the space. While public space is one of urban’s essential infrastructure, private sector involvement in public spaces is said to have an effect to the lowering of the spaces’ degree of publicness. With private sectors being involved, certain groups of the public lost their rights to access these public spaces as private sectors often take advantages of the public’s rights for their own financial benefits. This study discusses the importance of a public space in a democratic society and the creation of new types of public spaces with varying degrees of publicness along with the emergence of private sector involvement. This paper will also discuss the dimensions of a space’s degree of publicness and previously made indices to evaluate public spaces in terms of their publicness.