Interventions In Public Space Research Articles

Absence and Presence: Nona Faustine and the Black Body in the National History of the United States

How should the history of Black Americans be included in the physical landscape and memorialised? What new visual vocabularies are needed to expand the idea of the nation? Nona Faustine’s White Shoes series (begun in 2012) provides a compelling counternarrative to stereotypical and racist representations of Black Americans in public spaces. With her body, Faustine explores the links between colonialism, racism, and capitalism that continues to be celebrated in public monuments in the United States. Her works invite viewers to participate in and interact with the built environment in new ways that acknowledge these public spaces as sites of nationalism intimately connected to the history of US racism – slave labour, Jim Crow, and police violence. In White Shoes, Nona Faustine contests dominant and entrenched national myths through the materiality of her body – her Black body. Her interventions in public space re-inscribe a neglected history onto the urban landscapes of New York City. Faustine’s work challenges white patriarchal dominance through mediated images of Black bodies by creating presence where there is absence.

Locative Media Walks

In this paper, I attempt to express the connection between (i) audio walks—that is, movement-based geo-locative or technologically-mediated sound interventions in public spaces— and (ii) the Deleuzian and Guattarian concepts of nomadism and the rhizome. On the one hand, I seek to illustrate how site-specific, interactive artistic works that draw on geo-locative media technology produce an environment of augmented aurality within public space. On the other, I aim to describe how nomad- and Minor-art theories can find expression in artistic practices that focus on walking and listening (in) to the city as a smooth space, including narratives, stories, soundscapes, and minor historiographies, using recent GPS technologies. Finally, I draw on a combination of several theories on art, space, embodiment, walking, and technology to explore new aesthetic directions in public space geo-locative walking art.

Picturing these days of love and rage: Extinction Rebellion’s ‘Impossible Rebellion’

This essay combines text and photographs to animate and engage the 2021 Extinction Rebellion protests in London. The work draws attention to the Rebellion’s creative interventions in public space and identifies and explores five modes of geographical street activism. We offer this encounter and visual report in the hope that it might inspire geographers to imagine and launch their own ‘impossible rebellion’ in the wake of environmental emergency.

“To Work–To Sacrifice–To Die”: The Cult of Military Martyrs and its Manifestation in Slovakia during the years 1938–1945

The Slovak Republic of 1939–1945 was established on the doorstep of the deadliest war in history. It almost immediately became an active participant in the war as an ally of Nazi Germany. Moreover, already in March 1939, Slovakia, just after its foundation, found itself in a military conflict with Hungary. These facts were naturally reflected in all spheres of society, including urban spaces. This study aims to analyze interventions in the public spaces of Slovak towns related to a cult of martyrs. There was strong need to justify the new Slovak Republic’s participation in the war. This need became increasingly pressing, especially after the invasion of the Soviet Union, which met with the disapproval of the majority of the population. I therefore ask how the regime responded to this. I am especially interested in following questions: how were public spaces transformed change in an effort to build a martyr cult before and after the attack on the Soviet Union? Were there significant interventions in connection with this event (the declaration of war against the USSR)? Had the symbol of a martyr or a soldier changed, and if so, how? The study is organized chronologically. I analyze interventions in public spaces during the so-called Little War in March 1939, at the moment of entry into the war against Poland in September 1939, and at the moment of entry into the war against the USSR in June 1941. I examine interventions on architecture-material level which involved the renaming streets and the creation of memorials. I also focus on perceptions of the street as a “stage” for military parades or ceremonies in the course of which soldiers were awarded decorations.

Ventilation and Low-cost Strategies on Mitigating COVID-19 Infection Disease Transmission in Indoor Environment

During the normalization phase of COVID-19 epidemic, it is gradually reverted to use building space, especially for office. Prevention of airborne pollutant has emerged as a major challenge. Ventilation strategies can mitigate the spread of airborne disease in indoor environment, such as increasing ventilation rate, modifying ventilation mode, etc. The larger ventilation rate can lead to higher energy consumption may not effectively reduce infection risk. The potential of ventilation modes for COVID-19 control should be explored. Furthermore, it is necessary to adopt low-cost strategies, such as physical barrier, to increase the prevention efficiency while combining the ventilation system. This study was to investigate the impact of physical barrier on the spread of particles and infection risk in an office with a sufficient ventilation rate, and then compare different ventilation strategies, including mixing ventilation (MV), zone ventilation (ZV), stratum ventilation (SV) and displacement ventilation (DV), for the optimal one. The simulation model was mainly used in this work and validated by the experiment to show a good agreement with the model prediction. The results showed that (1) the SV showed greater performance in mitigating infection disease spread than MV, ZV and DV, with a minimum infection risk of 13%; (2) a barrier height of at least 60 cm above the desk surface is needed to effectively prevent the transmission of viruses with the risk of infection reduced by about 72%. This work can provide a reference for development of ventilation strategies as well as low-cost prevention interventions in public space oriented the prevention of COVID-19.

Form, exform, and information in public space

If the urban tissue can be compared to a verbal text, how appropriate, then, do the linguistic disciplines prove in urban studies? This article briefly shows how morphology (Oliveira, 2016) and semantics (Benveniste, 1971) help us understand the city’s physical structures as well as the meaning these structures embody. Then follows a more substantial discussion of poetics (Ricœur, 1991) and its relevance to research on art in public space. An artistic intervention in public space may in fact appear as a poetic trope within the prosaic context of the city (De Certeau, 1988). Interrupting the smooth run of the urban machinery, it may re-inform what has become redundant. Thus, Marianne Heske’s House of Commons not only questions our definitions of form and exform (Bourriaud, 2016); in-forming an ex-form, it also questions the power of definition and other power structures inherent in the cityscape.

Widening the margins of political participation: The political effect of street art on civil society

ABSTRACT Over the past few decades, society has witnessed the flourishing of artistic practices with socio-political aims, including street art. Street art created without permission has become one of the most persistent ways of protesting the usurpation of rights in the public space. However, current discussions about civil society and political participation tend to underestimate its political role. Street art has grown in popularity to a point where a legal form of the practice has also emerged. Using the Israeli street art scene as a case study, this article examines how street art has turned into an active intervention in public space and has transformed into a form of political participation that has the potential of reinforcing itself. The author contends that the inclusion of street art practices in the theoretical framework of civil society will enhance our understanding of contemporary political participation.

Translating cognitive science in the public square.

Public space interventions offer one example of how to translate cognitive science into the public square. Here, we detail several successful projects and the six principles of learning that underlie them that support caregiver-child engagement, interaction, and the use of content area-specific language. Policy and community implications are also discussed.

E-scooter regulation: The micro-politics of market-making for micro-mobility in Bergen

Micro-mobility market-making represents an under-studied but important aspect of urban transport sustainability transitions. Micro-mobility roll-out combines several critical elements: decarbonisation, digitalisation and public space interventions. We theorise the emergence of a micro-mobility market, drawing on innovation studies, micro-politics scholarship and commoning mobility literature, and critically discuss the relationship between innovation and regulation in this emerging market. We examine e-scooter roll-out in Bergen, Norway, using a structured analysis that interrogates knowledge, authority and power. Our empirical analysis employs expert interviews and focus group discussions with key transport sector stakeholders, including policymakers, practitioners and urban residents. We discuss insights in terms of implications for how micro-mobility markets are made and in turn make urban transport sustainability transitions. We argue that while micro-mobility can enable just low-carbon mobility transitions, market forces drive outcomes that may undermine urban sustainability agendas. We identify scope for dynamic regulation to engender low-carbon mobility in wider public interest.

Scale of community centre: Clarification of the relation between scale and multifunctionality of community buildings

Abstract Community architecture is becoming a contributing tool for community development. In recent years it has gained popularity for its potential to encourage interaction and strengthen community ties. Community architecture represents not only the final product of architectural design but also the design process. It covers many kinds of community interventions and efforts of different extent; from tiny public space interventions to a complex design of community centres or comprehensive urbanistic structures focused on community well-being. Irrespective of the scale, their goal is the same; to provide space for leisure activities, networking, and reinforcing a sense of community. The most apparent design concept representing community architecture is the community centre, which provides space for meetings and interaction, and its program derives from the needs of a specific community. Furthermore, the design considers urbanistic relationships, architectural appearance, materials, spatial and functional requirements, interior design, equipment, and furniture solutions. The community architecture theory is an under-explored phenomenon in Slovakia. Thus, there is a lack of methodical design recommendations or guidelines for designing community centres as individual typological forms. The article focuses on the examination of 100 selected community facilities, identifying their prevalent features and their interrelationships. Presented research aims to examine fundamental characteristics of community centres, particularly their multifunctionality related to the character of the space, and the scale related to size in square meters. In conclusion, research suggests new size categories considering the relationship between the two factors.

Building safer public spaces: Exploring gender difference in the perception of safety in public space through urban design interventions

Concern around personal safety is a significant factor in constraining women’s access to and use of public space. One strategy presented to address this involves altering the design of built environments. However, tension and controversy surround these arguments in the literature on safety perception in public space. This study seeks to explore whether the presence of three design interventions commonly cited in the literature act to enhance or reduce perceptions of safety in public space, focusing on women’s experiences in particular. Three design interventions are examined: public toilets, solid walls, and graffiti removal. To test these interventions, an image-based randomised control trial with 104 participants was conducted in 2018 in London (UK). A series of control and treatment images simulating each design intervention was viewed and ranked by participants according to perceived safety. The findings of this study suggest that: the presence of public toilets does not affect perceived safety; eliminating graffiti has a weak significant impact on perceived safety; and removing solid walls leads to significant improvements of perceptions of safety, with the effect being stronger for women. These results suggest that to maximise investment effectiveness, urban design and planning policies that aim to increase perceptions of safety should be evidence-based, and need to integrate a gendered perspective. The presented technique could support urban design processes by examining the safety-enhancement impact of proposed public space interventions prior to their being rolled out.

A Methodology for Assessing the Impact of Living Labs on Urban Design: The Case of the Furnish Project

This paper presents a framework to support the assessment of urban design projects through Urban Living Labs (ULLs). The framework is based on the Tactical Urbanism (TU) practices and involves the use of Mobile Urban Elements (MUE) in uncertain and potentially confusing conditions (e.g., the COVID-19 context). The methodology includes the application of the Four-Phase Model (problem and ideation; development; implementation, testing and assessment; final proposal) and a quantitative and qualitative assessment. The proposed assessment criteria were developed through an evaluation according to three aspects: (1) feasibility impact; (2) social impact; and (3) spatial impact. The methodology was applied to Furnish, an urban design project based on a ULL and prototyping, which was recently developed in five European cities. The empirical results, obtained using the impact analysis, indicate that the prototypes developed in the project are transferable to other cities and generate social interaction in public spaces. The applied research showed that the Four-Phase Model may be used as a new and improved iterative design process: the LOOP Scheme. The application of this assessment methodology to ULLs may provide valuable information for the future planning of urban interventions in public spaces.

The Future of Post-Industrial Landscapes in East Lisbon: The Braço de Prata Neighbourhood

East Lisbon is being exposed to large-scale urban regeneration processes, where luxury residential projects and mixed-use spatial developments are already underway. Thus, it is a living laboratory for “smart”, “creative” and “green” projects, as well as related urban public space interventions. Braço de Prata is an urban space overlooked by developers, being surrounded by obsolete industrial buildings. Concerning the recent interest in international investments in brownfield regeneration and greenfield developments, it represents an attractive urban terrain as a post-industrial working-class neighbourhood, where “smart” and “green” suggest transforming space so that both new and old residents can live and work together and share public space regardless of analysis on their environmental recognitions. The aim of this paper is to present an empirical evaluation model that examines the possible impacts of environmental negligence through the reorganisation of the physical and social fabric. The analyses focus on dwellers’ moral understanding of their changing environment as site-specific domains to address the unique conditions that affect transiently defined presumptions about the collective needs. Taking an evaluative approach in the Braço de Prata case, this paper demonstrates the specific socio-ecological implications of urban inequality in post-industrial neighbourhoods that could be threatened by new decisions, both through urban planning approaches and instruments.

Discovering the wild side of urban plants through public engagement

Societal Impact StatementThe Anthropocene has seen declining biodiversity inextricably linked to our societies, values, and choices. This requires ecologists to engage with the public in ecosystems such as cities to learn from and help inform their values and experiences regarding their role in urban nature. This article presents a transdisciplinary citizen science project on spontaneous urban vegetation in the context of urban botany, art‐science, and participatory research that engages with the ecology of cities. We address the interdependence of ecological and social networks, suggesting how plant ecology can become more relevant for society in the Anthropocene, while presenting a specific methodology for engaging the public with urban botany.Summary Cities are socio‐ecological systems that require new ways of thinking and engagement to successfully conserve biodiversity. In this article, we present the citizen science project Where Seeds Fall which was undertaken in the city of Zurich, Switzerland. It was developed in an “ecology with” cities approach seeking to conduct research with the humans living in the ecosystem while learning from and helping inform their values. Our project brings together the perspectives of ecologists, artists, and planners on the three themes of urban wastelands, spontaneous vegetation, and ecological connectivity. It is placed in the context of urban botany, environmental arts and participatory research. Volunteers placed trays of bare soil (without seeds) in their gardens and balconies and monitored what plants arrived and germinated. They then were able to share information about their trays (images, species lists) with one another through a spatially explicit web platform. The project was accompanied by public outreach events and artistic interventions in public space. This article presents the methodology of the project so that it can be replicated elsewhere. Based on the experiences with the project we discuss evolving transdisciplinary perspectives on wild plant biodiversity in cities.

Evaluating Cultural Impact in Discursive Space through Digital Footprints

The research presented in this paper describes an evaluation of the impact of spatial interventions in public spaces, measured by social media data. This contribution aims at observing the way a spatial intervention in an urban location can affect what people talk about on social media. The test site for our research is Domplatz in the center of Hamburg, Germany. In recent years, several actions have taken place there, intending to attract social activity and spotlight the square as a landmark of cultural discourse in the city of Hamburg. To evaluate the impact of this strategy, textual data from the social networks Twitter and Instagram (i.e., tweets and image captions) are collected and analyzed using Natural Language Processing intelligence. These analyses identify and track the cultural topic or “people talking about culture” in the city of Hamburg. We observe the evolution of the cultural topic, and its potential correspondence in levels of activity, with certain intervention actions carried out in Domplatz. Two analytic methods of topic clustering and tracking are tested. The results show a successful topic identification and tracking with both methods, the second one being more accurate. This means that it is possible to isolate and observe the evolution of the city’s cultural discourse using NLP. However, it is shown that the effects of spatial interventions in our small test square have a limited local scale, rather than a city-wide relevance.

Contributors

Contributors

Pioneering Sand Motor

Now that people all around the world are slowly starting to rethink how humanity and the planet are interrelated, new questions have arisen around the understanding of time and the perception of place. It’s not merely a technical or a political challenge that we are facing, it is also a cultural one. The Sand Motor - as the first of its kind - uses the forces of the wind and waves as active agengies of change, but can it be valued as a driving force for humanity to change as well? Drawing from primary artistic research of the sea, coastal transitions, climate change and human appropriations in The Netherlands and abroad, we can state that the ephemeral nature of the Sand Motor itself challenges a polyphonic discourse for co-creation of experiential knowledge. The Sand Motor can be perceived as a man-made intervention in public space, an open-air, publicly accessible research site. Over the past 10 years, Satellietgroep redefined the Sand Motor as a cultural phenomenon, connecting the Sand Motor to the realms of art, culture, and heritage. This essay discusses a series of human-inclusive art projects, in which the Sand Motor evolves from a non-place into a vital learning environment for the cross-pollination of ideas and experimentations to rethink culture and nature. They demonstrate that pioneering with the Sand Motor should include pioneering with the social and cultural values of this artifact, not only to raise public and professional climate-consciousness, but also to adopt it as a human-inclusive landscape. This may well be the most underestimated value of the Sand Motor itself, and of the concept of Building with Nature in general.

Decolonizing Public Space in South Africa: from conceptualization to actualization

ABSTRACT Cities and public spaces are changing. Many movements such as ‘Black Lives Matter’ are questioning the meaning of public space in post-colonial contexts. This paper focusses on the decolonization of public space in South Africa as a strategy to achieve spatial transformation. Drawing from seven years of in-depth research, the discussion explores the concept of decolonization and proposes a 3-stage process for decolonizing public space, supported by examples and implications for spatial practice. The paper shows that although fundamental spatial transformation necessitates radical mental transition, decolonization should move beyond the decoloniality of the mind towards physical intervention in public space.

Male intervencije - metod istraživanja za redizajn [malih] javnih prostora

Urban life has to be deprived of unnecessary physical regulations, restrictions and environmental threats in order to enable freedom of social engagement and action in public space. Evidently, present excessive control and fear in public spaces diminish the quality of social relationships. COVID-19 has intensified this phenomenon, calling it the New Normal. This calls for a discussion on new mechanisms through which a city can overcome socio-spatial discrimination in the following ways: creating a platform to advance present understanding of the evolving dynamics between the pandemic and architecture, synthesising the existing knowledge, discussing lessons to be learned, and exploring transformative solutions towards more sustainable and resilient design strategies in the post-COVID era. As a response to the New Normal, Small Interventions is a model which enables public spaces to gradually improve through a series of small, carefully designed and strategically selected interventions in public spaces with mutual cooperation of the city administration, experts and citizens. The subject of Small Interventions are small spaces realised with a modest budget, short deadlines and accelerated procedures. From a planning perspective, Small Interventions are part of the dynamic, flexible and adaptable urbanism that keeps up

The Use of Visual Priming and Saliency To Promote Handwashing Behaviour

The Covid-19 outbreak has caused a global pandemic, impacting the government's attempt to control the infection rate by making people comply with the health protocol. People compliance, on the other hand, is another problem the government needs to deal with because the benefit of complying with health protocol is not immediately visible. While persuading is challenging, nudge can be promising for its affordance and cost efficiency. We conducted two field experiments, both online and offline, to test nudge interventions to increase people's handwashing and handwashing with soap behaviour in one of the government offices. In Study 1, we found that visual priming of handwashing with foam and rhyming messages can lead to higher handwashing intention. In Study 2, we put this poster in one a handwashing facility, along with salient footprints pasted toward the sink. While only procuring handwashing facilities did not yield significant change in handwashing rate, our nudges did. Implication intervention in public space is explained.