Exclusion and Belonging in Urban Public and Quasi-Public Space

Public space – which comprises streets and sidewalks, parks and plazas – is one of the justly celebrated aspects of cities. If cities are rich arenas of social diversity and crucibles of civic participation, it is their public spaces which facilitate the coming together of diverse populations since there is ‘a presumption that within these spaces we will, necessarily, encounter “others” in all their many differences’ [1]. The meanings and functions of public space have increasingly become a matter of debate for urbanists, not least in relation to what, if anything, public space might mean under conditions of 21 st century ‘splintering urbanism’ [2]. While urbanists such as Amin and Thrift [3] are sceptical regarding the democratic potential of public space seeing it merely as offering places of sociability and tolerance, Staeheli and Mitchell [4] put forward the view that ‘being present in public space – making claims to and becoming visible in the streets, sidewalks, squares and parks of the city – is a vital, necessary step in making claims on the public and as part of the public’ (p. xiv).