Public Space
Discovering The Land Under The Plinth
How artist Mercedes Dorame challenges traditional monuments in Los Angeles and demands the return of indigenous land
LOS ANGELES, CA, USA
Europe
Public Space
The ‘Olympic Legacy’ In Cities And The Right Of Parisians To Irreverence
Residents in Northern Paris are fighting to prevent an ‘Olympic Legacy’ that has repeatedly failed people in cities. Will the city's 2024 Games be any different?
PARIS, FRANCE
Public Space
Museum Folkwang Curates The City To Find Common Ground For Its Future
Could a museum change a city? This museum of contemporary art invites urban dwellers to rediscover their city together, break barriers and reconnect outside the institution.
ESSEN, GERMANY
Public Space
Swimming In A UNESCO World Heritage Area? Well, It’s Berlin!
The revitalization of the river in Berlin challenges the top-down creation and interpretation of urban heritage in the city's historical centre.
BERLIN, GERMANY
Public Space
A Democratic View Of The Acropolis Hinders High Buildings In Athens
Zoning laws in cities that prevent high-density buildings are controversial. In Athens, the battle of its residents and the Acropolis set the tone.
ATHENS, GREECE
Public Space
Two Ex-lovers Curate A Museum To Mend Urban Dwellers’ Broken Hearts
“Let us share a secret: even if you feel like grabbing an axe and breaking stuff - you will eventually get over it.” It’s time to walk through the Museum of Broken Relationships, to overcome emotional collapse.
ZAGREB, CROATIA
Public Space
The Sidewalk Evolves Into A Living Room In Amsterdam
The initiative 'De BuurtBankjes' is shaping the sidewalk experience. Chatty couples to street kids, refugees to yuppies and expats to bubbly grannys. These connections happen on couches outside homes in Amsterdam. In New York in stoops.
AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS
Public Space
Urbanists Or Environmental Activists. The Odyssey Of The Superblocks
Increasingly, more activist voices are advocating to reconsider the superblocks in Barcelona. Initially planned as a project of great urban transformation, it threatens to result in a giant greenwashing operation.
BARCELONA, SPAIN
Public Space
Pioneering A Circular City. At Haus Der Statistik Nothing Is Wasted
In Berlin grassroots initiatives and municipality are masterminding a town hall of the future in a pioneer quarter to decouple the city's economic growth from environmental impacts, in addition to an avant-garde cultural approach.
BERLIN, GERMANY
Public Space
An Urban Garden Brings New Life To Berlin Cemeteries
In Berlin urban garden pioneers have spotted the potential of increasing idle space at cemeteries to foster sustainability and fulfill the purpose of remembrance.
BERLIN, GERMANY
Public Space
A Green Strip Full Of Potential. Creatives In Turin Reclaim Their City
Luca Ballarini, and the collective Torino Stratosferica, turned an abandoned tramway into a park to demonstrate the potential of Turin and project the city into a sustainable future.
TURIN, ITALY
Public Space
Night Mayor On A Mission. Because The Night Belongs To All
The Night Mayor in Amsterdam is leading nightclubs through change against homophobic, sexist and racist overtones to advance diversity and inclusivity in the city.
AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS
Public Space
A City Comes To Terms With Death. Long Live The City!
A small city in Northern Spain has helped citizens to overcome their reluctance to talk about dying and heal a disconnected society from the end of life. Can death revitalize the city?
LOGROñO, SPAIN
Public Space
How A Vintage Bench In Munich Revives The Power Of Listening
‘Bankerl’ is a film project for the public, which praises conversations between strangers. Interviews with passers-by provide insights into individual life situations and reveal the overall mood across the city.
MUNICH, GERMANY
Public Space
Urban Poetics – Consider This A Love Letter To Public Space
A poetic and provocative campaign by Gretta Louw challenges urban dwellers to reflect on the nature of the public sphere. A reflection of how the health of our democracies is linked to the health of our public spaces.
MUNICH, GERMANY
Public Space
Daring To Breakdance: Youngsters Belong To The Streets
Breakdance kept Aloun Phetnoi Ferzandis out of trouble. But not off the streets, rather breakdance granted him an identity and sense of belonging to the city.
MUNICH, GERMANY
Public Space
Scavenger Hunt In Munich: Kids Active Play Is Back On The Streets
The city of Munich is challenging the ways in which children could connect with the streets independently. The interactive game kreuz & quer is reclaiming the lost art of playing outside.
MUNICH, GERMANY
Public Space
Sacred Activism In Munich: Reinventing Churches In Cities
The role of religious buildings can’t be underestimated in our urban landscape. The connections between them and the city are undeniable.
MUNICH, GERMANY
Public Space
Students In Munich Reveal The Importance Of Sunlight In Cities
Urban planning often underestimates sunlight in cities. Two students in Munich fought for their right to light.
MUNICH, GERMANY
Public Space
Citizen Collaboration In Barcelona Stands Up For A Safe City
BCN Helpers is a twitter account for citizen collaboration in Barcelona, which maps in real time criminal offences on the streets to make the city safe.
BARCELONA, SPAIN
Public Space
A New Public Private Relationship At Public Space Endorses Access To Culture
Two brothers, one dream. Julian and Daniel Hahn are the masterminds behind the transformation of unused public space in Munich into dreamy places.
MUNICH, GERMANY
Public Space
A Silent Festival Supports Local Talent At Portobello Road
In diverse neighbourhoods lies a wellspring of creativity and urban identity that make cities thrive. At Portobello Road silent technology is an effective way to content all citizens.
LONDON, UK
Public Space
Nomadic Gardens Puts Meanwhile Space To Good Use
You have an obligation to feel good at Nomadic Gardens. People grow food, create art and share skills. It is quite a community space out of the straightjacket of conventional urbanism.
LONDON, UK
Public Space
Addiopizzo: Social Cohesion Defies The Mafia In Palermo
Backed by the willingness of conscious consumers Addiopizzo supports shopkeepers who don't pay extortion money to the Mafia in Palermo.
PALERMO, ITALY
Public Space
Street Art By Women To Make An Underpass More Inviting
Cities have been busy working on the transformation of underpasses. Street art and art installations have converted many ugly underpasses into beautiful spaces. We live in a new era in underpass design in cities, which want to revitalize communities and make public spaces more inviting. But there is a special component added into the beautification ...
MUNICH, GERMANY
US
Public Space
“No Need Of A Real Estate Deal To Fix Penn Station”: Activists Warn Fellow New Yorkers
A human-scale city or stratospheric urban planning? Such is the ongoing conflict among New Yorkers over the plans for Penn Station. But this fight, claim activists, is another one.
NEW YORK, NY, USA
Public Space
More Than A Place To Read: Memphis Library’s Innovative Transformation
The Cossitt Library in Memphis might be almost 130 years old; yet, it is one of the most innovative in the US. Its latest renovation will unite the city in ways beyond a dedication to the written word.
MEMPHIS, TN, USA
Public Space
Innovative Street Lighting Sizes Up Its Transformative Power In Baltimore
The initiative Signal Station North has put together a unique collaboration of neighbours, local artists, designers and nonprofits for street lighting advocacy in Central Baltimore. Exhaustive urban analysis and lighting interventions reveal how to support wellbeing.
BALTIMORE, MD, USA
Public Space
Block Crews Disrupt Violence In Brooklyn. No Urban Progress Without Change
We Build The Block, a community-led movement co-founded by Michael K. Williams, Dana Rachlin and Shani Kulture, creates opportunities for youth to hold positions of power and reimagine how public safety is achieved in their neighbourhood.
NEW YORK, NY, USA
Public Space
Parking Spaces, The Battleground Of The Future City
The urban intervention Parasite Parking occupied parking spaces in Chicago and tested the limits of their use. Their privatization years ago led to a loss of agency in the city. What will happen when parking spaces are no longer needed?
CHICAGO, IL, USA
Public Space
Rethinking Museums: The Museum Of Reclaimed Urban Space
The Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space in New York offers an empowering alternative approach to the way museums are typically run, through activism, transparency, and direct action that expands beyond conventional exhibitions.
NEW YORK, NY, USA
Public Space
Papergirl Frees Art In Brooklyn. The Art Of Social Change
Last week artworks from over eighty artists worldwide were distributed randomly to people on the streets of New York. It was the culmination of an unconventional public art project to create social engagement and change.
NEW YORK, NY, USA
Public Space
Growing The Truly City Game In New York To Empower Girls
Chiene Jones, awarded 2020 Jr. Knicks Coach of the Year, is determined to use basketball to create powerful future women, specially in underserved urban communities.
NEW YORK, NY, USA
Public Space
Play Streets In New York, A Safe Haven Designed To Thrive
In New York the combination of roads closed off to traffic and the need to reduce tensions on the street has a name, Play Streets. Now it's time to revive them.
NEW YORK, NY, USA
The Thrilling Rest of the World
Public Space
City To City Cooperation. Could This Model Reset Democracy?
In Kasserine, Tunisia, democracy is flourishing in public space. How is the city of Munich involved?
KASSERINE, TUNISIA
Public Space
A Jazz Corner To Find The Beat In Havana
Over the years the jazz dancers of Santa Amalia have forged a dancing community in their neighbourhood that has become a philosophy of life in Havana.
HAVANA, CUBA
Public Space
Female Street Art Defies War In Yemen. No Peace Without Women
Haifa Subay is a Yemeni street artist putting her own life on the line to inspire a culture of peace in her city. Her artwork instigates fellow citizens to immerse themselves in the meaning of social change for peace.
ADEN, YEMEN
Public Space
Safetipin Empowers Women To Create Safe Public Spaces
Women in New Delhi are sharing their feelings of insecurity at particular public spaces. Key urban stakeholders are listening to improve safety conditions in the city.
NEW DELHI, DELHI, INDIA