Union Square to me has always been a public space to me that has been seemingly inclusive and welcoming to the people of New York City. After reading Zukin’s work, I cannot see the famed space the same. Although nothing can take away its historic importance to the very fabric of the city as a whole where many a protest have occurred. The unfortunate thought that this beautiful public space is not exactly public is not ideal to say the least. Although privatization is not necessarily bad, we as a society have far less control in how these private owners choose to open up the land. Hopefully, we hope that these private souls make public land public, however, that does not seem to be the case. Homeless people with nowhere else to go and sit down are turned away. Skateboarders with not a core in the world are forced to go in search of other land to shred in the gnarliest of ways.
There is another idea that is brought up by Kyle Arbuckle of ggwash.com called Unpleasant Design, a book name and term coined by Gordan Savicic and Selena Savic. Parks are meant to look beautiful and designed artfully and that much is true. But there is also a strategy to the way they are built, as seen in Washington DC. The article discusses ideas brought up in the book like how everything is built with a purpose, for example, third armrests on park benches to prevent people from laying down and sleeping on them. it might make sense to prevent people from being able to do that but it shapes the way people interact with and use the parks on a grand scale. Without having to explicitly say or do it, the city is telling its homeless to go elsewhere. There are even slats on railings and other structures to prevent skateboarders from skating on them. How are they going to shred it then?
We can see these types of unpleasant designs in parks all over the world, including our city, and even Union Square! Who would have guessed. What does it say about the character of both our public and private entities if we continue to exclude certain groups of people we deem undesirable or unwanted? Maybe it makes sense to restrict certain people as the misbehavior of a few can ruin a space for many. However, the answer can’t be to just bar people from enjoying the space altogether.
- At what point does the design of park benches and other structures that deters certain people from interacting with the parks cross the line?
- What are some benefits to these kinds of designs and are they reasonable?
- How do these designs affect the way parks are used by the public?
https://ggwash.org/view/43748/are-public-spaces-really-public-when-not-everybody-can-use-them
