Streets as Platforms of Public Life

Jenni Cauvain, Antonella Bruzzese and Andrew Karvonen
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Jenni Cauvain: Department of Social and Political Sciences, Nottingham Trent University, UK
Antonella Bruzzese: Department of Architecture and Urban Studies, Politecnico di Milano, Italy
Andrew Karvonen: Department of Architecture and the Built Environment, Lund University, Sweden

Urban Planning, 2026, vol. 11

Abstract: Streets are emerging as vibrant platforms of public life. While mobility continues to be the dominant function of these spaces, streets are being reconfigured by various stakeholders to promote multifunctional benefits, including socialisation and inclusion, play and rest, political action, economic opportunities, biodiversity, and cultural expression. This thematic issue includes a wide range of contributions to address how streets are being (re)configured as public spaces. The contributions build upon existing scholarship that addresses the role and governance of public space in cities, including notions of the “right to the city” and everyday life. These perspectives inform the rising concerns about privatisation and securitization of public space in cities globally, and about the diminishing emancipatory potential of streets for urban residents. At the same time, there are increasing calls to design more people‐centred cities and enhance the safety and wellbeing of urban residents by transforming vehicle‐centric streets into multifunctional spaces—actions often driven by local governments. The contributions to this thematic issue demonstrate how these strategies are playing out in a wide range of contexts, highlighting the emancipatory potential of street transformations for residents, practitioners, and scholars.

Keywords: public space; sociocultural change; streets; urban transformation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cog:urbpla:v11:y:2026:a:12105

DOI: 10.17645/up.12105

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