The project laboratory “Podcast on public space & street design” is an interdisciplinary student project with over 20 students and two tutors producing audio content about public space and other urban topics. Carolin Lichtenstein and Susanne Maaß, tutors in the project, discuss with Christina Camier where the idea for the podcast originated and how the project has since developed. Whether discussing the ecological, design, or social aspects of public space, we are interested in urban diversity. Each semester we produce several podcast episodes examining public space and urban topics and publish them on SoundCloud and Spotify. So far we've published 22 episodes on a wide range of topics, such as rooftop greening, sustainable mobility, insect friendliness, homelessness, advertising in public spaces, and sound art. Our aim is to make information about urban issues as accessible and attractive as possible for different listener groups. We are currently focusing on science communication and are working together with different researchers and research projects at universities in Berlin. Read more about the project and listen to the podcast here Recommended by Stephanie Cheung

Considering Contemporary African Public Spaces This special issue ofThe Journal of Public Spaceon “Public Space and Placemaking in African Cities” raises awareness and articulates the importance and value of urban public space in the context of the African continent. A key contemporary driver of such issues is the context of Africa's urbanisation, which is exponentially faster than comparable processes in the Global North. A vibrant, diverse and supportive public life in these contexts will increasingly become a critical public good, which will depend on the conceptualisation, design, development, process and maintenance of public space.Already the continent’s vast diversity of communities and cultures is visible in the utilization of public open spaces such as streets and markets and the congestion of pedestrian activities therein. The so-called ‘informality’ of many of these urban conditions is indicative of the increasing imperatives of public space. Such spaces are often faced with extraordinary demands, not easily visible in cities of the Global North. They are often expected – or forced – to accommodate extensive forms of cultural diversity, from street markets and food and drink, to outdoor gyms and children’s playgrounds, to dance and ceremonies, and even the urban presence of cattle and livestock. Yet a lack of appropriate planning can also lead to conflict and an exacerbation of incidences of urban insecurity. Vol. 7 No. 1 (2022): Public Space and Placemaking in African Cities Keywords: African public spaces, transdisciplinary, cross-sectoral

The Italian artist Yari Miele developed a site-specific installation at Museo Spazio Pubblico and a temporary public work at the adjacent public garden on the occasion of Arte Fiera, in February 2023. Yari Miele, Museo Spazio Pubblico, 2-12 February 2023. Picture by Elettra Giulia Bastoni. Curatorial statement by Marcello Tedesco,MTN - Museo Temporaneo Navile. Yari Miele's research is made up of subtle relational links between physical and mental forces, so it perfectly embodies the vocation of Museo Spazio Pubblico to work on the creation of a new way of thinking and mind-set about the city and its spaces, approached in a democratic and inclusive perspective. Places are intended to be both physical and mental, and are conceived for the community and its needs, so that relational exchange and dialogue are favored and encouraged by proximity infrastructures designed by artists and professionals. In this way, art ceases to be a niche phenomenon for the elites and embraces the complexity of public life and the city, creating an unprecedented osmosis. Light is the medium and the theme through which Yari Miele creates a complex and astonishing chain of relationships between the work, the environment and the public realm. Through reflective fabrics, phosphorescence and fluorescence phenomena, he makes the beauty of a world visible and experienceable, within which all forces are in perfect balance, in an incessant and harmonious dynamism. His work, based on the understanding of how the archetypal forces of light and darkness act, has the power to act profoundly on the imaginary, pushing the observer to accelerate their perceptive processes, towards new territories. The sculpture in the garden summarizes the artist's tendency to include the observer in the creative process, thus exponentially multiplying the relationship between the work and the environment: suspended between two imposing fir trees, a two-metre volume, modeled in aluminum and covered with a special reflective fabric, is activated by the public when they illuminate it with the torch of their phones. According to Yari Miele, “the reflection that is created between one's own body, the art work and the surrounding environment sets in motion complex spatial and emotional relationships. My intent is to lead the observer to relate in a new and unexpected way with his own inner world by setting unknowable forces in a transformation process that starts from the individual and reaches the entire social body". Yari Miele, The Garden of Museo Spazio Pubblico, 4 February 2023. Opening on the occasion of the ART CITY White Night. Picture by Elettra Giulia Bastoni.

This course is an interdisciplinary introduction to the complexity of public space providing definitions and examples from urban planning and design, architecture, art and creative practices. Course Description Public space is increasingly involved in technical and political processes dealing with land use, environment, infrastructure networks, social issues and policy making, in response to global trends such as massive urbanisation and privatisation. Multidisciplinary analytical skills, open-minded expertise and an informed approach are required to face a fast-changing urban world, focused on public life and urban well-being, and based on strong partnerships with local communities and active citizens, including the private sector. This mini-course covers the theoretical basis for understanding public space by providing general definitions and examples through an interdisciplinary approach. It consists of five video lectures presented by passionate public space professionals from different fields (urban planning and design, architecture, art and creative practices) and is supplemented by suggested readings, case studies and other materials. The course is suitable for participants from different disciplines with no prior experience or knowledge of public space. Whether you are an undergraduate in urban studies, a community member passionate about public space, a postgraduate seeking a refresher, or a senior professional in a related field, you are welcome to enrol in this open-access course.

During the Habitat III conference celebrated in Quito, Adrian Michael Peters, Chief Strategy Officer of eThekwini Municipality, together with Maria Regina Rau and Puvendra Akkiah, technical chairs of the UCLG Committee on Urban Strategic Planning and Nadime Yaver director for the Office of Public Space Ombudsman (Defensoría del Espacio Público) of the city of Bogotá presented the UCLG Public Space Policy Framework in the micro-urban intervention/pop-up public space organized by the UN-Habitat Program on Public Space in the El Ejido Park in Quito. The presentation of the framework in the pop-up public space aimed to encourage civic debate and dialogues with a broader and more diverse audience. Read the full article on UCLG website Download the UCLG Public Space Policy Framework Recommended by Luisa Bravo

When I presented The Journal of Public Space at Habitat III, the United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development, in Quito (2016), during an event at the Urban Library, I made it very clear that the partnership that City Space Architecture had established with UN-Habitat inspired our mission to give voice to unheard countries in order to include them in the discourse on public space.At the beginning of 2022 The Journal of Public Space launched a call for papers inviting scholars, designers, planners, city practitioners, historians and writers to offer critical and innovative contributions to understanding meanings and practices in plural and diverse African spaces, contexts, climates, regional and local scales, and histories. The issue was intended to contribute to the establishment of the Centre on African Public Spaces (CAPS), a project initiated by the City of Johannesburg (South Africa) in collaboration with other African cities, universities and community advocacy groups. As a Pan-African urban lab for public space, CAPS was designed to be a home and resource to a community of urban practitioners and thinkers, students, scholars and civil society activists dedicated to connect, exchange experiences, advance knowledge, share resources, grow expertise and mobilize on a wide range of relevant local, regional and global issues.In response to the call for papers we received 70 submissions. We shortlisted 27 papers for this issue and we invited African scholars to serve as peer reviewers and to support the production of quality contents. The peer review process involved more than 60 African scholars and two African guest editors, for more than one year. Vol. 7 No. 1 (2022): Public Space and Placemaking in African Cities Keywords: African cities, public space discourse, Global South