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Social Activities in Privately Owned Public Spaces (POPS) Design, Use and Management of POPS in Melbourne

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posted on 2024-10-13, 21:41 authored by Mohammad Mohammadi
Since the 1960s, a type of public space has been formed based on government and private sector partnerships known as Privately Owned Public Space (POPS) initiated in the United States. Over the last five decades, the aims and regulations of this kind of public space have been developed, but they still have ambiguous design and management practices. A specific type of privately-owned public space is formed based on a zoning incentive programme to develop the inner city and public amenities in New York; if private developers contribute to the public realm on the ground floor, they are allowed to increase the floor area of their buildings. Such contributions to the public realm happen by creating both the private sector’s indoor and outdoor spaces. Privatizing public spaces has been discussed as a concerning issue rather than a positive approach toward public space improvement. Researchers have debated concerns about the decline in diverse users and forms of public life. Many authors declare it as the ‘decline of public space’ and ‘the end of public space’. However, recent researchers believe that public spaces have not experienced such extreme situations and have more optimistic viewpoints toward creating POPSs. Understanding the design, management, and social uses of POPSs is limited to a few types of research usually focused on American cities. However, privatisation of public spaces is increasing in other countries based on local developments and policies, leading to different forms of POPSs and public life. Therefore, studying POPSs in other countries like Australia is essential to accommodate their functions based on the local urban context. There is limited empirical research on POPSs regarding their functions, typologies, design, and management practices in Australian POPSs. In Australian cities’ policies, several regulations initiated in the 1990s have led to the creation of privately-owned public spaces. These policies acknowledge the bonus system for building taller towers through different urban regulations. Still, there is no systematic and empirical evaluation of the actual products of those urban policies in Australian cities. This research explores the social life of privately owned public spaces in Melbourne through empirical research. It studies the encouraging and discouraging impacts of POPS’s spatial features on public engagements and activities. In this regard, direct observation and activity mapping were used to collect and analyse activities, and then the data were analysed in the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) maps. The findings are based on ten months of direct observations in four case studies in Melbourne. This research shows the social life happening in POPSs is more a product of spatial opportunity rather than the product of the social realm. Activities are more spatial-driven and programmed than spontaneous and unscripted activities. Spatial features may have one or both encouraging and discouraging impacts on activities. Four studied cases in Melbourne used different spatial features in attracting and deterring activities. Two cases did not attract public users, and hosted usually consumption activities of privileged users. However, the other successful examples of POPS with diverse activities support the recent optimistic approaches in the literature toward the privatisation of public spaces. Furthermore, the developed activity-based method for understanding space engagement in activities contributes to spatial analysis related to users’ activities applicable to indoor and outdoor public spaces. Finally, the research provides new insights for policymakers, urban planners and designers about the potential impacts of their planning decisions on urban social life. It contributes to improving public-private partnerships and enhancing the supervisory role of city officials in regulating and facilitating these partnerships.

History

Degree Type

Doctorate by Research

Copyright

© Mohammad Mohammadi 2021

School name

Architecture & Urban Design, RMIT University

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