This book is about the "public realm," defined as a particular
kind of social territory that is found almost exclusively in large
settlements. This particular form of social-psychological space
comes into being whenever a piece of actual physical space is
dominated by relationships between and among persons who are
strangers to one another, as often occurs in urban bars, buses,
plazas, parks, coffee houses, streets, and so forth. More
specifically, the book is about the social life that occurs in such
social-psychological spaces (the normative patterns and principles
that shape it, the relationships that characterize it, the
aesthetic and interactional pleasures that enliven it) and the
forces (anti-urbanism, privatism, post-war planning and
architecture) that threaten it. The data upon which the book's
analysis is based are diverse: direct observation; interviews;
contemporary photographs, historic etchings, prints and
photographs, and historical maps; histories of specific urban
public spaces or spatial types; and the relevant scholarly
literature from sociology, environmental psychology, geography,
history, anthropology, and architecture and urban planning and
design. Its central argument is that while the existing body of
accomplished work in the social sciences can be reinterpreted to
make it relevant to an understanding of the public realm, this
quintessential feature of city life deserves much more u it
deserves to be the object of direct scholarly interest in its own
right. "Choice" noted that: "The author's writing style is
unusually accessible, and the often fascinating narrative is
generously supported by well-chosen photos." "Lyn H. Lofland" is
professor and chair, Department of Sociology, University of
California, Davis. She is the author of many works, including "A
World of Strangers: Order and Action in Urban Public Space."
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