Recent global appropriations of public spaces through urban activism, public uprising, and political protest have brought back democratic values, beliefs, and practices that have been historically associated with cities. Given the aggressive commodification of public re- sources, public space is critically important due to its capacity to enable forms of public dis- course and social practice which are fundamental for the well-being of democratic societies. Public Space Reader brings together public space scholarship by a cross-disciplinary group of academics and specialists whose essays consider fundamental questions: What is public space and how does it manifest larger cultural, social, and political processes? How are public spaces designed, socially and materially produced, and managed? How does this impact the nature and character of public experience? What roles does it play in the struggles for the just city, and the Right to The City? What critical participatory approaches can be employed to create inclusive public spaces that respond to the diverse needs, desires, and aspirations of individuals and communities alike? What are the critical global and comparative perspectives on public space that can enable further scholarly and professional work? And, what are the futures of public space in the face of global pandemics, such as COVID-19? The readers of this volume will be rewarded with an impressive array of perspectives that are bound to expand critical understanding of public space.

1. Emerging Public Space in\of the Pearl River Delta employs the applied work of twenty, international scholars and practitioners to discover new and emerging models of urban public space as it is emerging as both a condition and product of contemporary urbanization in the Pearl River Delta in China; 2. The proposed book deals specifically with urban public space whereas the vast majority of existing books on the contemporary Chinese urban condition subsume this topic into the general theme of urbanization or urban development 3. The proposed book focuses on the Pearl River Delta, which is acknowledged as an exceptional urban phenomenon in China and in the world, but for which an individualized scholarly treatment of public space is lacking 4. Unlike the existing literature on the Pearl River Delta, the proposed book is taking an explicitly design-centered perspective, making for a unique set of approaches and insights, grounded in scholarly rigor and juxtaposed with pieces from sociological angles.

1. Emerging Public Space in\of the Pearl River Delta employs the applied work of twenty, international scholars and practitioners to discover new and emerging models of urban public space as it is emerging as both a condition and product of contemporary urbanization in the Pearl River Delta in China; 2. The proposed book deals specifically with urban public space whereas the vast majority of existing books on the contemporary Chinese urban condition subsume this topic into the general theme of urbanization or urban development 3. The proposed book focuses on the Pearl River Delta, which is acknowledged as an exceptional urban phenomenon in China and in the world, but for which an individualized scholarly treatment of public space is lacking 4. Unlike the existing literature on the Pearl River Delta, the proposed book is taking an explicitly design-centered perspective, making for a unique set of approaches and insights, grounded in scholarly rigor and juxtaposed with pieces from sociological angles.

Design has been employed as an agent of social and political change, and a catalyst for spatial and urban transformations in cities across the world. Concurrent Urbanities argues for the centrality of designing in the conceptualization and production of inclusive and participatory urban space, by bringing together civic and urban activists, urbanists, designers and architects committed to exploring designing as a socio-spatial praxis concerned with the reorganization of urban socio-economic systems and relations of power. The blend of first-hand experiences and reflections of the urban practitioners featured reframes design practice beyond the design of physical objects and public amenities, to the design of social protocols, processes, and infrastructures for radically reframing practices of socio-spatial inclusion 'on the ground.' Through illustrated examples, this book features the work of Stalker and Stealth who employ design to negotiate new social contracts; Teddy Cruz's design of urban political and economic processes; models of urban pedagogy by the Center for Urban Pedagogy; Cohabitation Strategies' work on designing urban social cooperatives; and others. Concurrent Urbanities presents a compendium of the emerging models of design-driven urban practice that offers important new insights to professional urban practitioners as well as to students of urbanism, architecture, urban design, and urban and spatial planning.

Design has been employed as an agent of social and political change, and a catalyst for spatial and urban transformations in cities across the world. Concurrent Urbanities argues for the centrality of designing in the conceptualization and production of inclusive and participatory urban space, by bringing together civic and urban activists, urbanists, designers and architects committed to exploring designing as a socio-spatial praxis concerned with the reorganization of urban socio-economic systems and relations of power. The blend of first-hand experiences and reflections of the urban practitioners featured reframes design practice beyond the design of physical objects and public amenities, to the design of social protocols, processes, and infrastructures for radically reframing practices of socio-spatial inclusion 'on the ground.' Through illustrated examples, this book features the work of Stalker and Stealth who employ design to negotiate new social contracts; Teddy Cruz's design of urban political and economic processes; models of urban pedagogy by the Center for Urban Pedagogy; Cohabitation Strategies' work on designing urban social cooperatives; and others. Concurrent Urbanities presents a compendium of the emerging models of design-driven urban practice that offers important new insights to professional urban practitioners as well as to students of urbanism, architecture, urban design, and urban and spatial planning.