On the occasion of Park(ing) Day City Space Architecture is promoting a symposium that will take place on 19-20 September in Bologna, and a special issue of The Journal of Public Space on “Parklets, Temporary Uses and Co-creation of Public Space”. The symposium will be anticipated with an online gathering on 18 September with global scholars and practitioners who are developing key contributions in the field of public space.
This initiative has been initiated and is curated by: John Bela (Bela Urbanism), Luisa Bravo (City Space Architecture), Ryan Smolar (PlacemakingUS), Robin Abad Ocubillo (City of Oakland, USA) and Ilaria Salvadori (City of San Francisco, USA).
CONCEPT NOTE
The modern parklet was created in San Francisco in 2009, building upon a long legacy of temporary occupation of roadway space to create tiny public spaces. Initially conceived of as a temporary expansion of the sidewalk into the vehicular right of way, parklets have evolved into their own unique space typology. The City of San Francisco Parklet Program has been imitated and adopted globally and parklet-like spaces grew steadily in cities around the world from 2009 to 2019. 2020 witnessed a radical expansion of non-conventional use of the roadway as many communities sought to use outdoor public space in the streets as gathering places and for commercial outdoor dining and retail. While recent years have witnessed a contraction of these pandemic-era uses of streets, many communities are continuing to grapple with some fundamental questions about these spaces; such as: Are they public or private? How to balance commercial and community uses of the curb lane? Who administers these programs and how do municipalities manage a fee structure for public and commercial uses of the public right of way? How do cities balance this explosion of user generated uses of the public right of way while maintaining standards of accessibility, public safety, and design quality in the public realm?
