Introduction

For a rather long time - from the 1930s until the 1970s - nothing much happened in the field of public space and public space architecture. One explanation is the modernists' rejection of the city and public space. Another is the rapid development of car traffic and the focus on roads and transport. Finally, in Europe at any rate, the rebuilding after the Second World War and subsequent rapid urban growth meant that city planners and architects had other priorities.
However, the tide began to turn around the year 1970. Modernism began to be challenged and public debate took up the issues of urban quality and the conditions for life in the city, pollution and the car's rapid encroachment of urban streets and squares. Public space and public life were reintroduced as significant objects of architectural debate and treatment, among others. Public space architecture has been under constant development ever since and a very great number of new or renovated public spaces were created in the last quarter of the 20th century.
The object of this book is to present selected examples of public space strategies as well as projects illustrating developments in the area of public space architecture.
The architectural treatment of public space has naturally been an important starting point, but life in the city and the interplay between urban life and public space has also been emphasised. The selection and discussion of the individual cities and public spaces is influenced by this interest in the city as meeting place and public space as facilitator. The material presented here was compiled during the years 1992-2000. The work was carried out in stages starting with an extensive search through magazines and books on the subject, followed by study trips to potentially interesting cities and public spaces. During these study visits public spaces were seen in context and data on the individual spaces, their surroundings and functions were collected.
For each of the public spaces selected, a plan of the space was drawn in a scale of 1:2,000. Maps were also drawn showing the city and the surrounding areas in comparable scales.
In selecting the cities and public spaces covered here, the objective was to come up with a representative sample that would illustrate the most important policies and design ideas underlying the work on public space. In addition to the many examples from Europe, other parts of the world also contribute attitudes and ideas developed under different political and cultural conditions.
Common to the examples here is that they are public spaces in an urban context. A few promenades are included, but the majority of the examples are squares that are new or were thoroughly renovated in the past 10 or 20 years. All are outdoor spaces designed with an urban character and treatment.

The book is divided into three parts.
Winning back public spaces: The salient features of the development of public space and public life primarily from 1975 to 2000.
9 cities and 9 public space strategies: Examples of cities that have worked towards a unified vision in their treatment of public space.
39 public spaces: 3 streets and 36 squares presented as examples.

The book can be viewed - and read - as an overall presentation of the issues or as a reference book in which ideas, projects and visions are introduced in the interests of information and - we hope - inspiration.

The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts
School of Architecture
November 2000
Jan Gehl & Gemsøe