Public spaces are intrinsically democratic spaces. They provide the framework for social participation, communication, and encounters. Planning, designing, maintaining, and further developing public squares, green spaces, and other freely accessible locations thus involve a special responsibility. Challenges such as climate and demographic change and new forms of mobility will also alter public spaces. This generates opportunities to actively address the necessary conversions, extensions, deconstructions, and enlargements in a sustainable and interdisciplinary way and with high-quality design and good processes in line with Baukultur. Public authorities can forcefully steer such measures, particularly when they own the land.
The focuses of the Baukultur Report on “urban development and open space”, “designing infrastructures”, and “democracy and process culture” map out effective levels of activities for vibrant and diverse public spaces. The result shows: We need a strong lobby for public spaces!