Capital Spaces: The Multiple Complex Public Spaces of a Global City

In recent years it has become common-place to hear claims that public space in cities across the globe has become the exclusive preserve of the wealthy and privileged, at the expense of the needs of wider society. Whether it is the privatization of public space through commerical developments like shopping malls and business parks, the gentrification of existing spaces by campaigns against perceived anti-social behaviour or the increasing domination of public areas by private transport in the form of the car, the urban public space is seen as under threat.

But are things really that bad? Has the market really become the sole factor that influences the treatment of public space? Have the financial and personal interests of the few really come to dominate those of the many?

To answer these questions Matthew Carmona and Filipa Wunderlich have carried out a detailed investigation of the modern public spaces of London, that most global of cities. They have developed a new typology of public spaces applicable to all cities, a typology that demonstrates that to properly assess contemporary urban places means challenging the over-simplification of current critiques. Global cities are made up of many overlapping public spaces, good and bad; this book shows how to analyze this complexity, and to understand it.

Matthew Carmona is Professor of Planning and Urban Design at UCL’s Bartlett School of Planning. His research has focused on processes of design governance and on the design and management of public space. Matthew was educated at the University of Nottingham, from which he holds a PhD. He is an architect planner. His recent books include Public Places Urban Spaces: The Dimensions of Urban Design and Urban Design Reader (both for Architectural Press). Also, Public Space: The Management Dimension and Measuring Quality in Planning: Managing the Performance Process (both for Routledge).

Filipa Matos Wunderlich is Lecturer in Urban Design at UCL’s Bartlett School of Planning. Her research has focused on place temporality and the rhythmicity of everyday urban places, and also on walking and the urban design process. Filipa was educated at the University of Porto, the Technical University of Delft and latterly at UCL, from which she holds a PhD. After completing her PhD she worked as a Research Fellow with Professor Carmona. She is an architect urban designer.