GEOG 383.14/703.05
GEOGRAPHY OF PUBLIC SPACE
HUNTER COLLEGE
SPRING SEMESTER 2011
THURSDAYS, 5:35 – 8:15 pm
HUNTER NORTH ROOM 1028
Instructor: Naomi Adiv
nadiv@gc.cuny.edu
Office hours: TBD
Overview
In this course, we will explore what it means for space to be public particularly in the urban
environment. We will consider the economic, social, political and cultural ideas in the idea of
being ‘public,’ and the ways these are played out spatially. We will consider who counts as a
member of “the public” in different times and places, the idea of multiple publics, and counterpublics, and how these various groups interact in the contests over public space. We will
explore the city on foot both during class time and in independent assignments.
Outcomes
By the end of this course, students will be able to describe what makes a place public (or not) in
terms of distribution, access, ownership and governance. Students will have expanded
understanding of disputes over public space in current events and in the news. Students will
have the opportunity to explore places where they have not yet been in New York City, and
describe them in terms of the concepts covered.
Teaching Philosophy:
We are here to learn together, and to make this class a place where we can find answers to the
questions we are actually asking. Everyone has the right to talk and to listen, and we should try
to do so generously.
From the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Article 26, article 2:
Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the
strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote
understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall
further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.
From Freire:
Knowledge emerges only through invention and re-invention, through the restless, impatient,
continuing, hopeful inquiry men pursue in the world, with the world, and with each other.
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Requirements
1. Attendance and participation
Students are expected to come to class on time, with readings completed, and notes
and assignments in hand. In-class time will involve a good deal of active participation, in
order to build a community of scholars who work through ideas together. This class will
also require a number of field-trips and off-site assignments; consider now how you will
make it to all of these on time and participate in a meaningful way.
2. Communication
I am most easily reached by email. Some class correspondence will take place via
Blackboard. Make sure to find a class partner who can fill you in in case you have to
miss a day.
3. Readings
Readings and discussion are at the heart of this class. Readings will be available on EReserves. Plan on printing and marking the text (highlighter, pen, post-its) as well as
taking notes. This will help you come to class prepared, and will be extremely useful for
writing assignments. Readings are indicated on the syllabus on the day they are due.
4. Assignments
Students must complete the following writing assignments:
 Reading responses, including summaries and questions, emailed to me by
Tuesday at midnight.
 Four short (500 word) responses about public spaces around the city, as they
relate to the reading.
 One case study of a New York City public space, including history, organizational
structure, field research, etc. This will be the topic of your final paper and
presentation.
Some words to the wise: do not leave all of your writing to the end of the term; use plain
language; use the writing center; do not hand in your first draft.
NOTE: SOME PARTS OF THE SYLLABUS MAY BE MOVED AROUND TO ACCOMMODATE SPEAKERS
OR OTHER LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES. I WILL ANNOUNCE ANY CHANGES IN CLASS THE WEEK
PRIOR, AND WILL POST ON BLACKBOARD AS WELL. STUDENTS WHO DO NOT ATTEND CLASS
ARE RESPONSIBLE TO KEEP THEMSELVES IN THE LOOP ABOUT ANY SYLLABUS CHANGES.
Grading
Attendance and participation 10 points
Reading responses 10 points
Case studies 40 points (10 each)
Final paper and presentation 40 points (10 draft; 10 presentation; 20 final paper)
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Writing help and citation guidelines
If you need help with writing, I encourage you to take advantage of the Hunter College Writing
center. The Reading/Writing Center is located in Room 416, Thomas Hunter Building. The
tutoring schedule is as follows:
Monday through Thursday 10 A.M. to 8 P.M.
Friday and Saturday 10 A.M. to 4 P.M.
More information can be found here: http://rwc.hunter.cuny.edu/index.html
In this class, you are required to properly document the sources of your work. We will follow
the MLA style guide. http://rwc.hunter.cuny.edu/reading-writing/on-line/mla.pdf
Plagiarism
From the Hunter Undergraduate catalog, 2007 – 2010, p. 71:
Any deliberate borrowing of the ideas, terms, statements or knowledge of others without clear
and specific acknowledgment of the source is plagiarism. It is, in fact, intellectual theft. Serious
students, scholars and teachers agree that they cannot tolerate plagiarism. It is not, of course,
plagiarism to borrow the ideas, terms, statements or knowledge of others if the source is
clearly and specifically acknowledged. Any conscientious student will, from time to time,
consult critical material and may wish to include some of the insights, terms or statements
encountered. When this happens, the source must be given full credit. This means listing the
source in a footnote and/or appended bibliography and footnoting all quotations or close
paraphrasing, including the page number of the passage in the source. Plagiarism will result in
disciplinary proceedings. A more detailed explanation of plagiarism and the accepted
procedures for acknowledging sources is available from the department of English or the office
of the Hunter College Senate.
Hunter College Statement on Academic Integrity
Hunter College regards acts of academic dishonesty (e.g., plagiarism, cheating on examinations,
obtaining unfair advantage, and falsification of records and official documents) as serious
offenses against the values of intellectual honesty. The College is committed to enforcing the
CUNY Policy on Academic Integrity and will pursue cases of academic dishonesty according to
the Hunter College Academic Integrity Procedures.
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CLASS SCHEDULE
Thursday, February 2: Introductions and syllabus
Developing main questions for the semester
Freire, Paulo. 1968. Pedagogy of the Oppressed. New York: the Seabury Press. Excerpts from
Chapter two: the banking model of education. (pp. 57 – 74)
Short essay 1: What makes a public space public? (Due by email 2/7 at 9pm)
Thursday, February 9: Theoretical underpinnings
Miller, Kristine, F. 2007. The Private Life of New York’s Public Spaces. Minneapolis: University of
Minnesota Press. Introduction – What is Public Space?
Newman, Janet and John Clarke. 2009. Publics, Politics & Power: Remaking the Public in Public
Services. Los Angeles: SAGE. pp. 1 – 26.
Thursday, February 16: Sidewalks
Ehrenfeucht, Robin and Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris. 2007. “Constructing the sidewalks:
municipal government and the production of public space in Los Angeles, California, 1880–
1920.” Journal of Historical Geography, 33:1.
Watson, Sophie. 2006. City Publics: The (Dis)Enchantments of Urban Encounters. New York,
Routledge. Chapter two: Symbolic spaces of difference – Contesting the eruv in Barnet, London
and Tenafly, New Jersey.
Short essay 2: Audio tour review (due 3/1)
Thursday, February 23: The Right to the City?
Mitchell, D. 1995. The End of Public Space? People’s Park, Definitions of the Public, and
Democracy. Annals of the Association of American Geographers (85:1), pp. 108 – 133.
Smith, Neil. 1992. Contours of a Spatialized Politics: Homeless Vehicles and the Production of
Geographical Scale. Social Text (33), pp. 54 – 81.
Marcuse, P. 2009. From Critical Urban Theory to the Right to the City. City (13:2/3), pp. 185 –
197.
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Thursday, March 1: Privately owned public spaces (POPOs)
Kayden, Jerold. 2000. Privately Owned Public Space: the New York City Experience. New York:
the Department of City Planning and the Municipal Art Society of New York
Miller, Kristine, F. 2007. The Private Life of New York’s Public Spaces. Minneapolis: University of
Minnesota Press, pp. 71 – 116.
Rebar Collective, San Francisco
http://www.rebargroup.org/projects/commonspace/
YouTube video: William Whyte: The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces.
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=E661399B12D3843A&search_query=william+whyt
e+the+social+life+of+small+urban&rclk=pti
Short essay 2 due
Field trip to SONY Plaza
Thursday, March 8: Zucotti Park and Occupy Wall Street
Wolf, Naomi. 2008. Give Me Liberty: A Handbook for American Revolutionaries. New York:
Simon and Schuster. p.p. 247 – 260
More articles TBA
Short essay 3: Branch libraries (due March 22)
Thursday, March 15: South Street Seaport
Boyer, M. Christine. Cities for Sale: Merchandising History at South Street Seaport. In Sorkin,
Michael (Ed.) 1992. Variations on a Theme Park: the New American City and the End of Public
Space. New York: Hill and Wang. pp. 181 – 204
DeFillipis, James. 1997. From a public re-creation to private recreation: the transformation of
public space in South Street Seaport. Journal of Urban affairs, 19:4, pp. 405 – 417.
Field trip to South Street Seaport.
Thursday, March 22: Libraries
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Given, LM and GJ Leckie. 2003. “Sweeping” the library: Mapping the social activity space of the
public library. Library and Information Science Research, (25), pp. 365 – 385.
Mattern, Shannon. 2003. “Just How Public Is the Seattle Public Library?: Publicity, Posturing,
and Politics in Public Design.” Journal of Architectural Education, (57:1), pp. 5 – 18.
Optional tour of the New York Public Library at 42nd street – date and time TBD.
Short essay 3 due
Thursday, March 29: Parks
Cranz, Galen. 1982. The Politics of Park Design: A History of Urban Parks in America. Cambridge:
the MIT Press.
Katz, Cindi and Andrew Kirby. 1991. In the nature of things: the environment and everyday life.
Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, pp. 259 – 271.
Guest Speaker from the Parks Department
Short essay 4: Final paper proposal, due April 5
Thursday, April 5: Parks conservancies
Blackmar, Elizabeth. 2006. Appropriating “the Commons”: The Tragedy of Property Rights
Discourse. In Low, S. and Smith, N. The Politics of Public Space. (pp. 49 - 80)
Bovaird, Tony. 2004. Public-private partnerships: from contested concepts to prevalent
practice. International Review of Administrative Sciences, 70:2, pp. 199 – 215.
Public-private partnerships and the state
http://westmarc.org/files/presentations/WESTMARC-WATER-ASU-PPP-5410.pdf
Guest Speaker from the Central Park Conservancy.
Paper proposal due
Spring Break, April 6 – 15
Paper proposal comments back to students by April 15
Thursday, April 19: Central park
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Allen, John K. 1979. Rebuilding Central Park for the 1980s and Beyond: An Outline for a
Restoration Plan. The New York City Department of Parks and Recreation & The Central Park
Conservancy
Caro, Robert. 1975. The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York. Vintage Books,
New York. pp. 984 – 1004.
Olmstead, Frederick Law. 1858, 1870. The Plan for the Park and Public Parks and the
Enlargement of Towns. In Jackson, Kenneth T. and David Dunbar (Eds.) Empire City: New York
Through the Centuries. New York: Columbia University Press. (pp. 278 – 291)
Thursday, April 26: Highline Park
deSousa, Christopher. October 2006. Unearthing the benefits of brownfield to green space
projects: An examination of project use and quality of life impacts. Local Environment (11:5),
pp. 577 – 600.
Shane, Grahame. 2007. Recombinant Landscapes in the American City. Architectural Design
(77:2) pp. 24 – 35. (read online for full images)
Meet at the Highline at 5:35 pm for a Friends of the Highline tour as well as a talk by Michael
Cataldi of the Parallel Lines Project.
http://www.parallellinesproject.com/index.php
Final paper drafts (10 pages) due
Thursday, May 3: Catch-up day (to bring in new teachers and topics)
Draft papers back to students
Thursday, May 10: Final presentations
Final Exam Day (TBA): Final presentations
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