Public Space in 20XX
Cities today exist in a constantly changing environment, with rising and falling populations, forces that encourage coming, going, and interactions, diversifying life and work styles, the continued evolution of transportation and mobility technology, and the conflation of digital and physical realities.
Perceptions of public and private, and of personal and social relationships are on the verge of major changes, along with ideas about membership and ownership, and the structure of society itself.
“Public space” can be conceived as a site for the overlap of varied domains, as a place of freedom and potential beyond the reach of distinctions such as private vs. public, where the borders between domains recede. It could well be called the location in the city of the future where changes in the structure of society will be most evident.
What kind of changes will affect our lives in the year 20XX? Among those changes, some will be limited to certain regions, and some will be global in scope, taking place regardless of city or countryside, domestic or foreign. Some may lead to the rediscovery of culture or other universal, unchanging values that were nurtured as cities developed.
While visualizing actual cities and places, envision activities that could emerge as a result of structural changes in society, leading to richer and more attractive cities. Imagine the relations between people, spaces and areas, and the systems and mechanisms that will make those activities possible. Design a “public space in 20XX”.