Content uploaded by Ali Madanipour
Author content
All content in this area was uploaded by Ali Madanipour on Oct 21, 2019
Content may be subject to copyright.
Public and Private Spaces of the City
The subdivision of our social world and the spaces we inhabit into public and private
spheres is one of the key features of how a society organizes itself. This affects
individuals’ mental state and experiences, regulates their behaviour, and superimposes a
long-lasting structure onto human societies. This book sets out to find out how and why
social space is subdivided in this way and to explore the nature of each realm as defined
by spatial and symbolic boundaries.
To understand this dichotomous organization of space and society, the investigation is
conducted along three scales: spatial scale (body, home, neighbourhood, city), degrees o
f
exclusivity and openness (from the most private to the most public), and modes of social
encounter and association with space (personal, inter-
p
ersonal, impersonal). We start
from the private, interior space of the mind and move outwards to the extensions of the
b
ody in space, the personal space. Then we visit the home, the domains of privacy,
intimacy and property, followed by inter-
p
ersonal spaces of sociability among strangers,
communal spaces of the neighbourhood, the material and institutional public sphere and
the impersonal spaces of the city.
As the shape of the city and the characteristics of urban life are influenced by the way
p
ublic and private distinction is made, the role of urban designers becomes ever more
significant. By establishing a flexible and eleborate boundary between the two realms,
urbanism can be enriched, and the danger of encroachment by private interests into the
p
ublic realm and the threat of public intrusion into the private sphere can be both
minimized and carefully managed.
In writing this book Ali Madanipour drew upon his many years of research into cities,
as well as teaching and professional practice in architecture, urban design and planning.
Public and Private Spaces of the
City
Ali Madanipour
LONDON AND NEW YORK
First published 2003 by Routledge
11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2005.
“To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or
Routledge's collection of thousands of eBooks please go to
www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.”
© 2003 Ali Madanipour
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or
by
any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including
photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission
in
writing from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Madanipour, Ali.
Public and private spaces of the city/Ali Madanipour
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Space (Architecture)—Psychological aspects. I. Title
NA2765 .M25 2003
720’.1’9–dc21
2002011015
ISBN 0-203-40285-5 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN 0-203-40937-X (Adobe e-Reader Format)
ISBN 0-415-25628-3 (hbk)
ISBN 0-415-25629-1 (pbk)
Contents
Acknowledgements vii
Introduction 1
1 Personal space of the body 5
2 Exclusive space of the property 34
3 Intimate space of the home 62
4 Interpersonal space of sociability 95
5 Communal space of the neighbourhood 119
6 Material and institutional spaces off the common world 144
7 Impersonal space of the city 169
8 Public and private spaces of the city 201
Bibliography 212
Index 224
Acknowledgements
Chapters 5 and 7 contain material from the author’s papers that were published in Town
P
lanning Review (Vol. 72, No. 2, 2001) and Environment and Planning B: Planning an
d
D
esign (Vol. 26, No. 1, pp. 879–91, 1999), which are used here with kind permission.
The photograph in Figure 1.4 is by Simin Davoudi and in Figure 7.7 by Hamid Imanirad,
used with their kind permission. Support material for the book was collected through
many sources, including research projects and conferences funded by the European
Commission; the UK’s Economic and Social Research Council; the UK’s Department o
f
Trade and Industry; the British Council; Danish Building and Urban Research Institute;
Aarhus School of Architecture and the Nordic Academy; Sharjah Municipality; Istanbul’s
Mimar Sinan University; Trabzon’s Karadeniz Technical University; and the University
of Newcastle upon Tyne. Special thanks are due to Simin and Suroosh for thei
r
continuous support.
Introduction
Have you ever felt the urge to look inside, when walking down a narrow street and
passing in front of a door that is ajar or a window that is half-lit? Have you wondered
what lies behind curtains that are drawn, gates that are shut, walls that are high? Have
you thought about how objects, signs and symbols may invite you to one place and ba
r
you from another? From inside the buildings, have you spent time standing in front of a
window, watching the world go by from a detached, safe distance, or wishing to go to the
open spaces outside, meeting your friends in public places or just joining the crowd o
f
strangers?
On the one hand, if we monitor our individual everyday routines, one of the defining
features of these routines is how we live in and pass through private and public spaces,
and feel and behave accordingly. From the intimate space of the home to the
interpersonal space of the school or workplace and the impersonal space of the busy city
streets, we are located in different environments at each moment. Depending on ou
r
p
articular circumstances and our understanding of these environments, we feel and
b
ehave differently: from a place where we feel comfortable and relaxed to one where we
feel the need to be careful and cautious. Many aspects of our mental and behavioural
states at each moment, therefore, depend on whether we are on our own, with ou
r
intimate friends and relatives, or in the presence of strangers.
On the other hand, if we monitor the spaces of villages, towns and cities, we see how
they are broadly structured around a separation of public and private spaces. It appears to
b
e a defining feature of these settlements: how a society divides its space into public and
p
rivate spheres, and how this division controls movement from one place to another and
access to places and activities. This is almost a universal feature of cities, as cities of all
cultures, at all historical periods, are organized along some form of public-
p
rivate lines,
although the nature of this division, the meaning of and relationship between public and
p
rivate spheres vary widely. Ever since the rise of the city, with its division of labour and
complex, stratified social and spatial structures, public-
p
rivate distinction has been a key
organizing principle, shaping the physical space of the cities and the social life of thei
r
citizens. The distinction between the home and the street that characterizes cities today
can also be found in the Mesopotamian city-state of Ur more than four millennia ago.
This suggests that there is a direct link between this distinction and the way human
b
eings relate to each other in social environments. The way space is subdivided and the
relationship between the public and private spheres in general are a mirror of social
relations and a main indicator of how a society organizes itself.
The division of space and society into public and private spheres, therefore, affects
individuals’ mental states, regulates their behaviour, and superimposes a long-lasting
structure onto human societies and the spaces they inhabit. Much of the research on how
cities are structured, however, has focused on other issues. Some have studied the
p
hysical structures of the city, to understand the typology of buildings, or how the places,
b
uildings and routes are shaped and used. Others have studied the forms of activity and
functional organization in the city, to understand the patterns of land use and spatial
structure. Other studies have concentrated on the patterns of social and cultural
differentiation in the city, how uneven distribution of resources and economic and social
p
olarization characterize a city or how different groups create different cultural identities
in a city. The relationship between public and private lies at the centre of many such
systems of stratification and classification, but is not sufficiently addressed by them. This
book focuses on this important aspect of how the urban space is structured.
The book examines the constitution of the public and private spheres of society and the
relationship between the two spheres, particularly as manifest in city spaces, where
spatial and symbolic boundaries render visible a distinction that characterizes human
societies across time and space. My central focus in this book is the concrete, physical
space of human societies with its social and psychological significance, aiming to
understand how and why this space is divided into public and private sections.
To be able to understand this division, however, it is important not to limit the
investigation to a physical focus, as it soon becomes obvious that this division is a key
p
art of the social life of human beings and is embedded in, and contributes to, the way
p
eople live together in societies. It is an integral part of how individuals see themselves
and others, communicate with each other, divide their spheres of activity, and construct
meaning. The nature of, and the relationships between, the public and private spaces o
f
the city and the social and psychological meanings of these spaces are, therefore, the
focus of the book. This book aims to investigate the nature of the two realms, the public
and the private, by asking questions such as: How and why do we subdivide the city into
the private and public spheres? What are its manifestations and meanings, especially as
embodied in space? What does it tell us about our society and our selves?
To undertake this study, it has been essential to go through a journey of dis-covery in
different places, different historical periods, and different disciplines that have addressed
this division. The relationship between the public and private has overlapping economic,
social, cultural and political dimensions and has a clearly visible physical manifestation,
p
erhaps more than any other form of structuring the city. In economic terms, the private
or public ownership of land and property determines the overall shape of the city. In
p
olitical terms, the relationship between private and public realms was a formative notion
in the development of modern democracies and continues to be a key governance
concern. In cultural and social terms, the distinction between the public and private
determines the routines of daily iife and is crucial in the relations between self and other,
individual and society. Each of these patterns of differentiation has been studied
separately, or in collections of papers, but not necessarily through an integrated outlook
and in relation to the structure of the urban space, a task that this book aims to undertake.
Many studies of public and private spheres have specifically focused on one or the
other of these spheres. Studies of the home, for example, have emphasized the
significance of privacy, while the urban design literature has focused on the public space.
There seems to be a tendency for these and similar areas of literature to be mutually
Public and private spaces of the city 2
exclusive, each adopting a single focus and seeing the other sphere as outside their remit,
or as a negative force that tends to encroach upon their chosen focus, and hence stressing
the need to keep them apart. If we look at the world from inside the private sphere, we
see the sense and the necessity of protecting a part of our life from the intrusion of others.
When we look at the world from outside, from the public sphere, we see how it makes
sense and how it is essential, to have a common ground where all can come out of thei
r
p
rotected zones and communicate with each other. The public and the private, however,
only make sense in relation to each other, as they are interdependent notions. This book
adopts an integrated approach, studying the two spheres and their relationships, from a
dynamic perspective. A dynamic perspective allows us to move between the two spheres,
to look at the significance of each sphere on its own and as seen from inside of the othe
r
sphere, to deal with the interdependence of the two spheres.
A dynamic approach enables us to study space through a variety of scales and from a
variety of angles, which are usually set within disciplinary and ideological territories, and
helps us to engage in a dialogue that goes beyond static and narrowly partisan
p
erspectives. Each of these approaches may have a unique perspective into the complex
reality of the public-
p
rivate distinction. They are, however, often incomplete: they can be
either trapped in first-
p
erson narratives, as is the case with total reliance on
p
henomenological accounts of the world, or be left outside the complete picture by
emphasizing the third-person, scientific views into socio-spatial phenomena. A dynamic
approach would allow the investigation to be conducted from both a third—and a first-
p
erson perspective (Madanipour, 2001). It shows how the self is constructed at the
intersection of biological and social processes, combining pre-linguistic and linguistic
elements. It also shows how space is produced through a dialectic relationship between
action and its context. It is important to understand the internal dynamics of actors,
whether individuals or complex organizations, as well as the many-sided characteristics
and dynamics of the socio-spatial contexts in which they operate. It is also important to
see how their dialectic relationship affects and changes both actors and the multiple
contexts of their action.
This book is part of a larger project of inquiry into cities. Earlier work had focused on
the ways in which urban space is shaped at the intersection of political economy and
cultural-aesthetic processes. These studies had concentrated on how urban space is
structured along the lines of access to resources and of difference, which creates a
fragmented mosaic of differentiation, polarization and social exclusion (Madanipour,
1996; 1998a; 1998b; Madanipour et al., 1998; Madanipour, 2001). This study now
focuses on how urban space is structured along the lines of a key organizing principle o
f
social life: public-private distinction.
A terminological clarification needs to be made at the start. I have used the term public
space (and public p/ace) to refer to that part of the physical environment which is
associated with public meanings and functions. The term public sphere (and public
realm), however, has been used to refer to a much broader concept: the entire range o
f
p
laces, people and activities that constitute the public dimension of human social life.
Therefore, public space and public sphere are not coextensive; public space is a
component part of the public sphere. The same distinction has been made between the
Introduction 3
p
rivate space and the private sphere. More detailed definitions of the terms private and
public are given in Chapters 2 and 4.
The book is written to share the exploration of the public-
p
rivate distinction in the city
with the students and scholars with an interest in linking space and society. It targets
those in spatial arts and sciences, including architecture, urban design, planning and
urban geography, who are interested in studying urban space in the context of wide
r
concerns, and those in social sciences and humanities, including urban sociology and
urban studies, who have an interest in understanding the society through its spatial
configuration. It is mainly focused on the contemporary Western city, but it travels to
other times and places in search of the roots of ideas and practices and for finding out
about comparable traditions. As such it uses social and historical research, attempting to
take into account the temporal and spatial dimensions of public-
p
rivate distinction. This
book searches for frameworks with which public-
p
rivate distinction in the city can be
understood and repres-ented. Its intentions, therefore, are to provide analytical insights,
rather than providing a normative guide on how to design public and private spaces.
However, it is hoped that the design and management of cities can be informed by the
discussions and analyses presented in the book.
Rather than a dichotomous organization along the public and private lines, the book is
organized along three scales, which form the bases of its investigations: spatial scale
(body, home, neighbourhood, city), degrees of exclusivity and openness (from the most
p
rivate to the most public), and modes of social encounter and association with space
(personal, interpersonal, impersonal). We start from the private, interior space of the
mind and move outwards to the extensions of the body in space, the personal space
(Chapter 1). Then the spaces of privacy are discussed (Chapter 2), followed by the spaces
of intimacy (Chapter 3). The three spaces of body, private property and home constitute
the spatial core of the personal private sphere. We then move outside to the interpersonal
p
ublic realm, starting from the interpersonal spaces of sociability among strangers
(Chapter 4), and the communal spaces of the neighbourhood, the spaces of familiarity
(Chapter 5). This is followed by the impersonal public space, where the material and
institutional public sphere (Chapter 6) and the impersonal spaces of the city (Chapter 7)
are studied. Some of the main discussions are brought together in a concluding chapte
r
(Chapter 8).
Public and private spaces of the city 4
