The Contestation and Appropriation of Public Space

This symposium explores the contestation and appropriation of public space. The ways in which public spaces are used, misused, and even abused have become of growing interest to scholars across the social sciences. However, we know relatively little about the ways how public space is used, changed, and maintained. This has led to the emergence of important questions regarding public space that we begin to address in this symposium, including: How do different groups of individuals define and use public space? What types of public space are needed and for what purposes? How and why has the understanding of public space changed over time? How does the privatization of public spaces impact social stability and equality? To address these questions, we present four studies about public space that embrace a variety of empirical and theoretical contexts. Our intent is that the four papers will set up some lively discussion with members of the audience that will in turn spark new directions of research in an understudied area. The Appropriation of Public Space: Anti-Restriction Protests during the COVID-19 Pandemic Presenter: Giulia Cappellaro; Bocconi U. Presenter: Amelia Compagni; Bocconi U. Reinforcing Systems of Exclusion: The Role of Public Space Presenter: Laura Fey; Doctoral Student Presenter: John Matthew Amis; U. of Edinburgh Where do Places of Social Inclusion come from? Exploring the Institutional Genesis of Public Parks Presenter: Santi Furnari; City, U. of London Presenter: Elena Giovannoni; Royal Holloway School of Business and Management Managing Public Places in Organizational and Institutional Change Presenter: April L. Wright; Warwick Business School Presenter: Gemma Irving; U. of Queensland Presenter: Asma Zafar; Brock U. Presenter: Trish Reay; U. of Alberta