The public space as a social experience

Abstract

This reflective article inquiries about the public space as a social experience by reflecting on concepts such as modernization and urbanism, and their relationship with the social agents that affect that space. First of all, it studies the public space as a place of tensions, changes of meaning, and borders between the publicness, the intimacy and the privateness. The pedestrians behave following some “histrionic” patterns. Nevertheless, differently from the theatre, there is not a Mise-en-scène in the public space, and everyday life is an improvisation. In addition, it is reflected on how processes of urban renovation shape the social agents of the public space, taking into account that urban design are transformed according to the passersby’s will. Thus, the social relationships that take place in the public space should not be understood excluding the projects that allow the renovation of the cities.