Changing public space

animating public space, the interest of a particular group of users is served most: that of the
consumers. Economic explanations for fear and fantasy in public space are grounded in the
entrepreneurial policy of municipalities, which increasingly compete to attract the mobile higherincome
residents, tourists, investments, and businesses. Upgrading public space thus becomes
part of the larger process of creating safe spectacle in the city. The private sector is increasingly
involved in these urban development projects. The main political dynamic in contemporary
society is this shift from government to governance. Changes in society – be they socio-cultural,
economic, or political – have thus led to changes in public space, either directly or indirectly
through a changing set of urban policies and involved actors, as indicated in Figure 1.1.
We have compared these literature findings to the empirical results of the case-study research.
To find out to what extent the eight research objects could be categorised as secured or themed
public spaces, these concepts needed to be operationalised. We devised an analytical tool based
on scaling techniques in Section 5.4. Of each research object a six-dimensional diagram was
made which depicted its rating on dimensions of fear (i.e., surveillance, restraints on loitering,
and regulation) and fantasy (i.e., events, funshopping, and sidewalk cafés). Related to the profile
of the diagrams, it was determined to what extent the research objects were subject to aspects
of fear and fantasy in their design and management. The fuller the coverage in the upper half
of the circle (dimensions 1 to 3), the more the particular place was classified as a secured public
space; the fuller the coverage in the lower half (dimensions 4 to 6), the more it was classified
as a themed public space. It appeared that the Beurstraverse in Rotterdam and the Loeffplein
in ’s-Hertogenbosch (including the outdoor shopping centre called Arena) could be categorised
as secured public spaces, as they are monitored by an abundance of CCTV, are (partly) closedoff
at night, and/or have extra regulation enforced by private security guards in addition to the
regular local ordinance. The other research objects (except for the Grote Markt in Dordrecht)
can rather be classified as themed public spaces, because these tend to host many events and are
characterised by the presence of numerous funshops and sidewalk cafés. The Grote Markt proved
to be the exception; due to its low intensity on practically every dimension, it is neither a secured
or themed public space. This can be explained by its current function as residential square located
close to but not part of the commercial city centre.
The diagrams show that public spaces in both categories also exhibit features found on the
opposite side of the circle: spatial elements of fear and fantasy coincide in public space. However,
there is no clear-cut mechanism that more fear leads to more fantasy, as is suggested in a
number of academic publications. It appears that public spaces that have high ratings on themed
dimensions in general have low ratings on secured dimensions and vice versa. Fear and fantasy
can thus occur simultaneously in a particular public space, but do not necessarily reinforce each
other.
9.4 Private-sector involvement in public-space redevelopment
According to the academic literature, secured and themed public space is induced by a number
of socio-cultural, economic, and political dynamics. Socio-cultural dynamics mostly involve
changes in the behaviour and opinion of public-space users or the ‘demand side’, which we have
not investigated in the present research. Economic and political dynamics, on the other hand,
largely regard the actions of the parties involved in the restructuring of public space, the so-called
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