Changing public space

4.4.3 Other effects on public space
Besides an increase in quality and diversity of public space through competition, private-sector
involvement could also affect the redevelopment of public space in other ways. According to
Beauregard and Haila (1997), the participation of (international) property developers and
investors increases the probability that large development projects are actually completed. Their
involvement might also positively affect the design of public space. If private parties are asked
to financially contribute to the redevelopment, they also tend to incorporate public space in
their plan formation, which means they are also involved in the planning and design process.
By co-operating and communicating, the private and public sector are jointly responsible for
the whole rather than for the separate components; that is, the private sector for the buildings
and the public sector for the public space. This results in more coherence between buildings and
public space, leading to a higher quality of the area (Krikke & Wienk, 2006). The main idea
behind this is that an area is developed comprehensively rather than as separate components,
whereby the developer would put up the buildings and leave the public spaces up to the local
government.
However, private-sector involvement might also entail a more complex process due to an
increase in the number of involved actors with conflicting insights and objectives, leading in
turn to a longer duration of the decision-making processes and sometimes even the complete
retraction of the redevelopment plan (Healey, 1998). Korthals Altes et al. (2003), for example,
state that urban redevelopment is often more difficult than urban expansion, because of the large
number of actors and stakeholders involved. In addition, including more parties in the process
could also lead to more compromises, which might lower the quality of the end product. Allen
(2006), in turn, claims that the intrusion of the market into the realm of public culture has
undermined the variety and uniqueness of urban centres.
4.5 Conclusions
This chapter examined the role of the private sector in the redevelopment of urban public space.
It appeared that private-sector involvement regarding public space has waxed and waned. For
quite some time, the government played a leading role in spatial planning, even eclipsing the
private sector. But now, the private sector is once again in ascendance. This general trend also
applies to the redevelopment of public space in Dutch cities.
The public and the private sector are increasingly dependent on each other to achieve their
goals. The interdependency can be linked to the concept of the entrepreneurial city. There is an
intersecting interest of municipal governments and international investors and developers. Local
authorities aim to capture investment flows to advertise and redevelop the city, while investors
and developers want to diversify their portfolio structure and seek international investment
opportunities. The result is the creation of public space by means of public-private co-operation
that is attractive, clean, and safe, but that can also be less accessible to the general public and
subject to a strict regulatory regime. Section 4.4 described the possible effects of private-sector
involvement. From the literature review, we can formulate four expectations: the involvement
of the private sector can lead to 1) an increase in the available budget for the design and
management of public space, 2) a decrease in the free access of public space, 3) more coherence
between public space and the surrounding buildings, and 4) a more complicated redevelopment
80