Compendium of Dimensions for Evaluating Publicness of Public Spaces

Abstract

A classic case of privatization of use and not of ownership, privatized public space is a newly defined dimension that falls in the range far from purely private or purely public. These newly found dimensions need a measuring tool to describe the publicity of that space before designating the usage. This research paper has been extracted from the larger study on privatized public spaces addressing the questions on defining characteristics of good public space, and some measurable parameters to evaluate these public spaces. The paper focuses on creating a compendium of parameters from the already defined literature on public spaces, publicness and publicity, which can be used to explore publicness of such spaces and their associated dynamics. These parameters are sought to thread the dimensions that will further help in determining a measurable set of variables to analyze the public spaces empirically and analytically. A discussion on various models developed by authors till date has been made a part to this paper. The scenarios have transformed in 21st century with the advent of digital socialization and urbanization of spaces. Urban public spaces in India represent a clear contradiction of consistency and change. The paper concludes with a set of parameters extracted from the study and appropriated for the changing public spaces in India.