IN-PERSON London. Section B

Abstract

In cities, contextualized by complex globalization impact and sustainability challenges, there is a growing consensus on the need for a better human approach to public spaces design and maintenance and a more bottom-up approach on their management. Public spaces are relevant as factor for the improvement of quality of life in urban societies, an acquainted important element of cohesion and identity, and a crucial part of the local-global axis on urban policies. In this vein, the public space is rather considered as a process of policymaking than as a container of qualitative and quantitative attributes (accessibility, security, etc.). Thus, public spaces are not only part of the city’s image, but the process by which to win or lose the government in cities. The academic literature on public space management is a more recent line in the governance theory, and though we can find theoretical proposals, still we are facing what is named a black box, a blind spot, or better to say a promising venue of urban governance research. In this communication, we show the draft results got from a mixed methodology research on public space management, using qualitative interviews with local technicians and politicians, a CATI survey (n=400) to the local population, and a focus group with local stakeholders. The context is a southern-west city of Spain, Huelva with a quick industrial development that generated a fragmented urbanism. We outline an insight transferable to other local contexts on how to approach the analysis of public space management from citizens’ opinions and identify indicators for the play of stakeholder relations in public space management.