no more specific that that? what kind of urban space: streets? parks? neighborhood redevelopments?

i once did a research paper on jackson square, the center of the french quarter in new orleans. it's a great space...but i had MY reasons for arguing it. what are yours?

when is a space working actively? when is it succesful?

PPS is BS.

check out alot off the thing barcelona does Diagonal del mar and planning olymic planning. Also check thid book out cities x lines it shows urban projects in the way you are looking at them

Read "City: Rediscovering the Center" by William H. Whyte... It's a great primer on what makes some urban spaces successful and others failures. The book may be out of print, but it's worth tracking down a copy.

like steven said,, ur way too broad,, a public space is almost every space that is not private.

for fundamental understandings, check out

Jan Gehl's books and work.
Design of Cities by Edmund N. Bacon
Siefried Giedeon sheds a histrocial light on public spaces in his Space, Time and Architecture, but thats a long reading, and is only appreciated fully when you read it sequentially.
Jane Jacobs The death and life of great american cities

I like the work of West 8
Bos Park in Amsterdam i understand is succesful as an example of "landscape urbanism"

many, many, many more, but, can you be more specific?

i apologize for being too broad. I will try to minimize as much as possible.

In regards to Living in Gin, so far I have read the other book from Whyte, which I cant think of the title right now.
small urban spaces...something along those lines.


I guess the point of my research in a "workable" urban space is a case study that I can analyze that can be applied to The Sunset Strip here in Los Angeles, California.

I think for one example that I have been studying is the Olympic Park in Seattle where I imagine a walkway parallel to the Sunset Strip that runs along the hills that dominant in L.A and becomes a human traffic space since the existing conditions does not promote or permit a comfortable walking circulation. The idea is to revitalize and reinvigorate the Sunset Strip back to it's rock/punk scene where the old tower records use to be (the famous one where its a tourist attraction to all musicians) a hot spot for rockers and awesome impromptu concerts.

So by implementing this walkway strip, it's like a hitting 5-6 birds with one stone. There are existing conditions that need to be fixed, and things to be added to. So the "Walkway" isn't just a walkway, but because it is cutting through the hills, there is a retaining wall large enough to become and at the night time(probably the most important) it becomes a media strip.

i will explain further after review, but hopefully it gives a good start what I am trying to look for.