A critical response to the erosion of public space in contemporary cities. Discrete zoning, spatial commoditization and the devaluing of the social function of the in- between urban milieu have created cities that lack the spontaneity and social cohesion that was so critical in historical cities. The in-between can again become meaningful and serve to allow for latent urban potentials to become manifest in the city. An investigation into contemporary urban fabrics and a proposal for a new formal arrangement to allow for a renewed urban vitality in post- suburban Garden Grove, CA (part of the larger Los Angeles metro region) as a paradigm to be utilized throughout the region at various underutilized sites as new centers of density, urban vitality and social intensity.

http://www.justinskoda.info/urban-social-potentials-barch-thesis/