Public space is a frequent theme in recent writing about cities; scholars describe ways in which urban activities, histories and identities are prescribed, controlled and homogenized. Yet, everyday urban dwellers encounter spaces that are loose, that manifest great variety and unpredictability, which simulate imagination and intervention. Loose spaces are places of possibility. What sets this book apart is that it is first and foremost a book about physical spaces, their capacity to shape and support behavior. It is aimed at readers who are interested in spaces: how they look and how they...

Public space is a frequent theme in recent writing about cities; scholars describe ways in which urban activities, histories and identities are prescribed, controlled and homogenized. Yet, everyday urban dwellers encounter spaces that are loose, that manifest great variety and unpredictability, which simulate imagination and intervention. Loose spaces are places of possibility. What sets this book apart is that it is first and foremost a book about physical spaces, their capacity to shape and support behavior. It is aimed at readers who are interested in spaces: how they look and how they...

Food and the City makes the relationships between food and the city visible by exploring both the ways in which buying and eating food have become such a significant part of urban public life, and the ways in which design supports and enhances the place of food in the city. It is timely because the proliferation of urban cafes, restaurants, and markets continues, but is not sufficiently recognized or analyzed. Food related topics are now of great interest in academic and design disciplines but the theme of this issue, food as it relates to the variety and vitality of urban life, has...