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Privately Owned Public Space : The New York City Experience

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This book is divided into two parts. Part One (about 20% of the book) describes the history, law, and expeirence with publicly owned private spaces. Part Two describes and evaluates each of New York's 503 spaces.

You might think that a discussion of the law and history of publicly owned private spaces might appeal only to city planners, developers and lawyers. You would be wrong. It would be hard to find a more lucid and balanced discussion of what happens when politicians attempt to direct the course of urban development. Anyone interested in public policy will find this discussion illuminating.

The descriptions of the spaces in Part Two combine a critical examination of the architecture and design with a practical discussion of how well these spaces work or, in many cases, don't work. Anyone who lives in or visits New York City could spend a fascinating day visiting these spaces with this book in hand.