This paper is a summary of the public domain and the changes to be done to eradicate the modern isolation created by modern planning and development. The dead public space as the domain is abandoned for being empty and meaningless through the arrangement of space in urban areas. Professionals like architects are used to intensify this problem by planning large-scale; high-density buildings and skyscrapers construction that creates a dictation that the street society itself is dead. As a result, these phenomena kill the diversity of activities taking place around commercial and residential buildings. This modern planning further results in the death of the public square that plays the role of bringing different people and activities together. (Sennett 12-27)
However, the clash forms part of a major contradiction where the worldwide school was devoted to the idea of visibility in building construction; which proposed that walls be permeable by being made of glass through the social isolation of these buildings raised another question. Some World cities experiencing this problem include New York and London where the cities don’t show any sense of being sensitive to the need for the public domain. The factual lesson of Brunswick can be depicted from the central concourse that contains a few shops; a wide area of empty space and concrete benches that one can sit on and relax made for only the role of serving the public as opposed to the congested concourse of the city center. The visual communication of the glass walls is that the in and outside of dwelling places should not differ much; while the concourse emphasizes the creation of lively public space, that does not only act as a movement space as this role is taken by transport means. It should also play the role of bringing people together for each other’s surveillance; as is the case with the open-floor office plan. This, therefore, brings in the thesis of this paper that these obvious characteristics of an unsteady individual and void public life; have taken years in the making since the initial changes that began with the fall of the antique regime at the expense of secular urban capitalism. (Sennett 12-27)
The changes in the public have to begin with the elaborate understanding of the words public; which is used to imply the common good in a society that is open and evident to general observation; while private as used to imply to the privileged, and at a higher governmental level class and the sheltered section of life shaped by an individuals family and friends. Additionally, every individual is considered to have a private and public aspect of life; where the Bourgeois class cities like Paris became less concerned about their social origins and instead find social life away from the family in the public sphere that provided for the diversity of people that is needed. The concept “cosmopolitan” comes in; by that, it relates to the comfort achieved not being in a situation linked or associated to what is familiar to one’s background. The cosmopolitan individual was also used to refer to the perfect public man that takes pleasure in sophisticated diversity that makes him free from the feudal obligation that comes along with inherited wealth and culture. All these came along with the idea of the capital city that came with differences in language; behavior; belief patterns and networks of sociability. The new sociability thus led to the development of immense urban parks; street strolling comfort; coffee houses; cafes and inns that formed a central aspect of social networking and relaxation. Later the theater and opera advanced; to become open to a broad public through the sale of tickets in the place of aristocratic placement. At this time urban amenities also became accessible to the wider public; the cash economy expanded bringing into society the aspects of credit; investment and accounting that were rationalized in an impersonalized environment. This further led to the expansion of the bourgeois class that came along with new modes of dressing; behavior and language in achieving public order that further led to the development of oppressive inequalities of the medieval society. However, the new modes of interaction came along creating positive opportunities for personal improvement at the expense of the family and social relations where a state of balance is needed. In this society, the claims of civility against the rights of nature depicted in the moral obligations of individuals become the shocks of economic and public order that threaten the private and public life of individuals. (Sennett 12-27)
The forces behind all these changes include the double relationship which industrial capitalism of the 19th century came to have with public life in the modern city; the reorganization of secularism of the 19th century that that altered people’s perception of the strange, unknown, and divine; and the social-political upheavals that accompanied the death of public life. There was the inheritance of the forces of secularism and capitalism that relate business capitalism and metropolitan public culture aroused among the bourgeois members that resulted in the mystification of material life in public especially in the issue of clothes as a result of large scale production and distribution. In this age, the use of the family is under societal threat towards extinction; which forms a moral yardstick of the public realm of the city. This resulted in the perception of the family as a partial set of social relations and public life as moral inferiority where privacy and stability appeared to be united in the family thus threatening the public order in place. Industrial capitalism also had a direct effect on the material life of the public sphere that resulted in homogeneity as a result of mass production to serve the city market resulting in commodity fetishism. This as a result led to the interaction of free enterprise and public characteristics to take two different directions of withdrawal from the public into the family and the new mix-up about the materials of public appearance that led to the loss of legitimacy and coherence of the public realm. In the then-current society, there was the development of authentic secularism based on the code of the imminent organization of facts into a system that had to be restructured into the far-reaching secular culture that further erodes the life of the public sphere. (Sennett 12-27)
The concept of the public sphere connects with that of the third place in that; both of these public places play the role of nurturing social relations and social networks. Another connection between the two concepts is that they are phenomenons that are under the threat of extinction due to the modern modes of life. The two concepts are also connected in that they pursue the creation of social connectedness of individuals in the society; that will also play a major role in promoting the peace and harmony of human societies. (Sennett 12-27)
The pubic sphere is important in that it creates a place where the social intercourse of people takes high levels despite the different social statuses or classes of the different individuals that are socialized. The public sphere also forms a domain of social concern where problems that are facing the society in general; are addressed through effective informal discussions and idea exchange. The public sphere ensures the inclusion of the different classes; ages; and formations of society in decision making and views making that helps in the common welfare of the society. The public domain is important in bracketing inequalities that break the people in a society into different social and economic strata. (Sennett 12-27)
An example of a public sphere in my city is a modern theater; that communicates the matters of common interest through the use of political involvement enactment that is used to discuss the areas of social; political and economic affairs from a civilian point of view that is useful to the agencies that take action from the concerns raised at the public spheres. The communication role of the public sphere can be facilitated through the involvement of policymakers and action agencies in the discussions; that will form a reliable source of information on matters of concern as well as first-hand communication of the grass-root ideas. The spatial features required in making a good public sphere include; availability of space to allow for the involvement of many individuals; an open area visible to the rest of the place where discussions or demonstrations can be staged; and public address features like sound and lighting to make these places more effective. (Sennett 12-27)
The role of salons and pubs among other gathering places is the role of offering social surroundings away from the work and home spheres. This is because they form great informal locations for civil engagement; discussion forums; maintaining a civil society and democracy; creating the feelings of being in place; locations for social networking; and idea exchange that forms a core part in solving societal problems. (Sennett 12-27)
The media is an important tool in hosting discussions that house both ordinary citizens and other parties who are involved in the societal areas of concern. Through this it helps reflect on the public opinion that is useful in reconnecting the world to individuals; and as a result recreate the self-image of society. However it also weakens the individual’s ability to act self-sufficient since it plays the role of the public sphere on behalf. The tough effect on the social-cultural aspects of society that gives more importance and weight on issues of societal concern when communicated through the media than public spheres undermines their levels of communication. (Sennett 12-27)
The work on changes in the public domain by Sennet is similar to the third places concept as they both address the importance of the informal places in societies. The public sphere is important in that it helps the society air its views on matters of social concern to the outside. Examples of public spheres in modern cities include theater halls that help air the views of individuals and the society at large through different stage models. The spatial features needed in the creation of a public sphere include open space for societal entanglement and the media also comes in to enhance the outreach of public spheres.
Work cited
Sennett, Richard. “The Changes in the Public Domain.” The fall of Public Man. New York: Vintage, 1978: 12-27