The urban bench has been romanticised as a location of intimacy and benign social
serendipity, and problematised with regard to perceptions of unwelcome loitering. In this …

Weaving together observations and insights from ethnographic research gathered over two
years, this article considers how design and everyday life intertwine to create convivial …

Property guardianship, a form of short-term building security through temporary dwelling,
has emerged in several European countries over the past 20 years. Despite being …

This paper presents findings from a mixed-method research project which explored use of
outdoor spaces and social connections in Bradford, a post-industrial city in the north of …

This paper is concerned with the routines of concierge workers in a multi-storey housing
estate: Red Road, Glasgow. Adopting a praxiological perspective, the paper focuses …

This paper introduces 'fourth places' as an additional category of informal social settings
alongside 'third places'. Through extensive empirical fieldwork on where and how social …

So-called temporary uses of urban space, including 'pop ups' or meanwhile spaces, have
recently attracted much attention by urban professionals as providing short-term 'solutions' to …

To illustrate the decline in a strong sense of community the characteristics of suburban living
are often cited by social and cultural commentators. Spatially dispersed, lifeless during the …

Housing has come to play an important role in demarcating the contours of social
polarization in inner London, notably via the widening socio‐spatial divide between an …

The aim of this paper is to inform urban design practice through deeper understanding and
analysis of the social dynamics of public outdoor space in ethnically diverse …