Central Park and the production of public space: Use of the city and the regulation of urban behavior in history

Abstract

Contemporary debates on the eclipse of public space usually provide an idealized interpretation of its past, avoiding a proper consideration of the role that planning techniques have played in the evolution of this phenomenon. Contributing to the development of a critical history that helps correct such knowledge gaps, this article presents New YorkÍ€™s Central Park as a governmental device aimed at replacing the regime for the use of public space developed during the mid-nineteenth century regarding the streets of Manhattan, with a new set of spatial practices that are defined and monitored by the State. The article begins with a description of the spontaneous appropriation of the streets during this period and the resulting contradictions that occurred. This is followed by an analysis of the different levels of articulation between such behavior and the parkÍ€™s strategy of domestication, from the design of the network of places, to the normative regulation of the visitorsÍ€™ behavior and use of space, to the active surveillance and punishment of undesired behaviors and subjects.