Contemporary public spaces. Flexibility, liveability and adaptability

This volume addresses flexible, liveable, and adaptable public spaces through a selection of emblematic international case studies which, across different geographical, cultural, and design contexts, demonstrate how public space continues to represent one of the most relevant fields for interpreting and guiding the transformation of the contemporary city. Squares, parks, waterfronts, streets, promenades, and hybrid spaces are not considered here as mere formal episodes, but as complex urban devices capable of interrelating spatial quality, social practices, collective well-being, change management, and urban vision. Public spaces are the places where the city becomes visible in its most tangible dimension: that of encounter, permanence, movement, accessibility, and proximity, but also that of adaptation and care. For this reason, examining public space today means questioning not only its form, but above all its capacity to function, endure, and transform over time. The three key concepts structuring this volume—flexibility, liveability, and adaptability—emerge precisely from this perspective. Flexibility refers to the capacity of space to accommodate multiple uses, different temporalities, and urban practices that are not rigidly predetermined. Liveability, in turn, concerns the ability of space to support well-being, comfort, inclusion, health, and the quality of everyday life. Adaptability refers to the capacity of public space to respond to environmental, social, and cultural changes, redefining its role over time without losing its collective meaning. These three dimensions are not treated as separate categories, but rather as closely interrelated conditions, often coexisting within the case studies examined. The book aims to provide a critical reading of significant experiences, selected for their ability to express—through diverse and recognisable forms—some of the qualities most needed in contemporary public spaces. Bryant Park, Superkilen, Biblioteca degli Alberi, Madrid Río, Parc Rives de Seine, Piazza Pia, Times Square Plaza, Tempelhofer Feld, Paley Park, Ribeira das Naus, and the Caracciolo-Partenope waterfront are only some of the cases presented: places which, for different reasons, demonstrate how public space design can generate relevant impacts at the urban, social, environmental, and symbolic levels. The structure of the volume reflects this approach. Following the introduction and the methodological section dedicated to mapping flexible, liveable, and adaptable public spaces, the book is organised into three parts. The first is devoted to flexible public spaces, understood as places capable of accommodating diverse uses, multiple temporalities, and processes of progressive appropriation. The second focuses on liveable public spaces, interpreted as environments that promote well-being, inclusion, comfort, and quality of urban life. The third addresses adaptable public spaces, in which the capacity to respond to change, absorb new demands, and redefine their functioning in relation to evolving conditions becomes particularly evident. Within this framework, the international case studies do not merely serve an illustrative function, but become tools for knowledge and comparison. They make it possible to observe how issues of flexibility, liveability, and adaptability are translated into different design solutions across diverse cities and contexts, while also revealing recurring themes: the centrality of the pedestrian, the role of green infrastructure, microclimatic quality, diversity of uses, long-term management, accessibility, the relationship with water, spatial reversibility, and the capacity to generate a sense of belonging and sustained use. This volume is therefore addressed to scholars, designers, policymakers, and all those who consider public space not as a secondary element of the city, but as one of its fundamental structures. In contemporary conditions, to speak of public space is to question the very possibility of building cities that are more liveable, more inclusive, and more capable of addressing change.