Public Space Design and Social Cohesion (PDF)

Patricia Aelbrecht is Lecturer in Urban Design at the School of Geography and Planning, Cardiff University, UK. Her research focuses on the social dimension of urban design, in particular on how social practices and activism in public space shape and redefine the meanings and uses of public spaces in a wide range of cultural and social contexts in Europe. Recent work also investigates mega-events as catalysts of urban regeneration and the contested regeneration of post-war modernist cityscapes. She holds a PhD in Urban Studies and an MSc in International Planning from University College London, and a BArch and MArch from the Technical University of Lisbon, Portugal.

Quentin Stevens is Associate Professor in the School of Architecture and Design at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia. He is author of The Ludic City, joint editor of Loose Space: Possibility and Diversity in Urban Life (both Routledge 2007), and author or editor of four other books with Routledge. His research focuses on environment-behaviour relations in public spaces; his recent projects have investigated social engagement around public memorials, public artworks, and urban waterfronts. He holds a PhD in Urban Design and a BArch from the University of Melbourne, and a Master's in Urban Planning and Policy from the University of Illinois at Chicago, USA.