Santa Monica Pier: A Public Space for Community Engagement of all Kinds
Creating and maintaining vibrant public spaces is critical to the health of our democracy and requires continuous participation and vigilance. As the current urgencies of public health, social justice and economic equity intersect in civic life and discourse, the locations for dialogue, both physical and virtual, become ever more important. Even as the global network of electronic communication expands exponentially, our need to connect in physical space remains a primal drive. Our public spaces endure through cycles of regression and renewal.
For millennia public space has been framed and constructed at the intersection of political, economic, and social life. It has, inevitably, been the physical manifestation of the forces and hierarchies of the society. As such, it has come with powerful cultural valence and an array of opportunities and constraints. From the time when hunter gatherer societies began their frst tentative steps toward settlement, some ten thousand years ago, the shaping of the public realm has been a protean process of contestation and creation.
From the Greek Agora, to the Roman Forum, through contemporary plazas, squares and streets, public spaces have framed the spectrum of human behavior from inspiration to domination. In our own lives we have witnessed a broad range of initiatives; spanning from the destructive impositions of much mid-century urban renewal, to environmentally responsive renewal of parks, rivers and streets.
At this moment, issues of social equity, environmental stewardship, health and wellness are coming into high relief as urgent and existential questions