Why Public Space Fails

William H. Whyte once said, “It is difficult to design a space that will not attract people – what is remarkable is how often this has been accomplished.” According to the Project for Public Spaces(PPS), many public spaces seem to be purposely designed to be looked at but not touched. They are neat, clean, and empty – as if to say, “no people, no problem!” But to us, when a public space is empty, vandalized, or used chiefly by undesirables, this is generally an indication that something is very wrong with its design, or its management, or both. In its assessment of why public spaces fail or why they are underutilized and mistreated, the PPS recognized some reoccurring problems:

• lack of places to sit and a lack of good places to sit 
• lack of gathering points (This includes features people want or need, such as playgrounds, or places where varying elements–bus stop, vending cart, outdoor seating–combine to create a gathering point. Food is often a critical component of a successful gathering point)
• Poor entrances and visually inaccessible spaces (if a place is to be used, people need to see it and they need to get to it)
• dysfunctional features (features that are simply built to punctuate a space, serving more of a visual than functional.

I thought about how this related to the under utilization of public space in downtown POS by many of the population who simply pass through or around these spaces. Although the problems in POS were a bit different I saw a few similarities.

Would you sit here?

I would not say there is an outright lack of seating but there is definitely competition for seating among the general public and the homeless persons who seek shelter in public space like the photo above.

There is shortage of playgrounds in the city's urban public spaces and it is catered toward mainly just sitting around evidenced by the photo below.

No where to play

Lastly a major problem I found but did not photograph was poor entrances, in Woodford Square (which is a pretty large space) alot of the entrances were inaccessible due to the gates being locked. One would have to use an entrance that would not have been as convenient and may chose to forgo entering the space at all. Other minor problems that were similar to those pinpointed by the Project for Public Spaces was the lack of food which is known to encourage gatherings (referred to as a gathering point). There were little food carts located in Woodford Sqaure and on the Promenade, and those present offered little variety as they contained mostly beverages and light snacks. 
The article provided great insight into why other public spaces such as transit stops also fail, while offering simple recommendations. It was short, direct and easy to read.

Resources 
Why Public Spaces Fail 
http://www.pps.org/reference/failedplacefeat/

Goheen, Peter.Public Space and the geography of the modern city.Progress in Human Geography 22, 4 (1998) p479-496.
http://studiereis.fondsbkvb.nl/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/Goheen-Peter-G-Public-space-and-the-geography-of-the-modern-city.pdf

Sharifa