Every public space has a different purpose and is used and shared in different ways by a variety of stakeholders. The relationship between a public space and the people who utilize it is not always clearly defined. Examining the different agendas of residents and nonresidents, buyers and sellers, and authorities and residents reveals how the notion of public space is perceived differently by each social group and how each group works to appropriate and use public spaces.
This presentation will discuss the results of four studies of how public spaces are used in New York City. The first two studies investigate public performers in subway stations and how they negotiate their use of public spaces with transit authorities and with each other, uncovering differences in how each group interprets public space and its appropriate use. The first study examines the conflicting agendas and perceptions that give rise to tensions between buskers and transit authorities and condition their interaction. The second study looks at how performers choose their location within the subway system in relation to other performers. The third study focuses on the use of public parks by buskers, especially how they select their performance spot in New York City parks. Our research reveals a tacit acknowledgment among musicians of a hierarchy of seniority for favored locations and their awareness of the soundscape of the park. The fourth study sheds light on the lives and practices of Christmas-tree sellers in New York City. They are the only vendors who are not required to obtain a permit, which creates much competition and tension as they claim their space on public sidewalks. With these three studies we offer a more comprehensive understanding of how different urban actors interpret, use, enforce, and negotiate for public space in government-owned infrastructures.
About the presenterLinDa Saphan
LinDa Saphan was born in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Fleeing the Khmer Rouge regime, she took up residence for over two decades in Canada and France. Her graduate study at the Sorbonne and l’Ecole Normale Superieure was in Social Sciences with prior degree study in Anthropology and Khmer Studies. She currently teaches sociology at the College of Mount Saint Vincent in New York as an assistant professor at the department of sociology.