Public Space, Peace, and Everyday Life delves into the intricate relationships between public spaces, peace, and the rhythms of daily life. The book explores how peace is actively constructed in public spaces through the dynamics of place, community, and environment. Framed by the entry points of comfort, negotiation, and co-existence, it offers a compelling lens to understand the transformative potential of public spaces in fostering peaceful interactions.

Providing a rich theoretical foundation and post-humanist methodologies to conceptualise the interplay between everyday life and public spaces, the book spans a wide range of disciplines, including urban studies, urban design, urban planning, human geography, urban sociology, anthropology, and urban ecology. This approach is examined through case studies from Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas to explain how peace is contextually embedded and constructed across diverse spatiotemporal scales. Readers will gain insights into frameworks for understanding public spaces, methodologies for exploring their dynamics, and reflections that bridge activism, research, and practice.

This book will be of interest to scholars and professionals in urban studies, human geography, sociology, and anthropology, as well as urban planners, designers, and ecologists. By providing spaces that allow users in their everyday lives to move towards co-presence, collaboration, and co-dependence, peace can emerge on an ongoing basis. By offering a multidisciplinary perspective, the book equips readers with the tools to critically engage with the role of public spaces in shaping peaceful and hopeful futures.

Christine Mady has been a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Architecture, Aalto University, since 2022. Prior to that, she was an Associate Professor in the Department of Architecture, Notre Dame University-Louaize, Lebanon, and was Head of the Department from 2016 to 2020. Christine’s research addresses diverse aspects of public space in unstable contexts. Her research on Beirut’s public spaces established alternative readings related to instability, divides, securitisation, violence, space-time, and their implications for everyday life. Christine is a member of the Association of the European Schools of Planning (AESOP) Thematic Group on Public Spaces and Urban Cultures and has been part of its coordinating team since 2019.

Stefania Ragozino is a Senior Researcher at the National Research Council of Italy. She is interested in the relational and systemic dimensions of urban transformative processes, focussing on the public dimension of urban space and its value for spatial justice, the roles and modes of people’s and groups’ involvement in urban care practices and decision-making processes, and adopting a feminist perspective on the city. She is part of the core working team of the Association of the European Schools of Planning (AESOP) Thematic Group on Public Spaces and Urban Cultures, of which she was Main Coordinator from 2021 to 2023 and is currently a member of the Advisory Board.

Karina Landman is a Professor of City Planning, with a background in Urban Design and Architecture. She is the Head of the Department of Town & Regional Planning and the Chair of the School of the Built Environment. Her work focuses on spatial transformation, including research related to sustainable neighbourhoods, regenerative and resilient cities, and public space. Her work on public space revolves around issues of transformation, inclusivity, regeneration, and resilience. She has published the book, ‘Evolving Public Space in South Africa’ (Routledge) in 2019. Karina is a member of the Association of the European Schools of Planning (AESOP) Thematic Group on Public Spaces and Urban Cultures.