Shared Space and Res publica

One of the more radical ideas that the East Campus Redevelopment Initiative plans to employ is the idea of ‘Shared Space’. This East Campus Initiative will bring people together in a close area for socializing. There will also be moderate vehicle traffic for parking. This concept of ‘Shared Space’ plans to combine both vehicle and pedestrian traffic into one space. This idea has worked before in Europe and the developers of the East Campus Initiative believe that they can utilize it here in College Park.

The ‘Shared Space’ idea is an example of ‘res publica’. Res publica is a public space where citizens hold public activities. This is the opposite of res privata; in which the private space is constituted by personal activates.

Here is a concept drawing of Shared Space and an example of res publica:

An example of res privata would be a front yard of a house. Although a front yard is out in the open, it is for the private use of the house owner. Someone may put up hedges or a fence to separate the public and private spaces. These barriers are not meant to offend or shut people out completely. They are just there to emphasize that it is their private space.

This has already caused some controversy. Some people think this idea will not work in the US because it is dangerous. Others disagree. You can learn more about Shared Space and the controversy on the blog post (and comments) of the Re-think College Park website here: http://rethinkcollegepark.net/blog/2008/544/