Author Description

DEMO: POLIS is a sociological and urbanist research undertaking examining comprehensively what "public space" means today. After two decades of appropriation of the internet's anonymous, virtual public space, people are once again taking to the real public space of streets and squares for their concern. If the internet widens the scope of thought and demands of the enlightened critical citizens, real public space is gaining additional political, social and cultural value. This understanding by many leads to demanding a greater say in decision-making processes that also affect public space. The era of the old certainties, of self-contentedness is over. Today, people make different and new claims to democracy, to public space. Its use and its design is subject to negotiation, shaping the future.<br> Political demonstrations around the world--East Germany's Monday Demonstrations 1989, the Taksim Square protests in Istanbul 2013, the occupation of Kiev's Maidan and the Umbrella Movement in Hong Kong 2014, the Je suis Charlie march in Paris 2015--have led to the revaluation of public space by the people. Public space today is no longer merely a market square in the heart of town: it is traffic hub, advertising medium, multi-functional space, or simply a place to hang out. The more the term's meaning changes, the more people appropriate public space.<br> Public space is also a combat zone for various interest groups: protestors for equality, ubiquitous commercial advertising, Techno music parades, or outdoor screenings of sports events. The question is who owns public space and if it is here where the future of freedom is negotiated.<br> At the same time, public space is place for individual self-projection and collective experience but also a strong manifestation of social segregation and neglect. Here individuals test the boundaries of what is socially acceptable; here rival groups fight for supremacy; here urban anonymity is abused to assault people. But it is also her