The Politics of Public Space Volume Five brings together all four previously sold-out volumes alongside nine new conversations, expanding a Melbourne-born public lecture series into a cumulative argument for equitable, inclusive urban space.
About This Book
What began in 2018 as a series of talks held on Melbourne's street corners, laneways, parks, and shopping strips has grown into one of the most grounded local contributions to the discourse on public space and urban equity. Curated by OFFICE, the project deliberately bypassed the university lecture theatre to situate critical conversation within the city itself. Volume Five collates the transcripts of 39 speakers from the first four volumes — each presenting distinct, often contradictory views on how public space is defined, occupied, and governed — and adds nine new voices including Gary Foley, Alison Young, Uncle Dave Wandin, and Wendy Steele. The result is a document that moves from diagnosis toward action, identifying pathways to more just and culturally equitable built environments through both community-led and policy-driven approaches.
Key Features
- 280 pages of curated lecture transcripts and conversations spanning all five volumes of the series
- New contributors include Gary Foley, Alison Young, Lily Éire Parsons, Uncle Dave Wandin, Wendy Steele, Polly Stanton, and Olivia Daw
- Collates perspectives of 39 speakers from the original four volumes alongside nine new texts
- Published by OFFICE, 2018
What You'll Discover
- How locating discussions within Melbourne's own public spaces — its laneways, plazas, and parks — shaped the perspectives captured in these transcripts
- The contradictions and tensions between diverse community voices on how public space should be designed, governed, and accessed
- The role of marginalised and First Nations perspectives in reframing what equitable public space means in an Australian urban context
- How bottom-up community approaches and top-down planning policy can be brought into productive relationship to enact meaningful spatial change
About the Author
The Politics of Public Space is a project curated by OFFICE, a Melbourne-based practice that initiated the series as a public lecture programme in 2018. OFFICE has developed the project across five volumes as an ongoing inquiry into the critical value of public space for shaping equitable urban futures.
Specifications
- Format: Paperback
- Pages: 280
- Dimensions: 165 x 240mm
- Language: English
- ISBN: 9780648770244
- Publisher: OFFICE
- Publication Date: 2018
Perfect For: Architects, urban designers, planners, and researchers working at the intersection of public space, social equity, and community engagement — and anyone invested in the future of Melbourne's built environment.