Privately Owned Public Space – For Whom, By Whom: An Interview with APOPS Founder Jerold Kayden

Posted on by APOPS
Zuccotti Park / Photo: Kayden (2011)
Professor Jerold Kayden

In an interview conducted by Lara Belkind for FunctionLab, the research arm of Farshid Moussavi Architecture (FMA), entitled “Privately Owned Public Space—For Whom, By Whom,” APOPS founder and Harvard Professor Jerold Kayden discusses the functional uses of privately owned public space in New York City, particularly since the publication of his book Privately Owned Public Space: The New York City Experience in 2000. Citing Zuccotti Park as a site of political protest during Occupy Wall Street, he describes how the occupation challenged everyone’s conception about how POPS may be used. He notes that the Zoning Resolution is silent with regard to what user conduct POPS owners may prohibit. What’s interesting, Kayden suggests, is that many of the POPS from the 1960s and early 1970s, bereft of public amenities such as seating or landscaping, present an opportunity to be defined by use rather than design. You can read the full interview here.

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