From Tahrir Square to Zuccotti Park, and from Madrid to Santiago, recent urban protests and solidarity movements have evoked the belief in democratic practices and civic values that have been historically associated with cities and public spaces. This course is based on the premise that examining public space holds the key to understanding complex processes of the production of urban space, and to the spatial–material and socio–economic dynamics that shape contemporary cities. The course will consider design, spatial, planning, philosophical, theoretical, and methodological dimensions of the contested concept of ‘public space,’ and will place a specific emphasis on public spaces in New York City. Students will explore the following questions: What is public space and how do public spaces manifest larger cultural, social, and political processes? What forms of socio-spatial interaction do public spaces support, and what do they reveal? How are public spaces designed, socially and materially produced, managed, and controlled? How does this impact the nature and character of public experience? How does public space design facilitate citizens’ right to a just city? What critical participatory approaches can be used to create inclusive public spaces that respond to the diverse needs, desires, and aspirations of individuals and communities alike? What are the critical global and comparative perspectives on public space that can enable further scholarly and professional work? And, what are the futures of public space in the face of global pandemics, such as COVID-19? Through hands-on inquiries, field visits, research, readings, discussions and films, the class will explore emergent public spaces ecologies.