{"id":496,"date":"2021-04-29T11:49:11","date_gmt":"2021-04-29T09:49:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/publicspacedetective.com\/cms\/?p=496"},"modified":"2022-02-15T11:43:04","modified_gmt":"2022-02-15T10:43:04","slug":"ghost-town","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/publicspacedetective.com\/cms\/2021\/04\/29\/ghost-town\/","title":{"rendered":"Ghost Town"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"has-drop-cap wp-block-paragraph\">Public space is the mirror of society, the stage for everday socio-cultural interaction. We meet, eat, party, play, exercise, and, importantly, shop in public space. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pictured is the Meent, a typically busy shopping street in Rotterdam\u2019s centre. Streets like these are the spine of public space, the key support for our every-day life, where the bustling activity of people running their day-to-day errands gives the city energy, a life of its own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But during lockdown(s), most shops are closed, leaving streets and squares virtually empty. When you take people out of the equation, public space is deprived of her \u201craison d&#8217;etre\u201d &#8211; people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The result is an urban space void of publicness, a ghost town.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>This is one of my entries for the virtual exhibition &#8216;Back to the Future of Public Space: Postcards from 2020&#8217; organized by Rhizomalab (see previous post). To see all contributions follow this <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rhizomalab.com\/back-to-the-future-of-public-space-1\">link.<\/a><\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Public space is the mirror of society, the stage for everday socio-cultural interaction. We meet, eat, party, play, exercise, and, importantly, shop in public space. Pictured is the Meent, a typically busy shopping street in Rotterdam\u2019s centre. Streets like these are the spine of public space, the key support for our every-day life, where the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":497,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[5],"tags":[7,30,38,39,40,19,41],"class_list":["post-496","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-corona-files","tag-corona","tag-covid-19","tag-lockdown-scenes","tag-pandemic-public-space","tag-publicness","tag-rotterdam","tag-shopping"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/publicspacedetective.com\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Ghost_Town.jpg?fit=1311%2C1807&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":576,"url":"https:\/\/publicspacedetective.com\/cms\/2021\/07\/13\/public-space-is-the-place-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":496,"position":0},"title":"Public Space is the Place","author":"Floorvand","date":"13 July 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Public space is inseparable from, and intertwined, with the city. It is the city's substrate, its foundation, the very fabric that connects otherwise isolated buildings. Public space sets the stage for our every-day life, our sociocultural interactions, our daily journeying and wayfinding. We travel, meet, eat, party, play, demonstrate, even\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/publicspacedetective.com\/cms\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/publicspacedetective.com\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/38-SIGNS-scaled.jpg?fit=1038%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/publicspacedetective.com\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/38-SIGNS-scaled.jpg?fit=1038%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/publicspacedetective.com\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/38-SIGNS-scaled.jpg?fit=1038%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/publicspacedetective.com\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/38-SIGNS-scaled.jpg?fit=1038%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":147,"url":"https:\/\/publicspacedetective.com\/cms\/2020\/06\/24\/sports-in-times-of-corona\/","url_meta":{"origin":496,"position":1},"title":"Welcome to the Downtown Athletic Club","author":"Floorvand","date":"24 June 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"With sports facilities closed due to Corona, clubs are forced to give group trainings outside. Whether you exercise to feel better or to improve your body, within the confined space of a sports facility you are among like-minded people, initiates. The carefully groomed athletic body must be seen by others,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Corona Files&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Corona Files","link":"https:\/\/publicspacedetective.com\/cms\/category\/corona-files\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/publicspacedetective.com\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/IMG_7737-kopie.jpg?fit=1080%2C1080&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/publicspacedetective.com\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/IMG_7737-kopie.jpg?fit=1080%2C1080&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/publicspacedetective.com\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/IMG_7737-kopie.jpg?fit=1080%2C1080&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/publicspacedetective.com\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/IMG_7737-kopie.jpg?fit=1080%2C1080&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/publicspacedetective.com\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/IMG_7737-kopie.jpg?fit=1080%2C1080&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":670,"url":"https:\/\/publicspacedetective.com\/cms\/2022\/02\/04\/a-rooftop-for-the-people\/","url_meta":{"origin":496,"position":2},"title":"A Rooftop for the People?","author":"Floorvand","date":"4 February 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"When urban public space is sacrificed in favour of a new building it is generally agreed that this must be done in a careful manner. This goes for any new structure in an urban context, whether its function is private or public, housing or offices, mono-functional or hybrid, the way\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Public Building&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Public Building","link":"https:\/\/publicspacedetective.com\/cms\/category\/public-building\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/publicspacedetective.com\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/IMG_6847-scaled.jpeg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/publicspacedetective.com\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/IMG_6847-scaled.jpeg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/publicspacedetective.com\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/IMG_6847-scaled.jpeg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/publicspacedetective.com\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/IMG_6847-scaled.jpeg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":51,"url":"https:\/\/publicspacedetective.com\/cms\/2020\/07\/03\/public-space-as-an-antidote\/","url_meta":{"origin":496,"position":3},"title":"Public Space as an Antidote","author":"Floorvand","date":"3 July 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"As the city awakens from its imposed hibernation, this seems a good moment to cast a first glance on public space from a (mental) health perspective; urban parks as an anti-dote. At the start of the first lockdown venturing into public space was perceived as dangerous and even perilous to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Corona Files&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Corona Files","link":"https:\/\/publicspacedetective.com\/cms\/category\/corona-files\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/publicspacedetective.com\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/fe64526c-0365-4a4c-a36b-e2bebe34d85b-e1601540696808.jpg?fit=1200%2C1047&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/publicspacedetective.com\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/fe64526c-0365-4a4c-a36b-e2bebe34d85b-e1601540696808.jpg?fit=1200%2C1047&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/publicspacedetective.com\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/fe64526c-0365-4a4c-a36b-e2bebe34d85b-e1601540696808.jpg?fit=1200%2C1047&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/publicspacedetective.com\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/fe64526c-0365-4a4c-a36b-e2bebe34d85b-e1601540696808.jpg?fit=1200%2C1047&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/publicspacedetective.com\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/fe64526c-0365-4a4c-a36b-e2bebe34d85b-e1601540696808.jpg?fit=1200%2C1047&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":438,"url":"https:\/\/publicspacedetective.com\/cms\/2021\/02\/17\/ice-phoria-or-public-space-as-an-antidote-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":496,"position":4},"title":"Ice-phoria or Public Space as an Antidote","author":"Floorvand","date":"17 February 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Ice skating is the Dutch \u2018national sport\u2019 and skating on natural ice, a Dutch obsession. Weather-apps are watched obsessively, anticipation building as frost turns to ice, and the minute temperatures stay below zero, ice skate-fever grips the nation. Urban bodies of water like canals, ponds, and lakes, are transformed into\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Corona Files&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Corona Files","link":"https:\/\/publicspacedetective.com\/cms\/category\/corona-files\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/publicspacedetective.com\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/IMG_1566-kopie.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/publicspacedetective.com\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/IMG_1566-kopie.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/publicspacedetective.com\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/IMG_1566-kopie.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/publicspacedetective.com\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/IMG_1566-kopie.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":92,"url":"https:\/\/publicspacedetective.com\/cms\/2020\/08\/03\/publi-city\/","url_meta":{"origin":496,"position":5},"title":"Call for a Miracle","author":"Floorvand","date":"3 August 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"It is common knowledge that public space offers abundant opportunities for (commercial) publicity. City councils supplement their tight budgets with lucrative contracts for exploiting billboards in public space, with big companies such as JC Decaux. The commercially most attractive locations are those where people tend to spend 'empty' time; traffic\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Corona Files&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Corona Files","link":"https:\/\/publicspacedetective.com\/cms\/category\/corona-files\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/publicspacedetective.com\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/IMG_8121-kopie.jpg?fit=1080%2C1080&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/publicspacedetective.com\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/IMG_8121-kopie.jpg?fit=1080%2C1080&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/publicspacedetective.com\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/IMG_8121-kopie.jpg?fit=1080%2C1080&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/publicspacedetective.com\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/IMG_8121-kopie.jpg?fit=1080%2C1080&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/publicspacedetective.com\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/IMG_8121-kopie.jpg?fit=1080%2C1080&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pcM59q-80","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/publicspacedetective.com\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/496","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/publicspacedetective.com\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/publicspacedetective.com\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/publicspacedetective.com\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/publicspacedetective.com\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=496"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/publicspacedetective.com\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/496\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":729,"href":"https:\/\/publicspacedetective.com\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/496\/revisions\/729"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/publicspacedetective.com\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/497"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/publicspacedetective.com\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=496"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/publicspacedetective.com\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=496"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/publicspacedetective.com\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=496"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}