When interacting with the urban context of the city, a city such as Johannesburg, it is apparent which spaces are obviously public simply by observing the users of the spaces and particularly how they interact with the space. Although these spaces are occupied by the general public, there is a certainty that they are subject to a certain code of conduct that they inherently adhere to, whether the rules are explicitly stated or subtly. Public spaces in the inner city and public spaces in the suburbs or more affluent areas bear a stark contrast to one another. In the more affluent areas, public spaces are subject to a “right of admission reserved” edict. Such is done as a manner to filter who uses the so called public spaces. The presence of surveillance is an omnipresent one that you become accustomed to. Public space has for many years been a contested topic, one whose definitions and understanding thereof has taken many forms over the years.
From this statement, I will be investigating at what constitutes a public space? The agents involved in the control of access and
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What were once thriving and very successful space in the city, for example Hillbrow, a once thriving social hub where middle class citizens felt free to roam the streets at any given hour of the day, is now a place where no person can dare go without the fear of being harassed or having an act of crime committed against them. The public spaces success in Hillbrow could be attributed to the fact that during the apartheid era, there were no opportunities for different races and classes of people to interact. Urban public spaces offer people the chance to interact with and inhabit the same space with someone they might not necessarily interact with on a regular basis. This facilitates in giving people in urban space to experience the