ANNUAL CONGRESS 2025

PUBLICLY NEGOTIATED PRIVATE SPACES– Negotiation Processes of the Public Usability of Outdoor Spaces in Private Developments

Not scheduled

20m

Yildiz Technical University, Istanbul

Oral Track 02 | PLANNING AND LAW

Speaker

Mr Maximilian Hoffmann (TU Dortmund University)

Description

Public spaces fulfill central socio-cultural, political, and economic functions for cities. What constitutes a public space goes beyond mere question of ownership of spaces by public authorities, but it includes spaces that fullfil such public functions. Since the 1990s, there has been an increase in semi-public (sometimes also referred to as hybrid spaces), where functions of public space are provided by private landowners and investments. Critical voices highlight the diminishing influence of public authorities on the general population’s ability to govern these spaces. How are functions of public spaces on private land are negotiated?

This study explores this question based on a qualitative case study on the negotiation processes of a privately owned urban square – the Gereonshof in Cologne (Germany). The Gereonshof is a publically accessible courtyard square within a major urban development project. The public access is formalized in a right-of-way easement. Originally, the private developer coined the space as the “Piazza Navona of Cologne”, but later on, a conflict on the public use of the space emerged. The conflict reached a peak in 2020, when a private security service evicted lingering passersby from the square. A public debate about the use and control of the space emerged in local media and by various interest groups. To structure the analysis, three connected research questions are answered: What attitudes toward public usability do the actors bring to the negotiation? What legal, spatial, personal, and discursive tools do they use to assert their positions? How is the negotiated use of the space implemented in practice? Therefore, a systematic discourse analyses with spatial observations complement the legal analysis of the situation.

Four distinct normatively justified positions of different stakeholder groups have been identified in the negotiation process: (1) A complete restriction of public use of the Gereonshof, justified by strong private property rights; (2) conditional public use that ensures peace and order in the interest of residents; (3) a demand for unrestricted public use as a contribution to an open, vibrant city; and (4) a fundamental rejection of the privatization of public spaces as a democratic commons. To assert their positions, the actors employ legal, spatial, personal, and discursive tools. For instance, the property owners point at a legal a discrepancy between the land register concerning the easement, and the binding land-use plan regarding the easement. Symbolic discursive strategies compete in various ways, including the framing of the square as the “Piazza Navona of Cologne” to foster acceptance of the development as a whole, while others portray it as a “gated community” to delegitimize the use of private security. These normative positions and discursive tools are charged with (audio-)visual and rhetorical elements to enhance their impact. Spatial observations reveal that the security service remains intermittently active, particularly at night, although violations, such as carrying alcohol, are often tolerated. Instances of evicting passersby from the square have only been observed during nocturnal attempts to use it as a photo location.

This study contributes to the debate on (semi-)public spaces and property rights by exploring normative positions and strategic tools shaping the negotiation of the use and control of such spaces.

References

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