Public Space Magazine

A place to think about mind and matters

2014-2022

Social distancing (2020) - has always been a cultural trait, but how about a global consciousness and what it means to be public?

The Problem of Schisminagosis: We don't know how to talk about politics

THE WALL -Whether by metaphor or in actuality the meaning was clear. Prototypes of the wall were installed separating mexico from the US and the countries' respective people. Border walls dominate and frequently overshadow democratic values. Yet, walls can also be viewed as a moveable feast - a protest tableau for artists and activists on both sides of a wall.

Unplugged?The Internet fills basic needs in all aspects of life but who is going to protect net neutrality?

Do gated communities divide America?

The gentle art of hunkering - A long haired hippy looking guy with bottle thick glasses, approached old-timers in the country and learned to hunker.

Half a house - Another idea for addressing the housing crisis.

The Camargue is both beautiful and beleagured. How is a diverse and willful delta system managed? Their management requires tactics such as soft engineering, Resource Management in the Camargue looks at practices drawing on indigenous knowledge and new knowledge in a spirit of cooperation. Time is short with climate change. Deltas are a key marker of the extent of damage to ecosystems including damage by public use.

Cemeteries serve humanity and shelter endangered species especially in the face of climate change. Today, cemeteries are in danger and the cost is high. Today there is no more space for the dead and lost public space for the living.

UPDATE 2021- The COVID era has heightened the shortage of burial space around the world.

Participatory budgeting represents the potential of real power-sharing between citizens and government. Like most empowerment tools, it calls for a leap of faith because it fundamentally represents a sea change in how things are done. Still, participatory budgeting outcomes has proven to not only bring good fiscal decisions, but also a renewed trust in government.

Children go to court to save their future

The military footprint on Washington State Public Lands is getting bigger and more intrusive. Taxpayers pay the cost.

This space is occupied The democracy of public benches - Benches are a free place to sit to watch people, to read a book,to feed pigeons, to entertain a profound or nonsensical thought or to be opinonated. Public benches are our democratic position. Benches, are disappearing. This loss affects the elderly and the relatively poor because being public is being visible in a public space and having a voice and an ear even when sitting.

Shouldn't everybody have a Home? Housing First is a valued but elusive goal but it doesn't need to be.

Anthropocene? Links with nature protect the human species, but detachment from nature is a challenge.

Imagine silence in nature for the deaf and for those who hear that is if they can learn how to listen to silence.

The Travesty of Municipal Codes - racial profiling and draconian loitering laws.

Daylighting and Unseen Urban Waters The hydrogeological and ecological advantages that come from daylighting can include better drainage, monitoring, reductions of pollutants, riparian corridors, wildlife, and general habitation for wildlife, beautification, recreational amenities, and better social cohesion. Perhaps most importantly given the environmental stresses humans and all beings face, daylighting brings back balance.

Farming practices in the face of climate change.

NO SEEDS NO FOOD!. Seed banks are a public trust that defends against the possibility of widespread starvation. In Notes on Seeding the Future. There will be food shortages beyond what we've had in the past. The loss of seed banks is more real than ever.

Pilgrimages have existed since the dawn of time. Why does this movement of people happen and what are their aspirations?

Olympics 2000 in London:The Pros and Cons of Legacy Development.

Is the internet a public space? Are large corporate interests free riders? In some countries such as Thailand the Internet is a human right, but the US does not have that protection. Access to the Internet is always under threat.

Justice for the Environment - Maybe the only answer is an International Court.

Exploring public spaces in Europe.

The first 2014 issue. fracking .

Librarians, the Guardians at the Gate, are forced to be more vigilent than ever before. They face privitization, censorship, and the digital world of the internet.

The death and rebirth of farmers markets - The story of Pike Place Market in Seattle and the growth of food insecurity.

Will privacy ever be a right in the US as it is in so many other countries? It's going to be a compromise some people are unable to make when it comes to production and consumption habits

In Memory of Donald H. Wollett - A jurist and constitutional scholar who believed in enlightened self-interest....

We sat in Don's study, he in his beloved judge's chair. We commonly explored law and history as we worked on a couple of books and labor arbitrations. The world laughed when Trump ran. We didn't laugh. This wasn't a parody of an individual. It was a sleeping tiger far greater than one man. History drove some prescient understanding on our part that he could win. Don died in 2016. Events have unfolded that he understood were likely to happen.