«Common language of the pavement»:? Critique of the public spaces’ discourse

Abstract

The article deals with the main points of criticism of public spaces’ discourse. Actuality of such an analysis is conditioned by the fact that public places attract the attention as one of the main sources of formation of territorial communities in general and urban ones in particular.

According to popular view, the public space is treated as a place of interaction between different people and communities. It is assumed that this interaction should form a common culture, tolerance and mutual respect. However, in reality, social and cultural differences of the potential participants prevent this process. Therefore, public spaces turn into places of conflict or become occupied by certain "publics", the others are excluded from the interaction. In any case, they do not perform the attributed role.