The reconquest of Europe. Urban Public Space, 1980-1999

Since the eighties, efforts have been made all over Europe to recover public spaces in cities. This new appreciation of these spaces involves much more than just a good physical design of the surroundings; it also strives to recover the capacity of these milieus as venues for activity and diversity, improving the relations, communication, and sociability of citizens. The recovery of these public spaces is, in this sense, the reconquest of everything that is most characteristic and deep-rooted in European cities; we could call it the reconquest of Europe.