Chance interaction among diverse strangers is a much-celebrated feature of urbanity. The rise in privately owned and managed public spaces, tending to displace people, activities and exchanges that may threaten business interests, has thus raised broad concerns. However, how such ‘new’, high-profile public spaces of the neoliberal or entrepreneurial city differ from ‘traditional’, everyday ones in terms of spontaneous encounters, is not well covered in the ever-growing public space research. Drawing on long-term ethnographic fieldwork in Oslo, Norway, this article explores the occurrence of peaceful chance interactions among strangers in ‘new’ public space. In the two examined urban squares, representing ‘traditional’ and ‘new’ public space, strangers interact on a regularised versus an episodic basis, reflecting major differences in ‘contact-supporting circumstances’. A close reading of the pertinent scholarly literature indicates that these findings have a broader significance. The article’s key contribution is the detailed documentation and conceptualisation of basic circumstances that distinguish a ‘new’ from an ordinary, everyday public space with regards to chance interactions. Herein, the study points to an important shift in urban governance and planning since the 1980s. A market-led notion of attractiveness in the physical and social environment takes centre stage in prestigious urban developments, at the expense of the disordered exchanges of everyday life.

Sverre Bjerkeset

Urban Studies

Urban Studies was first published in 1964 to provide an international forum of social and economic contributions to the fields of urban and regional planning. Since then, the Journal has expanded to encompass the increasing range of disciplines and approaches that have been brought to bear on urban and regional problems. Contents include original articles, notes and comments, and a comprehensive book review section. Regular contributions are drawn from the fields of economics, planning, political science, statistics, geography, sociology, population studies and public administration.

Urban Studies was first published in 1964 to provide an international forum for social and economic contributions to the fields of urban and regional planning. Since then, the journal has expanded its scope to include a growing range of disciplines and approaches applied to urban and regional issues. The contents include original articles, notes and comments, and a comprehensive book review section. Regular contributions come from the fields of economics, planning, political science, statistics, geography, sociology, population studies, and public administration.

《Urban Studies》创刊于1964年，旨在为城市和区域规划领域提供一个国际性的社会和经济贡献论坛。自那时起，期刊的范围不断扩大，涵盖了越来越多的学科和方法，这些学科和方法被应用于城市和区域问题的研究。期刊内容包括原创文章、评论和意见，以及全面的书评部分。定期投稿的领域包括经济学、规划、政治学、统计学、地理学、社会学、人口研究和公共管理。

Category	Quartile
经济学	1
经济学, 环境研究	2
经济学, 城市研究	2

Hello, stranger? How attraction trumps interaction in ‘new’ public space

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Journal Info

Category	Quartile
URBAN STUDIES	1