Co-production of public space: policy translations from New York City to the Netherlands

Abstract

Public spaces have a surplus value for cities, as they are places for unexpected encounters, public discourse, relaxation and passage. Despite the wide range of beneficiaries, municipalities still often consider them as traditional public goods and bear sole responsibility, yet increasingly lack budgets. Co-production could be a possible solution to share costs, rights and responsibilities, but is often contested due to fear of privatisation and commercialisation. This paper evaluates different forms of co-production of public space in New York City and investigates how they could be translated to the Dutch context, where co-production of public space is still rare.