On South Bank

Through an in-depth ethnographic examination of London's 'South Bank', this book explores the value widely presupposed on urban public space. Based on subjective accounts of the value of public space, as well as observations of how the South Bank is used and 'practised' on a daily basis, it argues that this value is not so much inherent to physical public space itself as it is derived through the everyday use and production of that space. Public space is valued not only for its essential material characteristics but also for the productive potential that these characteristics, if properly managed, afford on a daily basis.

Alasdair Jones is Lecturer in Qualitative Research Methodology at the Department of Methodology, London School of Economics & Political Science, UK.

1: Introduction; 2: Public Space as a Research Setting; 3: Boundary Effects; 4: South Bank as Theme Park? Public Space and the Practical Accommodation of Disorder; 5: Play and Public Space; 6: 'The Stamp of the Definitive' 1; 7: Conclusion