The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces is a 1980 book and a film by US sociologist William H. Whyte that records and analyses human behaviour in public space through a number of case studies in Manhattan, New York.
Background
The book and film describe Whyte's analytical process and approach to evaluating and understanding a series of public spaces, mostly small parks, squares and office tower plazas in Manhattan, New York City. The book summarised research undertaken as part of the Street Life Project for the New York City Planning Commission that Whyte had collated since 1969.[1]
Chapters
The book is set out with the following eleven thematic chapters:
The Life of Plazas
Sitting Space
Sun, Wind, Trees, Water
Food
The Street
The “Undesirables”
Effective Capacity
Indoor Spaces
Concourses and Megastructures
Smaller Cities and Places
Triangulation
Public spaces analysed
A total of 18 small urban spaces in Manhattan were comparatively analysed.[2] The majority of public spaces were located in Midtown Manhattan. All spaces were built in the post World War II era and a majority are forecourts or public spaces associated with a modern commercial office towers. Paley Park and Greenacre Park were included as they are predominantly paved public spaces in the city with similar patterns of use as the other 16 locations.
The following list shows the original collection name of each site in the first column as used in graphs and charts in the book. Where building names have changed since 1980 this is noted.
Sites in Manhattan recorded and analysed (listed in order of graphs published in book)
In 1980 Whyte also released a documentary film with the same title as the 1980 book.[3] On release the 16mm film could be purchased for $750 or hired for $75 on two reels from the Municipal Art Society of New York.[4][5]
In 1981 a lightly re-edited version was made by Nova for broadcast on PBS, titled "City Spaces, Human Places".[6]
^"William H Whyte". Project for Public Spaces. 3 January 2010. Retrieved 21 February 2024.
^Whyte, William H (1980). The Social Life of Small Spaces (10th ed.). New York, USA: Project for Public Spaces (published June 2010). pp. 26–27. ISBN097063241X.
