At the Strong Towns National Gathering I gave a rapid 8 minute presentation on walkability and the scale of the environment, and as part of my talk I briefly covered the concept of Places and Non-Places. For those of you that read my blog, this post will feel familiar to you and will be more of a recap - which I will apologize for - but based on the positive feedback I have received, I feel that this topic is important enough to share here. I wrote my original post on Places and Non-Places back in October of 2012, and as I expose myself to new experiences and think about these topics in more detail, my view of cities constantly evolves with me, so you will notice a few differences and a more refined description here.

I grew up around walking. I see cities are these magical, energetic, and complex places that are best experienced on foot. Through the eyes of a pedestrian trying to navigate through the city, my perception of a city was that which could be reached on foot. I would gravitate toward areas that had the most destinations within walking distance - from shops, to river fronts, to amenities and street life - I viewed these centers of activity, where everything was within a few minutes walk, as the ultimate freedom of mobility.

Cities are collections of people, so I find it perverse when I see how much land is forbidden, unsafe, or otherwise not designed for people. Every wide road or parking lot I encounter as a pedestrian is just another obstacle, pushing the destination I am trying to get to further away. Even before I became an urbanist, I contrasted the pedestrianized shopping street in the city center - which needed no landscaping or other padding to be pleasant and enjoyable, with the rather spaced out suburban environment.

I view everything that is not a destination - a place with a purpose - as just padding. When I encounter padding it really takes away from the city experience. Some of this padding is necessary because it has to accommodate an environment where everyone drives. Yet are these people driving because everything is spaced so far apart?

When you hear me talk about Places and Non-Places, I am attempting to distinguishing between the places that are destinations - where people are actually trying to get to - and the padding between them. I was not the first to write about Places and Non-Places. That credit goes to Nathan Lewis.

Places and Non-Places

All of the land used in cities can be divided into two categories: Places and Non-Places. Places are for people. Places are destinations. Whether it is a place to sleep, a place to shop, a place of employment, or simply a place to relax - it has a purpose and adds a destination to the city. Building interiors are the most common form of Places found in cities. Examples of outdoor Places include;

Parks and gardens

Plazas

Human-oriented streets

Non-Places are the padding between destinations. Examples of Non-Places include;

Roads

Freeways

Parking Lots

Greenspace

Greenspace

It is important that we make a distinction between greenspace and a park, garden, or someone's yard. If children can play out there or if you can sit down and enjoy your lunch out there, then it is a Place;