#publicspaces — Public Fediverse posts

Making hostile spaces The dispersal of non consumers

* At an intersection of numerous car parks, retail industry and an amusement industrial complex in Coffs Harbour there is a small green space with benches and birds. People and birds rest there and have their lunch.

Some time ago the amusement & drink giant piped ongoing unpleasant, loud music over the small green island and the abundant car parks.

The intention of the outdoor speakers distributing noise pollution is/was to engage in then 'dispersal' of ‘loitering' non customers.

This loud and repetitive ‘music’ is also known as "aggressive" or "defensive" architecture. This design in mostly public spaces is intended as a form of 'organised abandonment' (Ruth Wilson Gilmore) of the poor and the unhoused.

Often the exclusionary design acoustic ('steady-state spam’) is combined with other anti homeless devices (anti-homeless spikes furniture) which function to keep members of the public out of public spaces.

With increasing inequality, that is non spending consumers, the system is increasingly employing hostile practices. Privately owned public spaces such as walkways, plazas, arcades and small parks have to ensure the safety of their customers and staff. Non-consumers have no place in this scheme.

* "Woolworths has installed outdoor speakers at its Darwin city store to play the supermarket's 'Fresh Food People' jingle on repeat in a bid to deter loitering.” >>
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-08-25/darwin-city-woolworths-looping-jingle-anti-social-behaviour/107073330
* "The NSW Police Force is currently running an Australian-first trial in Moree (an area with a high Indigenous population) using rooftop drones to "fight crime" in the area, controlled by people hundreds of kilometres away at Bankstown Airport." >>
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-08-26/automation-and-repression-the-two-go-hand-in-hand-daron-acemoglu/107063582
#HostileArchitecture #PublicSpaces #inequality #privatisation #ShoppingCentres #dispersal #FirstNationsPeoples #biopolitics #surveillance #CCTV #PervasiveTechnologies #UAVs #NoisePollution #IndigenousPeoples #DesignApartheid #governance #CoffsHarbour

We Didn’t Get Ruder—We Just Stopped Noticing Each Other: A Pagan View of Everyday Harm

https://pagangrove.wordpress.com/2026/04/22/we-didnt-get-ruder-we-just-stopped-noticing-each-other-a-pagan-view-of-everyday-harm/

We Didn’t Get Ruder—We Just Stopped Noticing Each Other: A Pagan View of Everyday Harm

https://pagangrove.wordpress.com/2026/04/22/we-didnt-get-ruder-we-just-stopped-noticing-each-other-a-pagan-view-of-everyday-harm/

We Didn’t Get Ruder—We Just Stopped Noticing Each Other: A Pagan View of Everyday Harm

https://pagangrove.wordpress.com/2026/04/22/we-didnt-get-ruder-we-just-stopped-noticing-each-other-a-pagan-view-of-everyday-harm/

We Didn’t Get Ruder—We Just Stopped Noticing Each Other: A Pagan View of Everyday Harm

https://pagangrove.wordpress.com/2026/04/22/we-didnt-get-ruder-we-just-stopped-noticing-each-other-a-pagan-view-of-everyday-harm/

We Didn’t Get Ruder—We Just Stopped Noticing Each Other: A Pagan View of Everyday Harm

https://pagangrove.wordpress.com/2026/04/22/we-didnt-get-ruder-we-just-stopped-noticing-each-other-a-pagan-view-of-everyday-harm/

#Toronto - #EarthMonth 2026

All of April 2026

Free & Low-Cost Programming | Most Events Free

"What is Earth Month at the Brick Works?

For over 15 years, #EvergreenBrickWorks has been Toronto’s demonstration hub for sustainability: a repurposed historic site that proves what’s possible when we reimagine public space for people and planet. Every April, we open our doors to a whole month of programming in celebration of that.

Earth Month at the Brick Works brings together community organizations, environmental educators, artists, local vendors and Torontonians interested in exploring the things that matter:

How do we live more sustainably? How do we create less waste? How do we reconnect with the natural world right here in the city?"

Upcoming events:

April 25th: #LitterCleanUp with Don't Mess with the Don
10am-12pm
Meet at Watershed Wall
Free
Don't Mess with the Don and Evergreen will be leading a spring clean of some of favourite places in the Don Valley. We provide everything you will need including snacks. The clean up is easy to moderate with some brush areas involved. Rain or shine. No need to register - meet at the Watershed Wall at 10am.

April 26th: #EcoFair - Green Neighbours Network & Transition Toronto
11am-4pm
CRH Gallery
Free
EcoFair Toronto is a celebration of the wonderful people, environmental groups, and eco-businesses that are helping to create a greener and healthier planet for all. With fun activities for kids, industry professionals, EV and e-bike test drives, the City of Toronto Hub, and locally produced sustainable products for home, health, fashion and accessories by Toronto artisans there's something for everyone.

April 26th: Drop-in: Seed Planting Demo
12-5pm
Evergreen Garden Market
Free
Stop by the Evergreen Garden Market anytime for a free seed planting demo!

April 26th: WORKSHOP: Exploring #ClimateJustice through Cold Process #SoapMaking | Register here.
11am-1pm
Bricks and Bites Kitchen
$90
Learn how to create soap using plant-based ingredients while exploring the ecological benefits of this traditional method. Take the soap recipe and two lbs of your own soap home with you. Stay for a latte and conversation!"

FMI [includes more events]:
https://www.evergreen.ca/evergreen-brick-work/events/earth-month-2026/

#SolarPunkSunday #SeedPlanting #BuildingCommunity #MakerSpace #SustainableProducts #LocalArtisans #TorontoCanada #GardenMarkets #SpringCleanUps #EarthDay2026 #Workshops #PublicSpaces

Festive Commerce in Cork

Brown Thomas on Patrick Street, Cork, is all lit up again for Christmas. On Oliver Plunkett Street they’ve put up the usual decorations and they look fabulous!

#2025 #architecturalLighting #atmosphericLighting #brownThomas #christmas #christmasDecorations #christmasLights #cityCentre #commercialPhotography #communalCelebration #cork #decorativeLights #departmentStore #festiveAtmosphere #festiveDecoration #festiveLighting #festiveSeason #holidaySeason #holidayShopping #illuminatedFacades #ireland #irishCities #irishRetail #luxuryRetail #motionBlur #nightPhotography #oliverPlunkettStreet #patricksStreet #pedestrians #photo #photography #publicSpaces #retail #seasonalDecoration #shopping #shoppingStreet #sonyA7rv #storefront #streetLighting #streetPhotography #urbanChristmas #urbanRetail #windowDisplay

From traffic channels to
"replacing them with shared surfaces, lower speeds, an ecological layer, and spatial ambiguity."

Shared public spaces
"are expected to accommodate not only movement and encounter but also water infiltration, carbon sequestration, shade, biodiversity, and multispecies migration, while remaining safe and efficient conduits for people and infrastructure above and below ground."

"Personal transportation is a primary driver of urban sprawl and the proliferation of intercity highways."
>>
https://landezine.com/streets-from-infrastructures-to-shared-ecologies/
#SharedSpace #PublicSpaces #mobility #pedestrians #micromobility #traffic #pollution #runoff #microclimate #heatisland #HumanScale #machines #cars #traffic #sprawl #BellingenShire #sprawl
Bellingen traffic channel

Time for the obligatory #paneldiscussion at the #PublicSpaces conference #Pubconf2025 with Paris Marx, Emma Ghariani, Zuzanna Warso and Michiel Leenaars.

7.6: Abundance, Inclusion, Resilience: The One Million Neighbours Project with Sam Nabi

This episode, Ariel speaks to Sam Nabi about One Million Neighbours, a project bringing together the voices of local non-profits that envisions the future of Waterloo Region once the population has reached one million. Sam discusses the impetus for the project, providing a voice for the voiceless, the issue with grant applications, funding the future, being proactive instead of reactive to harsh policies, and much more. What might an abundant, inclusive, resilient (Ariel says: solarpunk) city look like on the human level? Who lives there, what do they value, and what are their daily lives like? And what does it look like to take action now at the regional/municipal level to ensure that utopian vision?

https://youtu.be/PlJXF0qvV9k

#solarpunk #SolarpunkPresentsPodcast #Episode #SeasonSeven #podcast #interview #OneMillionNeighbours @samnabi @dtkmelissa #VisionOneMillion #HoldTheLineWR #Nonprofits #neighbours #Waterloo #RegionOfWaterloo #Kitchener #KW #UrbanPlanning #transit #PublicSpaces

Today is Victoria Day in Canada, a national holiday, so I briefly considered waiting to post this until Tuesday but screw colonial measures of time; #notmyqueen lol

An open-air shopping mall, Seoul, South Korea 🏙️🌸
Public spaces accessible to all, “whether they are shopping at the mall or simply enjoying the area” 🚶‍♀️🌞

👉 READ the news and SUBSCRIBE to our summary of news and updates through link: https://amusementlogic.com/general-news/an-open-air-shopping-mall-seoul-south-korea/

#openairmall #publicspaces #accessible #opendesign #urbandesign #centrecommercial #espacespublics #accessibilité #architectureouverte #designurbain #centrocomercial #espaciopúblico #accesible #arquitecturaabierta #diseñourbano

An open-air shopping mall, Seoul, South Korea 🏙️🌸
Public spaces accessible to all, “whether they are shopping at the mall or simply enjoying the area” 🚶‍♀️🌞

👉 READ the news and SUBSCRIBE to our summary of news and updates through link: https://amusementlogic.com/general-news/an-open-air-shopping-mall-seoul-south-korea/

#openairmall #publicspaces #accessible #opendesign #urbandesign #centrecommercial #espacespublics #accessibilité #architectureouverte #designurbain #centrocomercial #espaciopúblico #accesible #arquitecturaabierta #diseñourbano