In pursuit of the good place

Abstract

The public space of the street has been the target of planning and design actions fundamental to contemporary urban interventions, when it assumes a new role of responsibility in the planning of cities and the quality of life of the people, in order to contribute to the creation of economic opportunities and the promotion of social equity; also promoting the health of the population and assisting in practices that involve public safety. Therefore, street is now a key element for good urban planning practices that aim at the environmental and economic sustainability of the place. Through the conceptual and anthropological vision of DaMatta (1997), on the exercise of citizenship in Brazil, and the urban planning recommendations of Ghel & Svarre (2018), which promote the use of the street as a citizen space, experiences with parklet projects in Recife (Brazil) and in Toronto (Canada) are analyzed and the street is discussed as a citizenship space in the two cities, whose cultures and ways of seeing and experiencing the street are different, reflecting consequently different design solutions for the use of the street, as well as for the use and appropriation of urban public space.