Why read The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces?

Book cover of The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces

Book description

In 1980, William H. Whyte published the findings from his revolutionary Street Life Project in The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces. Both the book and the accompanying film were instantly labeled classics, and launched a mini-revolution in the planning and study of public spaces. They have since become standard…

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New York City

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Why read it?

1 author picked The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Thomas Dyja

Author

Holly Whyte is a sort of godfather to my book. He was a journalist turned urbanist who became extremely influential in New York City by focusing on how exactly people used public space. He and his team would set up cameras around plazas and small parks to document the ways New Yorkers sat, strolled, and schmoozed. Their findings, along with Whyte’s profoundly optimistic vision of people as the solution to urban problems, laid the foundation for transformative changes in places like Bryant Park and Times Square. You’ll never look at the city the same way after reading this, both in…

From Thomas' list on The best books on how New York became New York (that aren’t Robert Caro’s The Power Broker).