Sitting in the City: Pedestrian Plazas in a Wider Context

Karen Franck (New Jersey Institute of Technology)

The provision of seating is a common -- nearly a defining feature -- of pedestrian plazas in New York City. Indeed, the very first experimental plaza consisted of closing off sections of Times Square and placing deck chairs in the space in 2008. Since then, the seating in pedestrian plazas has often taken the form of movable café tables and chairs. This form of seating is reminiscent of the type of seating that William H. Whyte promoted so eloquently in his research on outdoor plazas, recognizing the value of their movability while also identifying the ways in which ledges, walls and steps also serve as seating. Provision of seating in public urban space is becoming increasingly common – as in the conversion of parking spaces to parklets and in city benches sponsored by local businesses placed directly on sidewalks. At the same time, the availability of seating is also problematic when used for extended periods of time by homeless people, a circumstance that also arises in pedestrian plazas. Using pedestrian plazas as a starting point and drawing from observations and secondary sources, this paper examines in how the provision of seating has been, and continues to be, a defining but also a problematic feature of urban public space.