Public Square

The recently opened King’s Cross Square in London raised the interest of discussing public space in the city development. The reversion started with Ken Livingstone, former Mayor of London’s brave decision to reverse the roundabout at Trafalgar Square and return it to the people and now the present Mayor, Boris Johnson whom launched the Great Spaces with the aim of bringing back village into city will see the atmosphere of trust and neighbourliness, the essential ingredient for public realm. To ensure it is truly public space, the city manager must make sure that private control such as security guards and brand advertising is negligible and insignificant. Instead, cosmopolitan sensibility, civic pride, social interaction and sheer enjoyment must be the value to be inculcated and instilled. This is especially important now with the mushrooming of gated communities with their own border and compound. We must create the enthusiasm about shared spaces and develop more and more of them. This is about public riches, not private wealth. With more public riches, the objective of social integration and nation building can be built naturally. Until then, the sense of ownership over the Petaling Jaya city will be remained ambiguous.