**5.2 The public spaces and the city social life**

Urban space represents the spatial concentration of the economic, social, cultural, and political activities, different from the nonurban/rural spaces by the population density or the characteristics of the way of life. Urban spaces embody a general reading of many factors; it presents the social life of the city is closely linked to the urban space. The relations between social life and urban space are the object of study of the urban disciplines. In the urban space, people interact and develop their social relations, enjoy or be scared, have or take possession of certain urban spaces, develop feelings of affection for some, or have memories related to others. Urban space is a term characterized by polysemy, flexibility, but also ambiguity. Therefore, it is difficult to reach a unique definition of urban space, generally accepted in all socio-human sciences. However, we will try to provide some main coordinates. It is important to understand the urban space take importance from public space, where the public space includes all the spaces freely used in the day to day by the general public, such as streets, squares, parks, and public infrastructure. Some aspects of privately possessed spaces, such as the facades of buildings or domestic gardens, also contribute to public space and are therefore considered by urban design theory. Some of the writers on this discipline are Gordon Cullen, Jane Jacobs, Christopher Alexander, William H. Whyte, Kevin Lynch, Aldo Rossi, Robert Venturi, Colin Rowe, Peter Calthorpe, and Jan Gehl. Public spaces are frequently subject to the overlapping responsibilities of multiple agencies or authorities and interests of nearby owners, as well as the requirements of multiple and sometimes competent users [19]. The public space is associated with "sociability," with the potential of meeting and communication between strangers. This implies that people come to the public space and remain there for the meeting with others; they use the space for meetings as a stage for specific social interactions. However, today, the "space of the move" is being replaced more and more with the "space of passage." Public spaces became places full of people

from elsewhere, who go elsewhere. Meetings, in contemporary cities, are temporary and replaced by events. The markets become spaces of the grocery store; the culprits are not to be together; they can wait for their friends to hang out at the mall or a public space.


Some of the writers whose lawyer and a treatise on this discipline are Gordon Cullen, Jane Jacobs, Christopher Alexander, William H. Whyte, Kevin Lynch, Aldo Rossi, Robert Venturi, Colin Rowe, Peter Calthorpe and Jan Gehl. Public spaces are frequently subject to the overlapping responsibilities of multiple agencies or authorities and interests of nearby owners, as well as the requirements of multiple and sometimes competent users [20].
