摘要:Wahlenpark is currently one of Zurich's most recent
urban public parks. It is located in a neighbourhood
which has been totally rebuilt during the last 20 years.
Based on a constructivist conception of space, this article
looks at the kind of spaces that have been, and still
are, produced at Wahlenpark. It is argued that various
groups of actors are, and have been, involved in this
production of spaces: city planners in the role of constructors,
landscape architects in the role of designers
and «the population» in the role of users. By defining
requirements, city planners constitute space, at first on
a mental level «only». As constructors they perform
– through the designers' plans – a powerful spacing
act: they physically construct a park. Park users in their
dual role as actors and «park element» subsequently
(re-)produce manifold spaces by uniting social goods
and people to spaces (see Löw 2001).
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It is argued that openness is an important reference
point in the production and appropriation of space at
Wahlenpark by planners, designers and users, albeit
with different meanings. The statements of park
users show that they experience openness differently,
sometimes even in a contradictory manner, thereby
highlighting the variability of subjective perception,
resulting in both the inclusion and exclusion of the
perceiver. In view of greater inclusiveness of public
spaces, a better understanding of the manner in which
people perceive and use these spaces is needed.