POPS / Privately Owned Public Space

POPs are spaces that appear public—plazas, courtyards, parks—but are owned and regulated by private entities. They emerged as deals between developers and cities, trading public access for building rights. Often, a skyscraper in an American city could be built higher, if the small plaza in front of the building was assigned public use. Though labeled public, these spaces often come with hidden rules, surveillance, and exclusion of unwanted groups. They blur the line between commons and commerce, offering openness with strings attached. The fiction of “public” can become a tool of privatization.

Rotterdam Rooftop Days (Rotterdamse Dakendagen) is an annual festival that promotes rooftop living and emphasises the potential of roofs in mitigating issues of public space, empowering communities, reducing urban heat, increasing urban biodiversity, urban food production etc. It features Knowledge Day, Rotterdam Rooftop Walk, various cultural events and, most importantly, establishes a network of permanently […]

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