Beyond Zuccotti Park: Freedom of Assembly and the Occupation of Public Space

In the wake of the Occupy Wall Street movement, leading planers and social scientists examine public space today and freedom of assembly. The Occupy Wall Street movement has challenged the physical manifestation of the First Amendment rights to freedom of assembly. Where and how can people congregate today? Forty social scientists, planners, architects, and civil liberties experts explore the definition, use, role, and importance of public space for the exercise of our democratic rights to free expression. The book also discusses whose voice is heard and what factors limit the participation of minorities in Occupy activities. This foundational work puts issues of democracy and civic engagement back into the center of dialogue about the built environment. Beyond Zuccotti Park is a collaborative effort of Pratt Graduate Center for Planning and the Environment, City College of New York School of Architecture, New Village Press and its parent organization, Architects/Designers/Planners for Social Responsibility. The book is part of an open civic inquiry on the part of these organizations. The project was seeded by a series of free public forums, Freedom of Assembly: Public Space Today, held at the Center for Architecture in response to the forced clearance of Occupy activities from Zuccotti Park and public plazas throughout the country. The first two recorded programs took place on December 17, 2011 and February 4, 2012.

About the Author :
Ronald Shiffman (Editor) Ronald Shiffman, FAICP, is the former director of the Pratt Center for Community Development, which he cofounded in 1964. He was awarded the 2012 Jane Jacobs Medal for Lifetime Leadership for his work to promote community-based activism over the last fifty years. Rick Bell (Editor) Rick Bell, FAIA, is executive director of the New York Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA). He was instrumental in the creation of AIA's New York New Visions design and planning coalition, which has helped to catalyze and critique the redevelopment of Lower Manhattan. Lance Jay Brown (Editor) Lance Jay Brown, FAIA, DPACSA, is the principal of Lance Jay Brown Architecture + Urban Design in New York City, fellow of the Institute for Urban Design, ACSA Distinguished Professor at the Spitzer School of Architecture, CCNY, and president-elect 2014 of the American Institute of Architects New York Chapter. Lynne Elizabeth (Editor) Lynne Elizabeth is founder and director of New Village Press. She is the past president of Architects/ Designers/ Planners for Social Responsibility (ADPSR), a public-benefit educational organization founded in 1981 that works for peace, environmental protection, social justice, and development of healthy communities.

Review :
"Beyond Zuccotti Park is an insightful and relevant book that challenges us to think differently about the role of public space for civic engagement. If you believe in the First Amendment's right to freedom of assembly, then this is the book to read." - Mitchell Silver (AICP, President, American Planning Association) "A free and open public discussion is well understood to be fundamental to a democracy. Beyond Zuccotti Park confirms how important accessible open space is to that public discussion and illuminates the policy issues raised by the Occupy Wall Street movement. This diverse collection of voices raises important questions about how to define a genuine public space." - Roberta Brandes Gratz (author of The Battle For Gotham: New York in the Shadow of Robert Moses and Jane Jacobs) "The editors have assembled a chorus of voices into a fascinating... dialogue on the occupation of public space." (Publishers Weekly) "A timely perspective on public protest... The book's general premise is unarguable: 'We need to be vigilant to assure that both the availability of public space and the policies that govern its use in no way impede the right to assemble.'" - Sam Roberts (New York Times Metro) "The essays are as eclectic as the writers' viewpoints, making them rich and provocative. The common thread, which is so clearly stated in the book's acknowledgements, is their 'commitment to the important role that public space, universal access, equity, and design can play to enhance democracy and promote freedom of expression.' The concepts of public commons and the agora became part of the conversation not only within the context of cultural citizenship but also in the vital role design plays in forming the public sector." - Maxinne Rhea Leighton (e-Oculus) "By launching a riveting discourse about the role and impact of public spaces, Beyond Zuccotti Park not only encourages us to reflect upon the rights we have as citizens of a democracy, but to also get on our feet and seize the opportunity to fully the embrace these rights in order to create positive change in our communities." - Janey Lee (This Big City) "Beyond Zucotti Park is a fine collection of thoughts and articles on the [Occupy] movement and the change it has made in ways that have not been expected in social planning and other elements of society, highly recommended." (Midwest Book Review) "The book's essays survey the importance of public space as a forum for citizen expression granted by the US Constitution and how it has been compromised by the powers-that-be. At issue is no less than essence of democracy, so state Lance Jay Brown and Ron Shiffman, activist academics among the distinguished editors, in a forceful introduction." - Sam Hall Kaplan (Planetizen) "As the title indicates, the collection of essays is not about OWS [Occupy Wall Street]; it's about the impact of OWS and the thinking about assembly and public space that it has sparked.... [The contributors'] takes on public space and assembly could be read as recipes for making urban open spaces amenable for exercising democratic rights." (A Daily Dose of Architecture) "Pick it [Beyond Zuccotti Park] up and you, too, will find yourself swept away in the moment. You might also, as I did, begin to raise questions about the form of this protest and its relationship to meaningful social and political change." - Adele Oltman (eJournal of Public Affairs)