Reclaiming Public Space

The compilation of scholarship presented in the following pages represents the culmination of extensive collaborative research emerging from the Safe and Sound Cities Programme (S2Cities), an initiative led by the Global Infrastructure Basel Foundation in partnership with ICLEI and hosted by the Swiss Philanthropy Foundation, with the support of Fondation Botnar. More than two years have elapsed since the initial collaboration was established between the Universidad del Azuay in Ecuador, and City Space Architecture in Italy, seeking opportunities for integrated research participation within the S2Cities programme framework. The subsequent coordination and organisation of research teams across three continents—navigating diverse linguistic contexts and temporal zones—required considerable institutional commitment. The materialisation of this collaborative endeavour in this special issue of The Journal of Public Space represents a significant scholarly achievement. The specail issue encompasses not only the academic research conducted in Ecuador, Colombia, and Indonesia, but also incorporates contributions from teams engaged in programme evaluation, communication strategies, and implementation projects beyond traditional research paradigms. The resulting compendium offers readers diverse methodological approaches, empirical findings, case studies, and experiential narratives, all unified under the thematic framework of youth, public space, and safety within Global South urban contexts

Compendium · Engaged scholarship · Experiential learning · General partnership · Public space · Scholarship · Latin American Urban Studies · Urban Planning and Governance · Water Governance and Infrastructure · Architecture