Join us for the next talk in the Architectural History and Theory Seminar Series of 25/26 by Professor Katrina Navicka.
This lecture will be hybrid. Please book your ticket for attendance in person or online. You will receive access to the online event via email the day before the event.
The Delineation of Public Space in 19th- and 20th-Century England: An Urban Commons and its Re-enclosure?
Abstract
This talk charts how new types and forms of public space were created in England from the 19th century, under pressure from rapid urbanisation and the enclosure of common land. From public parks, playgrounds to lecture halls, new public spaces were contested by different political and social groups, and came to represent the intense conflicts over freedom of assembly and speech. The emergence of town planning and the disruption of war and reconstruction in the 20th century raised further conflicts over who were the public in public space.
About Professor Katrina Navickas
Professor Katrina Navickas is Professor of History at the University of Hertfordshire. She researches the history of protest, political movements and landscape change since the 18th century. Her next book, Contested Commons: a History of Protest and Public Space in England, is published in September 2025 with Reaktion Books.
Access
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