Public spaces of the city have moved up to the top of the agendasof city authorities, private sector developers, and built environmentprofessionals. Once they were merely considered as spaces leftoverafter development, while now public spaces have climbed the ladderof significance to become a key focus in the transformation of cities.This paper aims to explore the reasons behind this rising significance,and to develop a platform for debate and research into public spacesof cities. It starts by a discussion of the theoretical frameworks that needto be taken into account in analysing the urban space, before addressingsome of the main themes and issues about the subject, including threatsto and challenges facing urban public spaces in Europe
