The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces

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The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces
Book cover of The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces.jpg
Front of the 2001 edition
Author William H. Whyte
Cover artistSally A. Janin
LanguageEnglish
SubjectUrban design, human behaviour, public space, placemaking
GenreUrban design, landscape architecture, architecture
Set in New York City
Publisher Project for Public Spaces
Publication date
1980
Publication placeUnited States of America
Media typeBook and film
Pages125
ISBN 097063241X

The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces is a 1980 book and a film by US sociologist William H. Whyte that records and analyses human behaviour in public space through a number of case studies in Manhattan, New York.

Contents

Background

The book and film describe Whyte's analytical process and approach to evaluating and understanding a series of public spaces, mostly small parks, squares and office tower plazas in Manhattan, New York City. The book summarised research undertaken as part of the Street Life Project for the New York City Planning Commission that Whyte had collated since 1969. [1]

Chapters

The book is set out with the following eleven thematic chapters:

  1. The Life of Plazas
  2. Sitting Space
  3. Sun, Wind, Trees, Water
  4. Food
  5. The Street
  6. The “Undesirables”
  7. Effective Capacity
  8. Indoor Spaces
  9. Concourses and Megastructures
  10. Smaller Cities and Places
  11. Triangulation

Public spaces analysed

A total of 18 small urban spaces in Manhattan were comparatively analysed. [2] The majority of public spaces were located in Midtown Manhattan. Apart from the Rockefeller Center, all public spaces were built in the post World War II era and a majority are forecourts or public spaces associated with modern commercial office towers. Paley Park and Greenacre Park were included as they are predominantly paved public spaces in the city with similar patterns of use as the other 16 locations.

The following list shows the original collection name of each site in the first column as used in graphs and charts in the book. Where building names have changed since 1980 this is noted.

Sites in Manhattan recorded and analysed (listed in order of graphs published in book)
Name in bookPlaceBuildingLocationTypeArchitectYear
77 Water77 Water StreetSeventy Seven Water77 Water Street
Financial District, Manhattan, New York City 		Public Spaces Gensler 1970
Greenacre Park Greenacre Park —217 East 51st Street,
New York City 		Pocket park with fountain Hideo Sasaki 1971
Time-LifeTime Life Square Time-Life Building 1271 Avenue of the Americas,
Midtown Manhattan, New York City 		Plaza Wallace Harrison of Harrison, Abramovitz, and Harris 1960
ExxonExxon Plaza Exxon Building
(now 1251 Avenue of the Americas)		 Rockefeller Center, 1251 Avenue of the Americas,
New York City 		Sunken plaza with large two-tier pool and fountains Wallace Harrison 1971
Paley Park Paley Park —3 East 53rd Street, New York City Pocket park with fountainZion Breen Richardson Associates1967
GMGM Plaza GM Building 767 Fifth Avenue, New York City ---- Emery Roth & Sons 1968
Seagram'sSeagram Plaza Seagram Building 375 Park Avenue, Midtown Manhattan, New York City Plaza with water Ludwig Mies van der Rohe; Philip Johnson 1958
JC PenneyJC Penney Plaza JC Penney Building (now 1301 Avenue of the Americas) 1301 Avenue of the Americas, New York City Plaza Shreve, Lamb & Harmon 1964
345 Park Avenue345 Park Avenue Plaza 345 Park Avenue Building345 Park Avenue, Midtown Manhattan, New York City Plaza Emery Roth & Sons 1969
Exxon Minipark Exxon Building
(now 1251 Avenue of the Americas)		 1251 Avenue of the Americas Rockefeller Center, 1251 Avenue of the Americas Midtown Manhattan, New York City Pocket park with fountain Wallace Harrison 1975
Burlington Burlington House (former) 1345 Avenue of the Americas 1345 Avenue of the Americas Midtown Manhattan, New York City Plaza with fountain Emery Roth & Sons 1969
277 Park 277 Park Avenue —277 Park Avenue, Midtown Manhattan, New York City Plaza Emery Roth & Sons 1964
630 5th Avenue5th Avenue plaza International Building (Rockefeller Center) Rockefeller Centre, 630 5th Avenue, Midtown Manhattan, New York City PlazaRaymond Hood1935
CBSCBS Plaza CBS Building 51 West 52nd Street, Midtown Manhattan, New York City Plaza Eero Saarinen 1965
Pan AmPan Am Plaza Pan Am Building
(now MetLife Building)		200 Park Avenue, New York City Plaza Emery Roth & Sons, Pietro Belluschi, and Walter Gropius 1963
ITTITT Plaza ITT Building
(Brown Rock)		1330 Sixth Avenue (Avenue of the Americas), New York City Plaza Emery Roth & Sons 1965
Lever HouseLever House Plaza Lever House 390 Park Avenue, New York City Plaza Skidmore, Owings & Merrill 1952
280 Park280 Park PlazaTwo Eighty Park Avenue280 Park Avenue, New York City Forecourt and sitting walls Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates1971

Film version

In 1980 Whyte also released a documentary film with the same title as the 1980 book. [3] On release the 16mm film could be purchased for $750 or hired for $75 on two reels from the Municipal Art Society of New York. [4] [5]

In 1981 a lightly re-edited version was made by Nova for broadcast on PBS, titled "City Spaces, Human Places". [6]

The film serves as a prominent inspiration for filmmaker John Wilson's HBO television show, How to With John Wilson. [7] Wilson remarked: "William Whyte is a legendary people watcher who likes to study the subtle ways public space is used. I think about this film constantly whenever I’m out shooting." [8]

In collaboration with the Municipal Art Society of New York and the Project for Public Spaces, Anthology Film Archives in New York City digitally restored the film in 2025 and announced a week-long revival run. [9]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "William H Whyte". Project for Public Spaces. 3 January 2010. Retrieved 21 February 2024.
  2. ↑ Whyte, William H (1980). The Social Life of Small Spaces (10th ed.). New York, USA: Project for Public Spaces (published June 2010). pp. 26–27. ISBN   097063241X.
  3. ↑ "Social Life of Small Urban Spaces". IMDB. Retrieved 21 February 2024.
  4. ↑ Silverman, William (1982-01-01). "The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces William H. Whyte, Washington, DC: The Conservation Foundation, 1980. 125 pp. $9.50 (paper) and 16mm color film, 55 minutes, 2 reels, sound. $750.00 (purchase), $75.00 (rental). New York: The Municipal Arts Society, 1980" . Urban Life. 10 (4): 466–468. doi:10.1177/089124168201000411. ISSN   0098-3039. S2CID   144438419.
  5. ↑ Elsheshtawy, Yasser (2015-10-01). "Observing the Public Realm: William Whyte's The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces" . Built Environment. 41 (3): 399–411. doi:10.2148/benv.41.3.399.
  6. ↑ "City Spaces, Human Places (WGBH)". Archive.org. Retrieved 4 March 2024.
  7. ↑ Schwartau, John Wilson, Eric. "A Man About Town". New York Review of Architecture. Retrieved 2025-08-26.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  8. ↑ "Anthology Film Archives : Film Screenings". www.anthologyfilmarchives.org. Retrieved 2025-08-26.
  9. ↑ "THE SOCIAL LIFE OF SMALL URBAN SPACES - Fri 26 Sep 7:00 PM - Anthology Film Archives". ticketing.uswest.veezi.com. Retrieved 2025-08-26.


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