Cities across the country have created parks and plazas that test the boundaries of what such territories can be, from gardens atop infrastructure to reclaimed parking spaces. At the same time, security concerns and an increased reliance on private management often impose new limits on behavior and access, implicitly changing the definition of "public" space.
John King is the Urban Design Critic for the San Francisco Chronicle, a post that takes in planning and public spaces as well as buildings, and an honorary member of the American Society of Landscape Architects. His time at Dumbarton Oaks will be spent exploring the changing nature of the nation’s urban spaces and the tensions within them.