Reclaiming Public Space: Youth, Safety, and the Right to the City  in the Global South

Luisa Bravo; Carla Hermida

doi:10.32891/jps.v10i1.1887

Cover image: Skateboard Park under the bridge located beside the Huashan 1914 Creative Park in Taipei, Taiwan. Picture by Poh Soo Donald Soh

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Published: Oct 11, 2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.32891/jps.v10i1.1887

Keywords:

public space youth right to the city global south

Luisa Bravo

City Space Architecture

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4911-8002

Carla Hermida

Universidad del Azuay

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1095-7215

Abstract

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.

How to Cite

Bravo, L. and Hermida, C. (2025) “Reclaiming Public Space: Youth, Safety, and the Right to the City in the Global South”, The Journal of Public Space, 10(1), pp. 1–4. doi: 10.32891/jps.v10i1.1887.

Issue

Vol. 10 No. 1 (2025): Safe and Sound Cities

Section

Editorial

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Author Biographies

Luisa Bravo, City Space Architecture

Dr Luisa Bravo is a public space scholar, activist, and cultural entrepreneur who combines over 20 years of academic expertise with extensive international experience, having researched and lectured in prestigious universities and participated in major UN summits across more than 30 countries. She holds a degree in Architectural Engineering and a PhD in Building and Territorial Engineering from the University of Bologna. She is an Adjunct Professor in Urban Design at the University of Florence.
Through her non-profit organisation City Space Architecture, founded in 2013, she has established groundbreaking initiatives, including The Journal of Public Space, the Public Space Academy, and the Public Space Museum, while building strategic partnerships with UN-Habitat and the World Economic Forum's Davos Baukultur Alliance. Her interdisciplinary approach bridges academia, policy, and practice, positioning her as a leading voice in promoting public space culture and citizen engagement through research, education, and international cooperation.
She is a board member of Eco City Builders and a member of ISOCARP (the International Society of City and Regional Planners) and the AESOP (Association of European Schools of Planning) Thematic Group on Public Spaces and Urban Cultures. She is also a member of the board of experts of the EU Prize for Urban Public Spaces, promoted by the Centre for Contemporary Culture in Barcelona. She joined the European Commission as an expert on the research project 'Public Spaces as Spaces for Citizen Engagement', promoted by the JRC Competence Centre on Participatory and Deliberative Democracy. She is also an expert evaluator for the Fulbright Commission, EIT Culture and Creativity and the European COST project, as well as a consultant for the Global Platform for the Right to the City, for which she wrote the thematic paper 'Cities and Human Settlements with Quality Public Spaces'.

Carla Hermida, Universidad del Azuay

Ecuadorian, Carla Hermida is a Doctor in Architecture and Urban Studies from the Catholic University of Chile. Master in Architecture from the University of Kansas-USA. Architect from the University of Cuenca-Ecuador. Professor/researcher at the School of Architecture of the University of Azuay in Cuenca since 2009. Currently Director of Postgraduate Studies at the University of Azuay. Professor in different graduate programs nationwide. Secretary of Mobility and Director of Planning of the Municipality of Cuenca during the years 2010-2012. Her research projects, publications and presentations focus on the city with an emphasis on urban mobility. She is an active member of national and international networks related to gender, urban and mobility issues.

References

Higginson, A., Benier, K., Shenderovich, Y., Bedford, L., Mazerolle, L., & Murray, J. (2018) Factors associated with youth gang membership in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review. Campbell systematic reviews, 14(1), 1–128. doi: 10.4073/csr.2018.11.

Kwan, M.-P. (1999) ‘Gender and Individual Access to Urban Opportunities: A Study Using Space–Time Measures’, The Professional Geographer, 51(2), pp. 211–227. doi: 10.1111/0033-0124.00158.

Mazzega, P. Rugmini, D. M., Barros-Platiau, A. F. (2025) Where is the “Global South” located in scientific research?, Earth System Governance, 25, 100269. doi: 10.1016/j.esg.2025.100269.

World Health Organization (2015) Preventing youth violence: an overview of the evidence. Available at: https://iris.who.int/bitstream/handle/10665/181008/9789241509251_eng.pdf (Accessed 12 September 2025).

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