Public order means only stable arrangements of persons and places in public space

Evidence

I use the term “public order” in a relatively restrictive sense. I am concerned with public order only in the limited sense of relatively stable arrangements of persons and places in urban public space. I do not intend to imply anything about the overall organization of a society or subunit of that society. Nor do I intend to imply anything about the basic normative or legal structure on which a society is built. There are, of course, relationships between public order in the sense in which I use the term and public order in these broader, more inclusive senses. But the tracing of these relationships is beyond the scope of this study. — Lyn H. Lofland, World of Strangers_ Order and Action in…, 1087

Categorization

• DEFINE: Establishes Lofland’s deliberately narrow definition of public order as spatial-arrangement, distinct from normative or legal order.