Public space denotes less bounded settings than public place connotes.

Evidence

I here use the term “space,” rather than the more traditional “place” simply to convey a less precise, less “bounded” or enclosed locus. Despite its widespread usage, the phrase “public place” does seem to connote a specific and easily definable setting, a connotation I wish to avoid. In using “public space,” however, I refer to the same sorts of locations as does one municipality which defines a “public place” as “any street, alley, park, pub- lie building, any place of business or assembly open to or frequented by the public, and any other place which is open to public view or to which the public has access” (Ann Arbor, Michigan Ordinance Code, Ann Arbor, Michigan: Municipal Codification Service, Inc. — Lyn H. Lofland, World of Strangers_ Order and Action in…, 1077

Categorization

• DEFINE: Terminological clarification of space versus place, relevant to the reader’s mapping of the stranger-witness flaneur’s terrain.