Abstract

Urban centers serve as hubs of human innovation and as places where different ideas and cultures come together. Third spaces, where the public meets outside of the workplace and the home, have been identified as particularly important to urban vitality. Though many such centres are long established, dynamic third spaces have emerged where reuse and regeneration of urban space has occurred. This paper explores three Canadian renewal projects that have been successful to various degrees at developing urban spaces with a diversity of activity. The paper explores the urban form involved, discussing the history of the spaces, approaches to barriers, the integration of the ‘natural’, and the role of public markets at each site. The sites are explored as loci of innovation and discussed in terms of the spatial capital they create.