The Journal of Public Spaces (JPS) celebrated the launch of its themed edition on “Placemaking in Arab Cities” in the World Urban Forum (WUF), Abu Dhabi, UAE, February 8 – 12, 2020. As part of the launch of the themed issue, Dr. Mona Helmy, JPS guest editor, emphasized in her speech the uniqueness of the theme and its importance to society as the driving force of placemaking in Arab cities. She stated that the themed issue has contributed in filling the gap in the literature regarding the specificity of the placemaking in Arab cities.

She presented the various chapters of the themed issue, which includes a variety of papers and viewpoints discussing the placemaking in Arab cities from different perspectives. Several papers critically examined the Space as a theoretical concept and a dominant aspect of foundational domains of placemaking. While other papers explored the System as an important factor of placemaking.

Viewpoints included a variety of practical experiences in different Arab contexts, to showcase of various innovative solutions of placemaking.

The Journal of Public Space is the first, international, interdisciplinary, academic, open access journal entirely dedicated to public space. The Journal of Public Space is Founded and Edited by: Luisa Bravo from City Space Architecture, Italy