Site Specific

Kristine K. Ronan

Public art vs. art in the public sphere.

The Apocalyptic Strain in Popular Culture

Paul A. Cantor

Among their many meanings, zombies have come to symbolize the force of globalization.

After the Vernissage

Greg Jackson

The principal experience of the art I encountered, I found, was not the art itself, but the uncertainty and complexity of my own subjective response.

The Flasher of the Arts

Witold Rybczynski

Historically the most conservative of the arts, architecture was an unlikely candidate to carry the red banner of insurrection. And yet.

The Phantom Economy

Joseph E. Davis

The highly abstract and immaterial phantom economy is inextricable from the “real economy.”

Desperately Seeking Mothman

Tara Isabella Burton

At their core, cryptids represent the triumph of the particular over the generic.

After Cosmopolitanism

Stuart Whatley

Like globalist, cosmopolitan has become a freighted term.

How to Cook a Wolf under Lockdown

Laurel Berger

As the crisis wears on, I find myself wondering about the code of hospitality.

The Press and the Police

Sophie Haigney

When you turn to the news, what you will encounter, overwhelmingly, is crime.

Small-Town USA

Phil Christman

A small town might well be angry; it is asked to do everything.

To the Depths and Back

Christopher Sandford

Dostoevsky is an author who takes risks, makes us both laugh and wince.

The Myth of the Friedman Doctrine

Kyle Edward Williams

Friedman’s viewpoint went far deeper and has been more lasting than the politics of 1970.

As You Were

Witold Rybczynski

There is nothing unusual about wanting to recreate a destroyed past.

Supply Chain Sublime

Richard Hughes Gibson

The Amazon economy has unquestionably changed consumption.

There Goes the Neighborhood

Stephen Assink

For Marc J. Dunkelman, the verdict is clear: “The township, in essence, is dying.”

Thinking About Homelessness

Stephen Hitchcock

Thinking about homeless requires separating it from the larger discourse on poverty.

Why Cities Need More than Big Data

Noah J. Toly

Can Big Data be harnessed for the pursuit of thriving urban communities and, if so, how?

Snapshots of City Life: Our Top Reads

Stephen Assink

We at Common Place over the past year read numerous articles on issues facing our cities and communities. Here are our favorite reads.

Governing for the Common Good

Stephen Assink

Charlottesville city councilor Kathy Galvin on the challenges of city governance

Back to the City! Back to the Country!

Stephen Assink

One of the most salient features of the post–World War II suburb was its localization of the American middle class and its propagation of practices of mass consumption.

Reflecting on “Data” and “Big Data” for Cities

Patricia McCarney

Cities can benefit from Big Data through city-to-city learning, the exchange of best practices, and improving the lives of their citizens.

Why the New Flows of Capital Matter for Cities

Stephen Assink

Cities are increasingly being eyed by tech companies for their social dynamism and ability to generate innovation. This will have tremendous consequences for the future of society.

The Power of Play in the Public Square

Wendy Baucom

The renovated Place de la République shows the power of the public square.

Who Is the Smart City for?

Stephen Assink

In India's rush to transform, build, and even engineer entire new cities, critics are right to raise concerns about citizenship and access.

Confronting Climate Change

Stephen Assink

Reimagining our cities provides us an important opportunity to reconsider the various structures of urban life.

Big Easy Ink

Leann Davis Alspaugh

New Orleans, where spectacle and transgression are part of the infrastructure, is the ideal place to conduct completely unscientific research on tattooing.

In Self-Isolation with The Plague

John Rosenthal

To the relatives of the dead, the plague is here. 

How to Cook a Wolf Under Lockdown

Laurel Berger

My quarrel with M.F.K. Fisher was part of a larger quarrel I’ve been having with myself ever since we went to ground in March. 

Famous, But Studiously Ignored, in Baltimore

Vincent Ercolano

I like to think that this kind of deference is a Baltimore thing.

Morning Person

Grace Phan Jones

This fall marks Tommy Tate’s twentieth year as a crossing guard for the city of Washington, DC.