{"id":52,"date":"2015-02-19T11:00:38","date_gmt":"2015-02-19T11:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\/election\/?p=52"},"modified":"2015-05-12T11:46:24","modified_gmt":"2015-05-12T10:46:24","slug":"why-the-public-realm-still-matters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\/comment\/2015\/02\/19\/why-the-public-realm-still-matters\/","title":{"rendered":"Why the public realm still matters"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0<\/strong>The idea of the \u2018public realm\u2019 is one which is unlikely to grab everyone\u2019s attention. But it captures an important set of ideas and they are ones we tend to take for granted.<\/p>\n

At its heart is the simple proposition that the health of a good society can be seen through its commitment to shared and collective provision of services from public health to education to welfare and social services.<\/p>\n

In the late 19th<\/sup> century the urban centres of Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and Glasgow were places where this set of ideas had their expression through the provision of range of services including gas and electricity as well as libraries and parks.\u00a0This age of city hall being the centre of a newly emerging public realm is an important historical moment. It sets up the expansion of the public realm\u00a0 following the end of World War 2 with the NHS as well as key changes too in public education.<\/p>\n

Why does this matter? And why now? It matters, I think, because we are at risk of forgetting the long history of state funded or locally funded investment in services which were about improving the quality of life as well as improving the health and education of society more broadly. Would we fund libraries now? Or would we assume that those who wanted access to books could go and buy them for themselves ? Would we fund art galleries from scratch \u2013 without the economic case or the business case which we make now?<\/p>\n

The recent open letter (Who Is My Neighbour : A letter from the House of Bishops to the People and Parishes of the Church of England for the General Election 2015<\/a>) reminded me of this past history. It makes the case \u2013 not just for public engagement with the debate and voting too\u00a0 but also for a debate on what kind of society we are. It is a letter which sets out a particular case (based on the values and theology of the Church of England) and, at the same time too, makes the case for the \u2018public realm\u2019.<\/p>\n

It argues for an healthy civil society which is itself a necessary pre-condition for a healthy democratic society too. Whilst, I think there are absences too in their analysis it is a good starting point for comparing the idea of a \u2018public realm\u2019 in which there is a sense of the shared and collective arrangements of services to the market in which provision of services is determined by price and demand not by values and an ethical framework. I will come back to this tension in the next series of postings.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0The idea of the \u2018public realm\u2019 is one which is unlikely to grab everyone\u2019s attention. But it captures an important set of ideas and they are ones we tend to take for granted. At its heart is the simple proposition that the health of a good society can be seen through its commitment to shared […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":225,"featured_media":54,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32286],"tags":[32278,32290,32340,1670,13247,1029],"class_list":["post-52","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-election-2015","tag-general-election","tag-general-election-2015","tag-politics","tag-public-policy","tag-public-realm","tag-public-services"],"yoast_head":"\nWhy the public realm still matters - Comment<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\/comment\/2015\/02\/19\/why-the-public-realm-still-matters\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why the public realm still matters - Comment\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u00a0The idea of the \u2018public realm\u2019 is one which is unlikely to grab everyone\u2019s attention. But it captures an important set of ideas and they are ones we tend to take for granted. At its heart is the simple proposition that the health of a good society can be seen through its commitment to shared […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\/comment\/2015\/02\/19\/why-the-public-realm-still-matters\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Comment\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-02-19T11:00:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-05-12T10:46:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\/comment\/files\/2015\/02\/library-1024x678.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"678\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"John\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"John\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\\\/comment\\\/2015\\\/02\\\/19\\\/why-the-public-realm-still-matters\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\\\/comment\\\/2015\\\/02\\\/19\\\/why-the-public-realm-still-matters\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"John\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\\\/comment\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/44ab3855c9efc34c2a74055a1b61688b\"},\"headline\":\"Why the public realm still matters\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-02-19T11:00:38+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-05-12T10:46:24+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\\\/comment\\\/2015\\\/02\\\/19\\\/why-the-public-realm-still-matters\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":443,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\\\/comment\\\/2015\\\/02\\\/19\\\/why-the-public-realm-still-matters\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\\\/comment\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/202\\\/2015\\\/02\\\/library.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"General Election\",\"General Election 2015\",\"Politics\",\"public policy\",\"Public realm\",\"public services\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Election 2015\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\\\/comment\\\/2015\\\/02\\\/19\\\/why-the-public-realm-still-matters\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\\\/comment\\\/2015\\\/02\\\/19\\\/why-the-public-realm-still-matters\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\\\/comment\\\/2015\\\/02\\\/19\\\/why-the-public-realm-still-matters\\\/\",\"name\":\"Why the public realm still matters - Comment\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\\\/comment\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\\\/comment\\\/2015\\\/02\\\/19\\\/why-the-public-realm-still-matters\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\\\/comment\\\/2015\\\/02\\\/19\\\/why-the-public-realm-still-matters\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\\\/comment\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/202\\\/2015\\\/02\\\/library.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-02-19T11:00:38+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-05-12T10:46:24+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\\\/comment\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/44ab3855c9efc34c2a74055a1b61688b\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\\\/comment\\\/2015\\\/02\\\/19\\\/why-the-public-realm-still-matters\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\\\/comment\\\/2015\\\/02\\\/19\\\/why-the-public-realm-still-matters\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\\\/comment\\\/2015\\\/02\\\/19\\\/why-the-public-realm-still-matters\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\\\/comment\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/202\\\/2015\\\/02\\\/library.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\\\/comment\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/202\\\/2015\\\/02\\\/library.jpg\",\"width\":4272,\"height\":2827},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\\\/comment\\\/2015\\\/02\\\/19\\\/why-the-public-realm-still-matters\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\\\/comment\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Why the public realm still matters\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\\\/comment\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\\\/comment\\\/\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"description\":\"Comment is a collection of views, opinion and insight from Edge Hill University\u2019s academics about topical issues, current events or areas of expertise. Commentators from across the University use this space to discuss their views as well as sharing their own knowledge, research and interests.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\\\/comment\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\\\/comment\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/44ab3855c9efc34c2a74055a1b61688b\",\"name\":\"John\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/a8b6f4e6948b5fb0dd8e5cb85283c02899b912cb8461b82f137ab5a9a76acc7e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/a8b6f4e6948b5fb0dd8e5cb85283c02899b912cb8461b82f137ab5a9a76acc7e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/a8b6f4e6948b5fb0dd8e5cb85283c02899b912cb8461b82f137ab5a9a76acc7e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"John\"},\"description\":\"Professor John Diamond\u00a0has made significant contributions to the UK Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) through his research on the management of change within major urban regeneration programmes. John\u2019s work is renowned both regionally and nationally, in addition to his written work he has participated in a number of conferences,\u00a0invitation-only events and has acted as an external advisor across the Voluntary sector. Through his research John has enabled leaders in the Voluntary and Community Sector to make sense of the changing relationship the VCS has with the public sector. Professor John Diamond is the National Chair of\u00a0the Association for Research with the Voluntary and Community Sector (ARVAC)\u00a0and\u00a0co-editor of the annual series\u00a0Critical Perspectives on International Public Sector Management\u00a0.\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\\\/comment\\\/author\\\/diamondj\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Why the public realm still matters - Comment","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\/comment\/2015\/02\/19\/why-the-public-realm-still-matters\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Why the public realm still matters - Comment","og_description":"\u00a0The idea of the \u2018public realm\u2019 is one which is unlikely to grab everyone\u2019s attention. But it captures an important set of ideas and they are ones we tend to take for granted. At its heart is the simple proposition that the health of a good society can be seen through its commitment to shared […]","og_url":"https:\/\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\/comment\/2015\/02\/19\/why-the-public-realm-still-matters\/","og_site_name":"Comment","article_published_time":"2015-02-19T11:00:38+00:00","article_modified_time":"2015-05-12T10:46:24+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":678,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\/comment\/files\/2015\/02\/library-1024x678.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"John","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"John","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\/comment\/2015\/02\/19\/why-the-public-realm-still-matters\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\/comment\/2015\/02\/19\/why-the-public-realm-still-matters\/"},"author":{"name":"John","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\/comment\/#\/schema\/person\/44ab3855c9efc34c2a74055a1b61688b"},"headline":"Why the public realm still matters","datePublished":"2015-02-19T11:00:38+00:00","dateModified":"2015-05-12T10:46:24+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\/comment\/2015\/02\/19\/why-the-public-realm-still-matters\/"},"wordCount":443,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\/comment\/2015\/02\/19\/why-the-public-realm-still-matters\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\/comment\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/202\/2015\/02\/library.jpg","keywords":["General Election","General Election 2015","Politics","public policy","Public realm","public services"],"articleSection":["Election 2015"],"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\/comment\/2015\/02\/19\/why-the-public-realm-still-matters\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\/comment\/2015\/02\/19\/why-the-public-realm-still-matters\/","url":"https:\/\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\/comment\/2015\/02\/19\/why-the-public-realm-still-matters\/","name":"Why the public realm still matters - Comment","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\/comment\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\/comment\/2015\/02\/19\/why-the-public-realm-still-matters\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\/comment\/2015\/02\/19\/why-the-public-realm-still-matters\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\/comment\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/202\/2015\/02\/library.jpg","datePublished":"2015-02-19T11:00:38+00:00","dateModified":"2015-05-12T10:46:24+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\/comment\/#\/schema\/person\/44ab3855c9efc34c2a74055a1b61688b"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\/comment\/2015\/02\/19\/why-the-public-realm-still-matters\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\/comment\/2015\/02\/19\/why-the-public-realm-still-matters\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\/comment\/2015\/02\/19\/why-the-public-realm-still-matters\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\/comment\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/202\/2015\/02\/library.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\/comment\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/202\/2015\/02\/library.jpg","width":4272,"height":2827},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\/comment\/2015\/02\/19\/why-the-public-realm-still-matters\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\/comment\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Why the public realm still matters"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\/comment\/#website","url":"https:\/\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\/comment\/","name":"Comment","description":"Comment is a collection of views, opinion and insight from Edge Hill University\u2019s academics about topical issues, current events or areas of expertise. Commentators from across the University use this space to discuss their views as well as sharing their own knowledge, research and interests.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\/comment\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\/comment\/#\/schema\/person\/44ab3855c9efc34c2a74055a1b61688b","name":"John","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a8b6f4e6948b5fb0dd8e5cb85283c02899b912cb8461b82f137ab5a9a76acc7e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a8b6f4e6948b5fb0dd8e5cb85283c02899b912cb8461b82f137ab5a9a76acc7e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a8b6f4e6948b5fb0dd8e5cb85283c02899b912cb8461b82f137ab5a9a76acc7e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"John"},"description":"Professor John Diamond\u00a0has made significant contributions to the UK Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) through his research on the management of change within major urban regeneration programmes. John\u2019s work is renowned both regionally and nationally, in addition to his written work he has participated in a number of conferences,\u00a0invitation-only events and has acted as an external advisor across the Voluntary sector. Through his research John has enabled leaders in the Voluntary and Community Sector to make sense of the changing relationship the VCS has with the public sector. Professor John Diamond is the National Chair of\u00a0the Association for Research with the Voluntary and Community Sector (ARVAC)\u00a0and\u00a0co-editor of the annual series\u00a0Critical Perspectives on International Public Sector Management\u00a0.","url":"https:\/\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\/comment\/author\/diamondj\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\/comment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\/comment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\/comment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\/comment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/225"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\/comment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\/comment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\/comment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\/comment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\/comment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edgehill.ac.uk\/comment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}