PUBLIC INTENTIONS FOR PRIVATE SPACES: Exploring Architects’ Tactics to Shape Shared Space in Private-led Development

From the late 20th into the 21st centuries, the private market increasingly gained control from public authorities over strategic decisions affecting the quality of, and accessibility to, new urban development. This paper investigates how architects can adopt practice strategies to promote greater open-ness and use-value for the public domain in private-led development, rather than more objectified and controlled exchange-value approaches. The paper analyses two London-based residential case studies and interviews with the architects. It evaluates and compares perceptions of, and tactics to engage with, private-led development decision-making processes. It compares the individual practitioner’s experiences of architecture practice with explicit intentions to influence better quality shared city space, examining professional norms vis-à-vis commercial clients and wider society. The paper concludes that greater awareness of architects’ knowledge, skills, and a range of tactics to influence future shared environments can contribute to improved professional practice frameworks for more effective engagement in an increasingly globalised and privatised urban society.