Introducing "The Fourth Place" & Why "Third Places" Have Fallen Short on Their Promise
Creating high density of not only people, but ideas and energy = serendipity and aliveness. Lewis Mumford writes that the primary purpose of the city is “to permit—indeed, to encourage—the greatest possible number of meetings, encounters, challenges, between varied persons and groups, providing as it were a stage upon which the drama of social life... See more
introducing "the fourth place" & why "third places" have fallen short on their promise
Patriciathesfcommons.substack.com

Friendships grow strong across varying topologies when aided by readily available knobs. The evolution of our friendships often get pigeonholed in the context from which they first emerged. Work friends stay work friends, intellectual friends stay within that realm, emotional support friends stay out of the work realm, etc. Friendships that are mul... See more
While we might use these spaces, open communities have particular needs. They are formed not from shared identity but from entwined attention and collaborative work on shared resources. They thrive on diversity and so require the creation of an environment that is proactively inclusive and welcoming. They need fluidity, iterativity, and a self-orga... See more