The Public Realm

“The public realm” in America has two roles: “it is the dwelling place of our civilization and our civic life, and it is the physical manifestation of the common good. When you degrade the public realm, you will automatically degrade the quality of your civic life and the character of all the enactments of your public life and communal life that take place there”（Kunstler 523）. In James Howard Kunstler’s essay “The Public Realm and The Common Good” in his book New Urbanism, he explains the relationship between the “public realm” and the ”common good”(521,523). “Public realm” should be a public space that groups live and public interest‘s shows. However, the pattern of public realm seems to let the United States become not worth concern. By using Rosenwasser’s definitions of moment; “the historical and cultural context of a piece”, complaint; “what the piece is reacting to or worried about”, and pitch; or “what the piece wishes you to believe”, the following essay will show how Kunstler accepts that the “common good” can improve “civic life”. Furthermore, this paper will discuss the degradation of “civic life” and the relationship of “chronological connectivity” to the “common good” and non-consumerism. (Rosenwasser 111,Kunstler 521,523)

Applying Rossenwasser’s definition of “moment”, Kunstler’s words can be understood much more clearly. As far as Kunstler is concerned, the moment is about the Grand Union Hotel in New York during the late 1980’s all the way through the 90’s. Kunstler emphasizes, “What happened to the interrelation of healthy, living patterns of human ecology in the town where I live has happened all over the country” (524). “Where I live, Saratoga Springs, New York, there once existed a magnificent building called the Grand Union Hotel”(524). It was torn down and is now a strip mall. However, after 1953 the good relations between the street and the building began to degrade because new strip mall bore no historical relation to the street. “Historically Americans have low regard for the public realm”(523).

Rosenwasser defines “complaint” as “what the piece is reacting to or worried about” (111). According to Kunstler’s argument “Civic life is what goes on in the public realm. Civic life refers to our relations with our