POPS

Privately owned public space (POPS), or alternatively, privately owned public open
spaces (POPOS), are terms used to describe a type of public space that, although privately
owned, is legally required to be open to the public under a city's zoning ordinance or other land-
use law. The acronym POPOS is preferentially used over POPS on the west coast of the US.
Both terms can be used to represent either a singular or plural space or spaces. These spaces are
usually the product of a deal between cities and private real estate developers in which cities
grant valuable zoning concessions and developers provide in return privately owned public
spaces in or near their buildings. Privately owned public spaces commonly include plazas,
arcades, small parks, and atriums. Many cities worldwide, including Auckland, New York
City, San Francisco, Seattle, Seoul, and Toronto, have privately owned public spaces. Some
cities and advocacy groups have created websites about these spaces

Although the term "privately owned public space" was popularized by Harvard professor
Jerold S. Kayden through his 2000 book Privately Owned Public Space: The New York City
Experience, written in collaboration with the New York City Department of City Planning and
the Municipal Art Society of New York, the history of privately owned public space commenced
in 1961 when New York City introduced an incentive zoning mechanism offering developers the
right to build 10 square feet of bonus rentable or sellable floor area in return for one square foot
of plaza, and three square feet of bonus floor area in return for one square foot of
arcade. Between 1961 and 2000, 503 privately owned public spaces, scattered almost entirely in
downtown, midtown, and upper east and west sides of New York City's borough of Manhattan,
were constructed at 320 buildings. More spaces have been added since then. The book cited the
quantitative success of the program's public space production, but reported that 41% of these
spaces were of "marginal" quality and roughly 50% of buildings had one or more spaces
apparently out of compliance with applicable legal requirements resulting in privatization.

While "privately owned public space" as a term of art refers specifically to private property
required to be usable by the public under zoning or similar regulatory arrangements, the phrase
in its broadest sense can refer to places, like shopping malls and hotel lobbies, that are privately
owned and open to the public, even if they are not legally required to be open to the public.
101 Park Avenue

101 Park Avenue is a 629-foot (192 m) tall skyscraper in New York City, New York. It was
completed in 1979 to 1982 and has 49 floors. Eli Attia Architects designed the building, which is
the 64th tallest in New York.
 This urban plaza at the northeast corner of Park Avenue and East 40th Street is divided into
formal and functional zones. The formal exists in the void created by the building’s architecture,
which has sliced off the southwest corner of the office tower. Elevated slightly above the public
sidewalk, the capacious, granite-paved triangle embraces the horizontal plane and provides a
visual foreground setting off the impressive columns of the glass-covered arcade and multistory
lobby. The hollow quality of the pavers may be attributable to the fact that a parking garage is
located below. Steps and a planter ledge at the northwest portion provide seating opportunities
along Park Avenue.

A volcano-shaped fountain hides the functional zone, a fingerlike extension off the formal
space along East 40th Street. This narrow multilevel rectangular area features a startling array of
granite surfaces that might initially be mistaken for steps; in fact, these are all seating surfaces,
which include a long, undulating, granite ledge, steplike ledges, and ledges around six planters
filled with lush trees and shrubs bordering the sidewalk edge. Oriented as they are toward the
street, the ledges resemble bleacher seats, although the view to the street below is largely
blocked by the trees. Two semiprivate nooks may be found at the far eastern end, including a
circular alcove nine steps above the public sidewalk, and a triangular area in front of a café 10
steps above and east of the circular space. A nighttime visit to this part of the urban plaza reveals
the 240 linear feet of fluorescent lighting found within the silver handrails, as well as the uplight
in the volcano fountain.

Although the sidewalk widening is located on East 41st Street, the public sidewalks on East
40th and Park Avenue themselves receive special treatment. Along East 40th Street, the trees on
the sidewalk and in the space collaborate to form a canopy that refreshes the passing pedestrian.
Bronze plaques featuring images of famous buildings are spaced along the sidewalk on East 40th
Street and Park Avenue.