Urban design and dilemmas of space AH Madanipour Department of Town and Country Planning, University of Newcastle

Abstract. My aim in this paper is to find an understanding of the concept of space which could be used in urban design, but which could also be shared by others with an interest in space. Social scientists, geographers, architects, urban planners, and designers use the term space in their academic and professional involvement with the city. But when they meet each other their discourse seems to be handicapped partly because of a difference in their usage and understand-ing of the concept of space. I will argue that to arrive at a common platform in which a meaningful communication can become possible, we need to confront such fragmentation by moving towards a more unified concept of space. I will argue for a concept of space which would refer to our objective, physical space with its social and psychological dimensions, a dynamic conception which accommodates at the same time constant change and embeddedness, and that can only be understood in monitoring the way space is being made and remade, at the intersection of the development processes and everyday life. We hear frequently about 'space', a term which we use easily and in a variety of contexts. We use it as if the meaning of the term were free from any problems or contradictions, as if we all agreed what space means. Yet we will be surprised b