Private Events for Public Benefit? Events and the Emergence of Public–private Parks

Abstract

Hiring out sites, particularly urban parks, to the organizers of private events is now an important way that some public spaces are funded. Government austerity, and the additional pressures that COVID19 has placed on government finances, means this approach to public space management is becoming more visible and widespread. By focusing on some notable cases from south London, this research note highlights this trend and its implications. The analysis unpicks the notions of private and public to better understand outdoor events and explores whether paid entry events deliver net benefits for the public. Some parks now switch between functioning as public spaces and event venues and are governed beyond the state. This suggests hybrid, “public–private” parks are emerging. The piece concludes with some recommendations for research that captures this different way of thinking about events: not as amenities that require public funds, but as contested ways of funding public amenities.