Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Date of Degree

2-2026

Document Type

Doctoral Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Program

Psychology

Advisor

Setha Low

Committee Members

Sharon Zukin

Tomoaki Imamichi

Gregory Donovan

Subject Categories

Other Psychology | Psychology

Keywords

public space, smart cities, platform urbanism, privatization, inequality, behavior settings

Abstract

Using the publicly accessible plaza at the Hudson Yards development in New York City as a backdrop, this dissertation provides an examination of mechanisms by which public spaces—already under pressure from a range of factors including privatization and securitization—are further transformed via processes associated with the notion of smart cities initiatives, or platform urbanism. Following a literature review and presentation of relevant contextual background related to the history and configuration of the site, the data chapters present a range of operational and material mechanisms that cumulatively establish a class-based strategic provision of narrow boundaries for visitor access and activities oriented toward shaping passive consumption patterns and the mobilization of visitor labor in support of reproduction of the luxury brand of the development. Theories associated with the field of environmental psychology—particularly the notion of behavior settings—are applied to contribute to academic literature in support of furthering understanding of how public spaces are changing and how smart cities projects often come bundled with ever increasing opportunities for the exacerbation of growing economic inequality and the further erosion of traditional notions of public spaces.

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