A space of our own?: Where anti-cafés fit into urban-planning theory

They charge by the hour or minute, and not the food you eat. In cities with shrinking or inaccessible public spaces, what does their presence signal?

In many ways, the anti-café is the kind of space that American urban sociologist Ray Oldenburg calls the “third place”, separate from the social environments of home and work. In his book, The Great Good Place (1989), he argues that upbeat, accessible, public spaces — cafés, coffee shops, bookstores, bars, hair salons — where “conversation is the main activity” are vital.

These are places that are neutral (where one doesn’t have to host others, and where people can come and