The Lecture of the Space. A Final Synthesis –looking from the North to Barcelona

The first part of the article points out the specific qualities and merits of this special issue. The different articles illustrate the necessity and possibility to “read” the public space; they demonstrate that the “lecture” of the public space will be dissimilar by the different types of users; they reflect on the characteristics and peculiarities of the “public” space; they make obvious, that the analysis of the public space is not only a theoretical challenge but also linked with complex empirical research; at least they show that the investigation of such complex problem is not only a difficult task of scientific interdisciplinary research; moreover, it also has to point out the practical consequences of the results. The second more critical part gives some example on how to read the public spaces of the city. As a point of comparison Hamburg in the north of Germany is choosen. The “lecture of the city” indicates that a) we can read the times in the space that means the historical development and the ideologies, values, power structure etc of its construction; b) the space is a mirror of the culture – in this case of the culture of sport; c) the space and the activities practised in the space could be read as manifestation of typical characteristics of society d) we can read in the space possibilities and forms of social relations, integration and separation; e) we read in the space the specific forms of social segregation and differentiation. The third part makes three proposals for further research on these topics, a) more detailed researches on social networks in sport, b) investigation on the topic “public space” in the city and c) international comparative studies on sport and space.