Our Third Places
The library, the nearby pub, the park two streets away – not our home, not our workplace, but a third place where we can see and meet people different from those we usually encounter in the first two. The idea may seem simple, yet for many this so-called third place is absent from their lives, or it exists only as a brief detour, without interaction. But what exactly are these places, what do we gain from them, and what do we lose if they are missing from our surroundings?
We stand ready to leave our apartment, listening at the door to check if the neighbor has already entered the elevator. At the store we line up at the self-checkout, even if the queue is longer there—better that than exchanging a few words with another person. After work we hurry home, only to rush back to our workplace a few hours later, and this endless cycle is interrupted only by a few necessary errands. Of course, some people are perfectly content with such a life, and that is fine. But there are others who would gladly connect with others, who long for a sense of community, though they may not know how or where to find it.
In 1989, American sociologist Ray Oldenburg described a phenomenon that had, in fact, been an integral part of cities and urban life for centuries: the “third place.” The first place is our home, the second is the workplace or school. The third must be independent of the other two: neutral both in space and in the type of activity possible there—this is one of its key criteria. People are present in third places voluntarily; they participate in activities of their own free will, without being bound by strict rules. These spaces open the door to new social connections, informal relationships, and even the exchange of knowledge and experiences.
A third place is free or low-cost, offering relaxation and leisure. Cafés, baths, libraries, places of worship, neighborhood recreation centers, and cultural houses can all serve this role—depending, of course, on social customs and traditions. If such a place is available in our immediate environment, we may easily bump into neighbors or locals, perhaps eventually striking up conversations with them. Third places often bring people together—or at least give them the chance to meet—who otherwise would never get to know each other.
And what good can come from these loose acquaintances? To illustrate with entirely hypothetical examples: you might chat with a plumber who gladly agrees to fix your leaking toilet tank, while in return you show him how to handle an official matter online that he has been unable to resolve in person for weeks. We’ve all heard of people finding jobs through acquaintances, or of neighbors who, after a simple conversation, join forces to have illegally dumped waste removed from a vacant lot nearby. A third place can serve as an incubator for exactly these kinds of connections, conversations, small community actions, and budding communities.
Third places often suffer in economically or otherwise uncertain times. Their numbers may drop significantly, as we have also seen in recent years: rising energy prices or public health restrictions forced many spaces important to local communities to close, whether temporarily or for good.
KF
translated by László Gönczi
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