I like playful elements in the outdoor environment

as it is another way that promotes civic engagement as opposed to reverence for power.

General Nathanael Greene, Stanton Park, Washington DC. Flickr photo by Eye Captain.


Eros Mendato. A boy peers out from the eye of a scupture by contemporary Polish sculpturer Igor Mitoraj, displayed on the Market Square in Krakow, Poland, Thursday, Aug. 9, 2007. (AP Photo/Alik Keplicz).

This photo also shows how power and control can shape public spaces. See "A Segregated Road in an Already Divided Land," from the New York Times.

Rina Castelnuovo for The New York Times. A newly constructed road, conceived under Ariel Sharon, that will separate most Palestinian and Israeli traffic near Jerusalem.