The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces

“William Whyte is a legendary people watcher who likes to study the subtle ways public space is used. I think about this film constantly whenever I’m out shooting.”
– John Wilson

About the Film

In 1980, the urbanist, sociologist, city planner, and writer William H. Whyte published a book based on the fruits of many years of research and observation into pedestrian behavior and city dynamics, conducted as part of his Street Life Project (which operated under the umbrella of the New York City Planning Commission). The result, “The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces,” closely analyzed the functioning (or malfunctioning) of public spaces in various cities, above all in NYC. The book quickly became a classic text within the realm of city planning, and remains beloved not only for the perceptiveness, elegance, and wisdom of its insights into the ways city dwellers interact with the urban environment, but for its disarmingly unpretentious, no-nonsense, and often flat-out funny tone. Though the book is familiar to generations of teachers and students of urbanism and city planning, the project is not widely known outside those circles. Perhaps even less well known – but hopefully not for long – is that, as a supplement to the published text, Whyte simultaneously produced an hour-long film of the same name.

The film version of THE SOCIAL LIFE OF SMALL URBAN SPACES fully embodies all the qualities of the book: its intelligence, its empathetic, common-sense insight into what makes a city truly work for its residents (in contrast to the grandiose, often authoritarian instincts of architects, politicians, and developers), and its gentle yet often pointed wit. The film also boasts its own, unique qualities. Unlike the book, the film is graced by Whyte’s own voice: sounding very much like Jimmy Stewart’s city planner cousin, Whyte delivers the narration with a lack of polish and an often-self-deprecatory folksiness that’s charmingly at odds with the stentorian tone of most educational films. The film is also effectively a work of street photography. Though it was produced as a kind of filmic report and a pedagogical tool, Whyte and his team’s dedication to observing – and recording – the actual behavior of city dwellers, and their sharp eye for the behaviors and gestures that are most revealing of city life, result in a film that is – almost incidentally – a classic city symphony. Taking place primarily in New York (with brief detours to Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, and other urban centers), THE SOCIAL LIFE OF SMALL URBAN SPACES is one of the great films about that strangest of creatures – the city dweller – in its natural habitat.

One of the few “civilians” who have appreciated and celebrated the film in recent years is filmmaker John Wilson, who programmed it during a carte-blanche at Anthology in 2023. We were so enamored with the film – which at that time was only available in a very poor-quality video transfer – that we embarked on a quest to locate better elements. In collaboration with Project for Public Spaces (an organization that grew out of Whyte’s Street Life Project) and the Municipal Art Society of New York (which acted as the film’s initial distributor and where Whyte was a board member), we have managed to restore the film. Now, as part of Project for Public Spaces’ 50th anniversary, and to celebrate the shared history of PPS and MAS, we are overjoyed to present the new, beautiful restoration with a week-long revival run.

1980, 58 min, 16mm-to-DCP. Digitally restored by Anthology Film Archives in collaboration with The Municipal Art Society of New York and Project for Public Spaces.

About the Project for Public Spaces

Celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2025, Project for Public Spaces has spent the past five decades bringing some of the most successful public places in the world to life. Today, it remains committed to putting community participation at the center of everything it does, from placemaking partnerships with corporations and foundations to workshops, trainings, conferences, on-the-ground design and planning services, and more. The interdisciplinary team has helped over 3,500 communities in 52 countries create inclusive places that change society for the better. Project for Public Spaces is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization. Click here to support the next 50 years of community-powered public spaces!

About Anthology Film Archives

Anthology Film Archives is an international center for the preservation, study, and exhibition of film and video, with a particular focus on independent, experimental, and avant-garde cinema. Fueled by the conviction that the index of a culture’s health and vibrancy lies largely in its margins, in those works of art that are created outside the commercial mainstream, Anthology strives to advance the cause and protect the heritage of a kind of cinema that is in particular danger of being lost, overlooked, or ignored. Learn more >