Public Space and Community, Filling the Void in the United States

By Callie Rose Alden

While abroad in Morocco I was in awe over the sense of community that was facilitated through the utilization of public spaces. Growing up in the suburbs of the United States most of my experiences were fairly isolated. These feelings of individualism and isolation are even more prominent after returning from Morocco. In America we don’t hang out in public without a goal or activity, we don’t really talk to our neighbors, and we certainly don’t touch people we just met.

In Morocco things are different. There is a strong sense of community and culture. I felt this closeness most prominently when we were staying in the all girls’ school. When we were cooking with the chiefs my friend, Lily, couldn’t see into the giant pots they were using to cook in the kitchen. So the chief picked her right up and gave her a piggyback ride all around the kitchen. This openness is truly contagious and so beautiful. I have had a lot of trouble finding people that interact with the same level of authenticity and vulnerability in the United States.

A huge facilitator of this sense of community that is so prevalent in Morocco is the open markets, called medinas. Medinas are the traditional marketplaces in Morocco. These spaces are cultural hubs due to their diversity of people and goods as well as their social nature. These areas are so significant that the medina in Fez has been identified as a cultural heritage site. When visiting the medinas of Morocco in Rabat, Marrakesh, and Fez it was easy to see the strong traditional pull and local importance. The medinas are a huge economic and social bastion in Moroccan cities. People from all walks of life go to the medinas to purchase goods, eat and socialize.

Coming back to Tempe it was really difficult to recreate that same feeling of community that I felt in Morocco. I have been actively looking for more public spaces and have been largely unsuccessful. The closest I have come in finding a public space is at the various coffee shops around campus. Because Tempe is a college town it is rampant with students and professors attempting to get their caffeine fix to get through the day. So coffee shops are a staple of daily life. People become regulars and you see a lot of the same people so many times that a sense of familiarity is formed.

Unfortunately, the familiarity is where this community ends. We do not interact outside of nods of acknowledgment because that is not acceptable in our culture. I recently met a man named Sean who just moved to Tempe after teaching English in Ethiopia for a year. His greatest frustration is that in Arizona people aren’t trying to make friends. People think it is weird if you go out to a show and just start talking to a stranger. This creates a sense of isolation.

I believe that this community feeling I’ve been missing is largely due to the fact that in America we emphasize the importance of the individual. This sense of individualism makes us afraid to reach out and interact. The general culture of Morocco is collectivist. I think that I am more of a collectivist as well, so I felt very comfortable with that closeness. Being back in the United States is odd because of this. There is a very distinct sense of isolation juxtaposed with the comfort of being back in my home country. Hopefully things will become more comfortable.