A path to explain the basis for production of emerging urban spaces through the publicness

Urban spaces play a vital role in shaping the social and functional dynamics of cities. Their physical and functional structures can improve urban performance and support meaningful interaction between users and the built environment. In recent years, research on the production of urban spaces and on the publicness of these spaces has grown significantly. However, the relationship between the production of emerging urban spaces and the degree of their publicness still requires a clearer explanatory path. This study classifies and synthesizes the findings of related studies through a systematic literature review supported by the PRISMA framework and bibliometric analysis. The findings show that emerging urban spaces are produced through three interrelated stages: planning and design, implementation, and management. The results also indicate that two main actor groups, producers and users, shape the publicness of these spaces through access, activity, control, ownership/management, human connection, and everyday spatial practices. Finally, the proposed framework demonstrates that structural forces, including culture, economy, and socio-political conditions, mediate the relationship between space production and publicness. Therefore, publicness is not only a quality added to urban spaces after design; it is a constitutive basis for explaining how emerging urban spaces are conceived, produced, used, and governed.