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Public Spaces, through the history of urbanisation, have been created as places of common celebration, a show of power or camaraderie, or for civic or religious functions. People could come together in public spaces to express their feelings of joy and celebration, sadness and anger. Yet, public spaces have also been used to show public dissent, to start a revolution or to overthrow a government, as was the case in 2011 at the Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt. This special issue on Public Spaces contains a variety of articles from countries around the world, each dealing with a specific aspect of public space. From gendered public spaces in Colombo, Sri Lanka, to the religious significance of public spaces for the Dawoodi Bohra community in different parts of the world. From the renewed interest in public spaces in Albanian cities of Durres and Dhermi to the plazas of New Mexico. Additional articles in the magazine are on the importance of public spaces in disaster recovery (case study Kathmandu, Nepal) and their importance to keep memories of urban history alive (case study Old Guangzhou,China). An article from Australia (case study Melbourne) explains the need not only to construct good public spaces but also to nurture, develop and manage them over decades. Finally, a couple of articles deal with the digitisation of the public spaces in cities and how, with the advent of new technology, the physical public space has the potential to get 'turbo-charged' due to the conversations in the digital public space.