Measuring Vitality of the Ottoman Public Space in Kosovo Cities

This paper elaborates the vitality of the Ottoman public spaces in Kosovo Cities, generated by the public sphere of the contemporary city life. It analyses the public life in the main public space in four cities in Kosovo related to • Urban morphology - the structure and the position in the city, which relates also to content and history; • Time dimension - historical background and their usability and vitality today; • Functional dimension - the main content that triggers the public life in the public spaces. In this research, a combined research methodology/strategy involving case study research method and interpretative historical research was applied. Searching the history of the development of the public space in the Kosovo cities, the basic arguments are found in the literature and archive documents, as well as extensive field survey of the public life. The results of the case study analyses show that, although they had been transformed from their original settings, the vitality of the Ottoman public space of the same typology could be considered at a very high level. Photo: Peja, Long Bazar.