Experiencing contemporary cafés and changes in the characteristic of third places

Abstract

The fast development of modern cafés in the city is related to the creation of urban public space. The idea of a café as a public space is not new but how a café creates a convenience public space for people with different backgrounds is still an interesting phenomenon. Modern cafés like Starbucks and Crematology – famously known as a sign of globalization and consumerism – have spread to both campus and working areas. Oldenburg distinguishes "third places" as the public places on neutral ground where people can gather, interact and enjoy the surroundings (Oldenburg, 1991). In contrast to first places (home) and second places (work), third places serve as places for social interaction and often considered anchors of community life. This paper discusses how modern cafés in UI campus and working areas actually show modifications for the characteristic of Oldenburg's third places. The study tries to connect how modern cafés appear to be a remarkably social space where some of the barriers to social interaction declines and in the end will promote social attachment. The argument in this paper is that modern cafés offer a comforting and neutral, yet generic enough to lend itself to whatever meaning people want to use it. The method conducted is through direct observations and qualitative analyses of the Starbucks café located at Universitas Indonesia Depok campus and the Crematology café near Sudirman, Jakarta, as the case studies.

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