What are Third Spaces and Why Do They Matter?
When I was 10 years old, my mom and dad dropped me off at our local YMCA skatepark, hoping I would make friends. Over a decade later, I am still skateboarding. But, more importantly, I can confidently say that at the YMCA skatepark, I was transformed into the woman, scholar, and advocate that I am today.
Sociologist Ray Oldenburg first introduced the concept of “third spaces” in his 1989 book The Great Good Place. Oldenburg advocates that to live a balanced, happy life, people need engagement in three realms – at home, work, and in third spaces. Third spaces act as a core setting for informal public life, offering connection, community, and sociability (Oldenburg, 1989). For adults, examples include cafes, parks, gyms, and other places centered around a common interest that fosters community and civic engagement. Very simply, third spaces can be thought of as societal glue. They bind people together to construct communities (Low, 2020).
For children, third spaces are places they regularly frequent outside of their home and school environments that are child-centered, such as after-school programs, extracurricular activities, sports, public libraries, clubs, and my personal favorite, skateparks. As is the case for adults, children’s third spaces provide the same sense of community. They help children develop a sense of self and consciousness of the greater world, allowing them to appreciate life and be enriched by its diversity (Oldenburg, 1989).