Many people spend most of their time at home and at work. Yet did you know there\u2019s actually a name for locations other than these two places\u2014like cafes, bars, parks, and library-type settings where people go to hang out free from the constraints of their houses and their offices?<\/p>\n
These are so-called third places. According to some experts, these places might be essential for individual well-being\u2014and even for the well-being of democracy.<\/p>\n
The term third place was coined by sociologist Ray Oldenburg<\/a> in 1989. He first used it in his book The Great Good Place to describe a location where people gather and socialize with both friends and strangers and truly engage with their communities. These places, he theorized, can help people feel connected to others who live near them, and can be vital for the health and well-being of communities on the whole.<\/p>\n Shopping malls, markets, and concerts don\u2019t exactly fit this bill, Oldenburg noted, as the centerpiece of any proper third place should be conversation. Third places should allow neighbors to meet each other and should provide places where newcomers can be integrated into communities, he wrote in a 1996 essay<\/a>. They should also provide opportunities for people of different generations to meet, for community members to support one another and share resources, and for political debate to occur. Ideally, they should be long-term establishments located within walking distance of people\u2019s homes. Finally, he emphasized, they should foster entertainment and friendship\u2014not stress and more expenses.<\/p>\n The History of Third Places<\/p>\n Third places of sorts have always existed in human civilizations, ever since we stopped being hunter-gatherers and started settling down and staying put. Older iterations of contemporary third places date back to the agoras of ancient Greek city-states <\/a>of the sixth century BCE, where people would gather to debate, socialize, and access amenities like temples and administrative buildings. These spaces were essential to the development of Greek society and democracy.\u00a0<\/p>\n Today, the quintessential third place, of course, is the cafe\u2014one of the few places where people can meet to simply be together and talk in a safe, comfortable social setting. One early predecessor to the modern cafe is the tea houses of the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD) in China; these places were fixtures in communities of this era, acting as spaces where meetings, celebrations, and gatherings were held regularly.\u00a0<\/p>\n