ShiftSpace is an open source platform that seeks to expand the creative possibilities currently provided through the web. ShiftSpace provides new tools for artists, designers, architects, activists, developers, students, researchers, and hobbyists to create new online contexts built on top of the web.

The following is an essay dealing with public space and public art in physical space and online. It can also serve as a cultural background to the ShiftSpace project.

Public space is defined as a place to which anyone has the right to come without being excluded because of economic or social conditions. This basic ethic definition is the subject of a passionate conflict between authoritative forces trying to police this space to their view of the public good, and other individual forces that are trying to claim a different, less-governed approach.