This is a problem with big cities. There are no public spaces. Even less private spaces for free. Recently, I was in Barcelona and was surprised to see a bunch

This is a problem with big cities. There are no public spaces. Even less private spaces for free. Recently, I was in Barcelona and was surprised to see a bunch of teenagers cramped together sitting on the pavement in a shopping mall. At first, as an old person that I am, I thought that they were up to something. But, they were having fun, laughing and having a good time. The only park had no trees and few banks anyway. So, it was better to sit on the floor somewhere in the shadow that to sit on the floor under the sun. Even more interesting was the fact that the place had a lot of empty chairs. But, those ones were for paying customers. If it is so hard to find a place to sit with friends much more difficult is to find a place where to sit alone. Some libraries are ditching the focus on books to just offer a space to study together or alone. If I have criticised USA cities for being designed for cars European (and Japanese also) cities are designed for businesses. Stockholm is one of the few cities where I have seen a focus on parks and outdoor pastimes. Ironically, it is only available two or three months a year as usually is too cold to be confortably sitting outsite.