The article investigates how Bourdieu’s theory of practice can be mobilized to analyse the micro landscape of decision-making in urban practice, framing it by means of the concept of habitus. The reconstruction of the Riga Castle Square in the UNESCO-protected area is used as a case study. Using the vocabulary of habitus-related concepts—illusio, doxa, and hysteresis—an attempt is made to trace the interrelations between the motivations and actions of professionals involved in the project and their influence on the outcomes. This article assumes that the symbolic significance of a place causes symbolic space, understood as a grid of cognitive structures guiding agents in their choices, to become salient. When representative public spaces are transformed, the symbolic space imposes on social and physical spaces through the symbolic forms of power used by specialists. In conclusion, the article offers an interpretation of heritage as a manifestation of habitus: Public space thus exemplifies a social interface, expressing interplay between traditional and emerging values. The findings reinforce the relevance of the theory of practice for researching non-physical phenomena of urban practice. The concept of habitus supports the conceptualization of urban planning practice as assemblages of diverse interdependent interactional settings where fraternities of practice communities communicate around values. This communication defines motivations and determines decisions, shaping physical space. The theory of practice helps decompose the micro-level of socio-psychological dynamics underlying stakeholders’ decision-making and to relate it to macro phenomena, such as power distribution or participation.

The paper attempts to deconstruct the production of the myth associated with a street renovation project in Riga’s historical centre. During and after the reconstruction of Barona Street, it was widely used as a public image of street renovation failure. Professional and civil society blamed ad hoc planning, wrong traffic organisation, inappropriate design, and poor construction quality. It is this association of solely spatial aspects with the failure to create qualitative public space that constitutes the core of the Barona Street Myth of Failed design. The article postulates that interaction of social identity and social emotions underline communicative landscapes when significant public spaces are being transformed and induce mythologizing of urban projects. Built on the analysis of the related reflections and criticism in media and public discussions, the thick description of the Barona Street project’s events attempts to show how socially and emotionally shaped perception of design and implementation process by involved social groups has contributed to the mythologising the renovation of Barona Street. The conclusions emphasize socio-psychological framing of urban analysis. The emotional implication of the Barona Street myth induces reattribution of the responsibility for Failed Design to individual political leaders, designers, and involved municipal workers, shifting public attention away from structural and governance inability to engage with public spaces and creating preconditions for involving urban project as a tool in political power games.