<p>Leisure scholars and policymakers routinely invoke social cohesion as a desirable outcome. Prevailing definitions, however, reduce the concept to attitudinal measures or participation proxies, neglecting the spatial conditions that shape public life. This paper defines social cohesion as a collective capacity for association and coordination that supports social relations, belonging, and normative expectations. In fragmented urban settings, this capacity often requires the practical organization of co-presence. The paper approaches cohesion through demonstrated spatial capacity: the ability to sustain shared space, mutual recognition, and workable norms for a bounded period. Drawing on street leisure in urban Haiti, it introduces temporary publicness as an organizing concept for the short-lived public realm assembled in the street through visibility, shared attention, and minimal rule-order. The argument identifies three operational dimensions through which temporary publicness is produced: rhythmic synchronization (coordination via sound and embodied timing), boundary and routing work (organization of entry, circulation, sonic reach, and usable paths), and negotiated regulation (settlement of rules through toleration, brokerage, and enforcement among plural authorities). A framework table links these dimensions to empirical cues, cohesion effects, and failure modes, and it distinguishes cohesion-in-the-scene from cohesion-in-the-city to clarify limits of scale transfer. The paper closes with guidance for leisure research and policy claims that infer cohesion from participation without attending to access, mobility, and regulation.</p>