Linking place attachment and social interaction: towards meaningful public places

Purpose A public space is a place of significance when it fulfils the human need for social interaction and attachment. However, the scarcity of public spaces poses a challenge to support socialisation for people within a defined social and cultural group. The purpose of this paper is to explore the association between place attachment and social interaction within public spaces in the city centre of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Design/methodology/approach Face-to-face interviews with urban users were conducted to examine the users’ engagement in three main public spaces in the city and the significance of these spaces to everyday social interaction. Field observations were carried out to examine patterns of users’ activities and interactions. Findings The authors uncover a lack of multi-functional spaces to support diverse forms of interactions in the city. A street has an important function to generate activities. However, spaces for people to sit and stay remain scarce, and are in most cases consumed by extended commercial use and thus considered private. Opportunities for social interaction are very limited. The significance of the places relates strongly to commercial and tourism functions, and hence place attachment evolves around those activities. Participants associated their familiarity and engagement with interaction between familiar people, close ethnic relationships and business acquaintances. Practical implications The authors argue that more robust and socially responsive public spaces should be reclaimed for the culturally diverse users. Social implications Development of attachment through meaningful spaces for people to stay and interact could enhance the role of public spaces in the city. Originality/value By understanding the social meanings of places, particularly in a multi-cultural setting, a stronger basis for designing and managing urban places towards resiliency and social sustainability can be provided

The Sustainable City: The Characteristic Public Urban Green Space for Enhancing Community Social Sustainability in Baghdad

United Nations propounded the key to sustainable development, including the Environmental health and social well-being of society. In the city planning and development, public urban green open spaces provide opportunities for social and physical activities among the communities, which can contribute to mental and physical health in improving the social well-being of the community. Iraq is currently suffering from poor social activities, as many open spaces and parks are neglected and deficient. Therefore, there is a need to enhance residents’ social interaction in public urban green open spaces in order to improve the quality of social fabric in Baghdad City, through the perspective of the sustainable built environment approaches. The aim of this study is to determine the preferred characteristics of pocket parks for enhancing residents' social interaction based on their socio-demographic and investigate the relationship between the availability of quality pocket parks and residents' social interaction in Baghdad City. The study employed by executed the survey to the communities in Karkh district. Respondents (n=306) were selected in a single-random procedure to assess population attitudes towards a pocket park for social and physical activities. The results confirmed that a lack of outdoor daily social interaction in Baghdad City due to the inefficient nearby pocket parks. Thus, there is a need for efficient pocket parks designed to be provided. In this study, the characteristics of efficient pocket park design identified as providing suitable activities and elements, accessibility, well-design, proximity, safety and security, administration and maintenance in the pocket park design. This study contributes to the definitions of pocket parks and nearby open spaces by investigating these spaces' characteristics and benefits towards the social well-being of communities, in achieving the goal of a sustainable community in sustainable city development

Negotiating learning spaces in an FE college new build

In 2015, City Green College, a Further Education College in the North of England, developed a new building designed to enable teachers to use a variety of classroom, open learning spaces and online spaces. The senior managers’ aim was to alter the pedagogy to focus on independent learning. However, the teachers continued to request classrooms and avoided teaching in the newly created open learning spaces. The aims of this research were to: 1. identify the spaces being used by the teachers in City Green College’s new building, 2. examine if there is an expected change in teaching practice through the use of the new learning spaces and, 3. explore the issues raised by teachers while attempting to use the new learning spaces at the college. This case study uses Boys’ (2011) spatial triad as a framework to investigate teachers’ experiences as they moved from an old college building whose teaching spaces were all classrooms, to a new building containing a mix of classrooms and open learning spaces. Three key findings emerged. First, neoliberalism influenced the design of the new learning spaces and their use by teachers. Second, performance pressures influenced teachers to seek out traditional classrooms despite other spaces being available and teachers viewed the classroom space as part of their identity. Third, without time to reflect critically on innovation in their teaching practices, teachers deferred to the classroom as their preferred space for teaching and learning. Four key recommendations arose. First, teachers must be included in consultation regarding the design of learning spaces from an early planning stage. Second, senior managers who develop new learning spaces should communicate a strategic policy explaining how they expect the spaces to be used. Three, a programme of training is needed that encourages teachers to reflect critically on their own professional identity and relationship to teaching space. Finally, I recommend pausing the neoliberal drive for economic and performance target setting, by cancelling observations of teaching practice, in order to allow teachers to explore new learning spaces without fear of individual failure

Visual Perception of Public Open Spaces in Niksic

AbstractThe typical representatives of public open spaces in Niksic are analyzed in this paper from the perspective of the subjective visual perception. The research is based on empirical analysis and the semantic differential method. The aim of this paper is to form an objective criterion for the design of desirable public open spaces of the city in the 21st century, based on the subjective assessment of the space through observing twelve photographs of typical visual resources of Niksic, with emphasis on the visual and aesthetic dimension. Research results point out that poly functional, dynamic, associative, homogeneous, inclusive, authentic spaces with lots of natural elements achieve desired visual effect on users. It has been concluded that it is necessary to revitalize certain public open spaces of Niksic as the primary visual resource of the city

Evaluation of Urban Spaces from the Perspective of Universal Design Principles: The Case of Konya/Turkey

During the process of accessing services provided within urban interior and outer spaces the elderly and disabled individuals encounter with a myriad of problems due to the limitations posed by structured environments. This limitation hinders elderly and disabled individuals from mobility without assistance, which in turn negatively affects their full participation to urban and social life. Rearrangement of urban spaces to meet the needs of elderly and disabled individuals would correspondingly bolster life quality of the entire range of users. Within the scope of present research, as mandated by universal design principles to stick to plans and designs approaches inclusive for all users, it is aimed to conduct evaluations on the use of urban outer spaces situated within Konya City Center. In the hypothetical and theoretical part of this paper, the perception of disability throughout historical process has been examined from a sociological perspective. In addition, concept of universal design, its principles and gravity have also been elaborated. In the part dealing with the case study, outer spaces within Konya City Center have been analyzed with respect to universal design principles and a range of suggestions have been developed

Understanding walkability in the Libyan urban space: policies, perceptions and smart design for sustainable Tripoli

Walkability in civic and public spaces in Libyan cities is challenging due to the lack of accessibility design, informal merging into car traffic, and the general absence of adequate urban and space planning. The lack of accessible and pedestrian-friendly public spaces in Libyan cities has emerged as a major concern for the government if it is to develop smart and sustainable spaces for the 21st century. A walkable urban space has become a driver for urban development and redistribution of land use to ensure pedestrian and walkable routes between sites of living and workplaces. The characteristics of urban open space in the city centre play a main role in attracting people to walk when attending their daily needs, recreation and daily sports. There is significant gap in the understanding of perceptions, feasibility and capabilities of Libyan urban space to accommodate enhance or support the smart design of a walkable pedestrian-friendly environment that is safe and accessible to everyone. The paper aims to undertake observations of walkability and walkable space in the city of Tripoli as a benchmark for Libyan cities; assess the validity and consistency of the seven principal aspects of smart design, safety, accessibility and 51 factors that affect the walkability in open urban space in Tripoli, through the analysis of 10 local urban spaces experts (town planner, architect, transport engineer and urban designer); and explore user groups’ perceptions of accessibility in walkable spaces in Libyan cities through questionnaires. The study sampled 200 respondents in 2015-16. The results of this study are useful for urban planning, to classify the walkable urban space elements which affect to improve the level of walkability in the Libyan cities and create sustainable and liveable urban spaces