1 research outputs found
Place evaluation: a transactional adaptive approach. The case study of Cairo's waterfront
The objective of this research is to determine how Cairenes construe places. The
body of study is applied to the context of the waterfront area along the Nile River
within Cairo. It is important to stress that the research is not based upon a witnessed
well-defined problem but rather built upon a model, based upon a Transactional
approach that explores how Cairenes construe places later revealing particular
problems. A review of literature initially identifies many paradigms of perception
and human behaviour. These paradigms have been used in order to identify a
model, which is used to guide the course of the research and is based upon a man in
environment perspective. Therefore the study is set out to individually determine
aspects of place and human perception, bearing in mind the theoretical reasoning
behind the model, which suggests that both entities should holistically be examined.The research is therefore orientated towards determining aspects of change between
people and place. From an adaptation approach it is therefore argued that the level
of variation existing within the environment determines the amount of change in
behaviour and perception that may occur in order to achieve the appropriate
balance required between people and place. As the research attempts to determine
how Cairenes construe places, and as people's perceptions and the environment are
in constant change, thus change in our case relates to how human perception and
behaviour are affected by the level of variation existing within the environment.
The basis of the model is therefore related to both context and human perception.The case study involves Cairo's waterfront as it is centrally located and considered
as a convenient public place. This area is used in order to determine aspects of the
context and human perception. Therefore the waterfront is considered as a public place used to examine the objectives of the research. The results reveal that there
exists a lack of variation in public spaces along the waterfront and Cairo. It also
highlights that the social class of people within a context affects how Cairenes'
construe places. Both the contextual and perceptual analysis uncovers segregated
patterns of behaviour within the City and is tackled by introducing general design
recommendations for public areas situated along Cairo's waterfront and in general
within public space.The methodology involves a qualitative analysis of interviews and a further
quantitative analysis of a questionnaire. Both analyses attempt to determine
dominant aspects of perception and context. It is also important to underline that
within the proposed model derived from the Transactional approach, aspects of
change are embodied in the level of variation existing within the environment. This
is based upon the assumption that higher levels of variation in the context affect
people's perceptions