A Mamdani-Based Fuzzy Logic Model for Evaluating the Design Quality of Urban Squares

Though several studies have explored the ways in which people perceive the qualities of urban squares, the influence of living environments on such perceptions has received little attention. To fill this gap, this study examined differences in preferences for urban square design elements, particularly, the ratio of the width of a public space to the height of the surrounding buildings (D/H ratio), square size, and façade details, among people with different living environments. Virtual reality simulation techniques were used in controlled experiments with 100 participants of various nationalities, mostly Koreans, and conjoint analysis was applied to determine what combination of design elements most influenced urban square preferences. Participants experienced eight virtual squares designed with different combinations of the three design elements and assessed them based on five indicators of the quality of urban squares. Among the three design elements, the D/H ratio most significantly influenced the perceptions of quality, regardless of participants’ living environments. We conclude that the level of experience in various urban environments may affect people’s familiarity with these environments and their spatial perception and preferences. We thus suggest that socio-cultural differences related to users’ living environments should receive more attention in urban design practice. We also demonstrate that the emerging combination of immersive virtual reality technology and conjoint analysis can function as a useful tool for urban design research.

Innovative DSS for intelligent monitoring and urban square design approaches: A case of study

Urban squares are a type of public open space that cater for various activities for the public, such as for events and leisure. The activities in the square are not only contributed by annual events and celebrations, but also daily and weekly informal activities of visitors and tourists. Some squares even become landmarks and focal points of the city. While the design of urban squares has been studied in depth by researchers in other countries, however, local studies that interrogate how urban squares are occupied in Malaysia are still scarce. This research examines three prominent urban squares, which are Dataran Putra, Dataran Merdeka and Dataran Pahlawan, to explore and outline the key criteria that contribute to the activities of the squares. The research objectives are: 1) To identify the spaces, design elements, structures and surrounding area; 2) To map the activities and flow of users throughout the day; and 3) To synthesize the key findings to formulate design strategies for urban squares in Malaysia. The methods adopted for this research comprise of conducting site inventory and photographic documentation, observation and mapping, and semi-structured interviews with 150 visitors. The analysis reveals that there are five (5) key criteria that contribute to an active urban square. The findings from this research are useful for Landscape Architects and Urban Designers in planning and designing urban squares in Malaysia, or upgrading underutilized urban squares. This research concludes that an active and successful urban square can contribute to the city’s livability and quality of life for its people. In order to remain active and successful, urban square designs in Malaysia should meet the needs of the local climatic and socio-cultural factors.

The concept of participation has come into prominence in urban planning and urban design since the mid- 1970’s as consciousness of local identity increased. There is a significant body of research on participation related to urban design. Various participation methods, models, and processes have been proposed each based on specific experiences. This article presents a participation method and process for the urban design study of Yozgat Cumhuriyet square. This method is useful for defining a new approach in participative urban design based on intense and sincere communication between designers and users. The study was conducted entirely as an academic workshop. First, questionnaires were used to ensure participation, then it was expected that the participants, who accepted to take part in the later stages of design would directly contribute to urban design process. However, the final urban design project could not be prepared as the process failed at the stage of active participation of the citizens. Although, it failed, the process could be evaluated as a new approach/model for the participative urban design. This article explains the method and process and discusses the reasons for the failure in the case study. Key words: Participation, user-designer interaction, urban design, urban square, participatory urban design

PurposeThe purposes of this study is to explore and describe the main campus urban design principles, to investigate and examine the degree of Hashemite University’s (HU’s) student satisfaction with the urban design of their campus, to examine the relationships between the degree of HU student satisfaction and age, gender, educational pursuits and academic year, to define and assess student needs through HU’s campus design and to examine and investigate the relationships/interrelationships between all the campus urban design principles.Design/methodology/approachThis research used a variety of methods: A face-to-face questionnaire (n = 1,443), HU students’ community board design for urban spaces, HU master plan analysis and focus group discussions (three researchers and 30 architectural students). This research used the descriptive statistics and the Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient (Pearson r) to analyze the data.FindingsThis research found that the majority of HU students were dissatisfied with the design of their outside spaces with regard to the effectiveness of space, availability of services, viability and vitality, public realm design, the density of activities, design character, walkability, diversity of existing services, richness, continuity and enclosure design. In contrast, they were satisfied with the accessibility and connectivity between spaces, availability of safe and welcoming spaces, mental map elements design and urban structure. Statistically, this research found that there were no significant relationships between the students’ satisfaction level and their age, gender, educational pursuits, education specialty and education level. Moreover, the correlation results revealed that the relationships/interrelationships between all the campus urban design principles have strong/very strong positive linear associations and significant relationships (r > 89).Practical implicationsThis research recommended that the urban designer and architects should adopt the bottom-up approach when they are designing and planning the campus. They should apply all the above urban design principles to achieve the flexible and dynamic campus urban design and the students’ needs. Well-designed campus creates multi-functional places for students’ activities, encourages them for socialization and enhances their academic performance and experience, increases their feeling of belonging, enhances the sense of well-being and supports outside learning activities and experiences. The objectives for the campus urban design should promote high standards and qualities of open spaces, create a sense of places, serve students’ needs, provide effective design for socialization, provide maximum flexible design to allow for future campus growth and create a safe and healthy environment to express the quality of university’s life. Finally, the students should participate actively in the developing design of their campus activity.Originality/valueTo avoid repeating the mistakes of the past, this research is essential for future HU campus design. In addition to defining and describing all the campus urban design principles, this research provides HU decision-makers with an informed, holistic view of their students’ satisfaction levels, needs and requirements within their urban campus design to develop the HU campus design. Moreover, this research provides a new vision for the future in the form of data and guidelines for a new campus design. The findings are intended to provide useful information to university managers, leaders, policymakers and urban designers who implement strategies to improve the quality of campus urban design. This research opens the door for new research by duplicating the same research contents and methodologies on another campus design within different regions and cultures to fully develop a universal guideline for campus urban design.

Problem statement: Nowadays professions such as architecture, landscape architecture and urban design are playing a unique role in environmental design process. Meanwhile architecture is being separated from two other majors: landscape architecture and urban design by paying so much attention to constructing buildings. Landscape architecture and urban design have parallel subjects and goals and both have the intention to improve the quality of urban open spaces. Approach: Since these two majors have partly the same approaches in confronting the topic of urban open spaces design, this study propounded the desirable method of collaboration between the professionals of these two majors. This research defined the role and position, each of these two professions have in the environmental design process by taking advantage of grounded theory procedure and the usage of content analysis, constant comparison and the questionnaire techniques. Results: Ideas found in this research were laying stress on the fact that by considering the three-level system from relations between the parameters: design/planning, control/co-ordination, management/policy making as the main common roles among the urban design and landscape architecture professionals, one can achieve the pattern of an efficient interaction. Conclusion: In this co-operation, landscape architects by preparing plans and implementing details and urban designers by making design structures and standards will obtain a supplemental role in the environmental design process.

Urban design has been shown to play a vital role in promoting the health and wellbeing of urban citizens. However, studies of microscale urban design are underrepresented in comparison with macroscale urban design, especially from low- and middle-income countries in Asia, where urban forms are traditionally compact, complex and with multiple layers and varied urban typologies. The study evaluated microscale urban design qualities of streets (n = 40) across five urban typologies in Hanoi—a typical city in a low- and middle-income country in Asia. The study found that urban typologies and their characteristics have particular impacts on urban design qualities. Old and high-density urban typologies tend to report higher urban design qualities than modern and low-density typologies. Urban design qualities are also significantly associated with the number of pedestrians on the streets. Compared to Western cities, the urban design qualities in Hanoi are substantially different, especially in terms of imageability and complexity, reflecting the differences in urban design and cultural context between cities from various regions. Overall, the study contributes to our understanding of urban design circumstances in Hanoi, providing policymakers, planners, urban designers and architects with important insights for sustainable urban design policies, strategies and interventions.

Role of Streetscape in Shaping Urban Design in Romania. Applying the Concept of 3D Interactive and Interconnected Streets. Case Study: Urban Axis Bistrița-Beclean-Năsăud-Sângeorz-Băi. Urban boulevards are the most dispersed and heavily trafficked urban open spaces. As urban communities strive to improve decency in the built environment, planners and designers must have a succinct understanding of what contributes to the quality of urban landscapes. Streets are a vital part of any city's public open space system. They act as movement corridors for pedestrians, cyclists, traffic, and vehicles and support many social and commercial activities. The presence and character of the streets play a huge role in determining the overall quality and liveability of the city. The document examines the existence of street elements - paving, street trees, central medians, lighting, and street furniture - which, when applied over time, enrich the city's visual image and urban design. It also focuses on the basic elements and principles of the urban landscape that improve the quality of urban street design, accessibility, and pedestrian circulation. In addition, the analytical study covers some examples by relating the basic principles of the urban landscape to use them to develop the urban landscape of one of the main urban streets on the Bistrița-Beclean-Năsăud-Sângeorz-Băi urban axis. The article concludes with sustainable urban landscape solutions that will positively impact sustainable urban design, the functional and aesthetic aspects of the built environment, and, therefore, the visual image of cities in Romania. Keywords: Urban landscape, urban design, Bistrița-Beclean-Năsăud-Sângeorz Băi urban axis, Romania

In this study, we take the landscape design of Xinjiang Ili Han Dynasty Culture Square as an example, conducts discussion over the inheritance and innovation of historical culture elements in three aspects, that is, theme connotation, general spatial layout and main design technique, on the basis that the category and type of historical culture and the application rule of historical culture in urban square design have been expounded. This study has conducted an initial discussion, which is to offer inspirations and references for the relevant theoretical study and design practice.

This paper interprets ancient public space as a material correlate of civic communities, using the Late Bronze Age city of Ugarit as a case-study. Civic communities acted as significant political factor throughout the history of the ancient Near East, both as institutions (e.g., political assemblies) and as informal groups (the “town's crowd”). A growing body of evidence and innovative approaches shows that, particularly in the Upper Syrian Euphrates region of the Late Bronze Age (cf. above all Tell Bazi and Emar), these forms of social aggregation and political negotiation were influential and sometimes antagonistic alternatives to monarchical powers. In this paper, I approach the study of past communal political life by analyzing with an integrated, GIS-based methodology the planning and use of public squares at Ugarit. The contribution aims at highlighting the relevance of public space for understanding the balance of power in the cities of the Late Bronze Age and discussing the chances and limits of relating civic politics to specific features of the ancient urban design.

The impact of urban design features and qualities on walkability and health in under-construction environments: The case of Hashtgerd New Town in Iran

Urban squares, despite their apparently self-evident consistency, actually represent one of the most uncertain issues of present urban planning. Denied and neglected by modern architecture, then sought after in the last decades, squares are commonly recognized as fundamental identity making elements in urban settlements as well as in their respective communities. Since their revival in the late ‘900, the design of urban squares has been a challenging task for generations of planners and urban designers, since, despite any effort, most of the squares worked out can hardly succeed in competing with the historic ones. What appears to explain the failure of most attempts is the actual uncertainty in the definition of what an urban square really is, or should be: not a mere open space, nor only a pedestrian path, nor necessarily a wide or regular space, nor always a junction of streets. Perhaps all these things together, but also something more, what makes the matter to overcome the limits of a strictly physical vision to approach social and cultural meanings. The purpose of this research is therefore to investigate around the link between spatial aspects and social issues, so as to identify the spatial features that allow an urban square to actually play a social and cultural role. As a testing ground of such effort a wide set of Italian squares was assumed as a case studies series, in order to catch the spatial code of their success as relation and public representation places; and some configurational parameters will then be proposed for reproducing such capability, so as to actually support the planning and design of urban squares.

Landscape interventions in improving thermal comfort in the hot dry city of Damascus, Syria—The example of residential spaces with detached buildings

Role of local and urban textures in promoting social interactions of residents and emphasizing living centers theory of Christopher Alexander

The third space is an interaction space that connects spatiality, history, and social aspects. As a space that surpasses other spaces, the third room should also show good urban design quality. This study seeks to reveal the characteristics of the Third Space in the historical street of Kayutangan and its relationship with the Quality of Urban Design through behavior mapping techniques based on Naturalistic Observation. The research uses a qualitative approach with observation units of activity type, frequency, direction of face, spatial distance, duration of activity, gender, age, and environmental stimulus in observing the character of the Third Space. This unit was analyzed using the dimensions of imageability: sense of place, place identity, and attractiveness. It was found that there are 13 symptoms of the Third Space in the area and their relationship with the quality of urban design. These aspects are the heterogeneity of activities, the participation of informal actors, the existence of street vendors, cultural heritage, permeability, sense of healing, sense of navigation, sense of reflection, architectural didacticism, the completeness of street furniture, social interaction, interaction between street furniture and informal actors, and the existence of iconic buildings.