DESIGN AGAINST VANDALISM AS A NEWAPPROACH TO LANDSCAPE MAINTENANCE IN URBAN OPEN SPACES

Abstract

Urban open spaces are places located and designed within the context of urban and landscape design that provide to people opportunities in the urban environment. parks has been a major focus in promoting places for relaxation and recreation. Urban parks therefore can be regarded as public spaces, which cater to the needs of urban dwellers and the community as a whole. In other words, parks were designed to promote public health and to give some aesthetic value to an urban setting , That makes it necessary to pay special attention to the organization of these open spaces. All the factors concerning planning should be considered and evaluated at the planning stage of the urban open spaces. One of the common deviations in our current societies is vandalism. Vandalism is a philosophical approach that affected on landscape elements in urban open spaces. It can affect people's quality of life because it damages or destroys elements that they need or care about. It also Makes people feel that their lives are less safe than they really are. Thus it is necessary to identify the effective factors on the reduction of this phenomenon as a new approach to emphasize the new concept “Design against vandalism “. The purpose of this paper is to analyze vandal reasons to find design factors and proof that applied designer suggestions can be a solution to face this phenomenon towards landscape elements in urban open spaces. And it should be evaluated as a part of maintenance, functional uses and user’s activities which based on landscape elements.