Preferred urban public spaces through social media: historic cities of the province of Alicante (Spain).

Abstract

Understanding the role of urban public spaces in today’s historic Spanish Mediterranean cities is a key priority for researchers and urban professionals. Increasingly, social media showcases users’ preferences, a trend that can provide an indication as to why some urban public spaces are preferred over others. This research focuses on preferred urban public spaces in historic cities in the province of Alicante (Spain) and has two objectives: to identify their urban morphological features; and, to recognise similar traits in terms of their location within the urban structure. The method involved: first, analysing Foursquare social media data on user preferences about urban public spaces; second, studying spatial and functional urban attributes; and third, recognising their role within the city structure. The results demonstrate that the preferred urban spaces share morphological attributes; a central position in the urban structure; mixed-use ground floor activities; and the presence of relevant urban public facilities.