Network Of Public Spaces Research Articles

ВІДКРИТІ ПУБЛІЧНІ ПРОСТОРИ КИЄВА В КОНТЕКСТІ СОЦІАЛЬНО-ПРОСТОРОВОГО ПІДХОДУ

Urban public spaces determine the identity of the city’s dwellers, ensure the implementation of the communication function. They are constantly changing, characterized by various transformational processes that take place under the influence of various factors in the development of the city. The need for knowledge of contemporary complex and ambiguous processes in cities causes the relevance of the socio-spatial approach to the analysis of the functioning and transformation of public spaces in order to increase the level of comfort of living in cities, and smart management of urban development. In this aspect, Kyiv is a good ground for socio-geographical study of various types of public spaces characterized by intensive traditional and specific transformations. The most significant changes are typical for open public spaces. Therefore, in order to understand the factors of contemporary processes in open public spaces, it is necessary to carry out a socio-spatial analysis of a set of parks, public gardens, boulevards, streets, embankments and squares of the capital. The article presents results of analysis of the peculiarities of Kyiv’s open public spaces functioning and transformation in the context of the socio-spatial approach. The analysis revealed that the network of open public spaces in Kyiv corresponds to the stages of the city’s territorial development. The most widespread directions of open public spaces transformation in Kyiv are commercialization (functioning of objects providing paid cultural and entertainment services), “beautification” (club design, sculpture installation, renovation of street furniture, registration of thematic zones), (home-type behavior of visitors, the use of home decor items), “europeanization” (designing public spaces based on European urban practices), “ideologization”(commemorative practices through giving relevant names to public spaces and/or establishment of monuments), sacralization (restoration or new construction of temples in parks, squares and gardens), orientation towards the potential consumer (differences in planning design and functions depending on location in the urban planning structure) and “elitization” (allocation of facilities with the club effect). These processes make substantial impact on the intensity of the use of open public spaces in different planning zones, changing their functions and prospects of use.

Social Networks and Civic Mobilizations (Portugal, 2012)

Abstract In Portugal, in 2012, the movement “To hell with troika! We want our lives!” emerged from digital social networks and with demonstration on the street on September 15. This social movement has patented new forms of public mobilization and protest motivated by citizens' dissatisfaction with the austerity measures of the Portuguese government, but it is part of the line of protest that has been taking place at the international level. Social networks were used to trigger mobilization, but the protest did not dispense with the traditional forms of expression in the public space, such as gatherings in the squares, rallies, marches and posters. Using a corpus taken from the written press, the event was analyzed using a theoretical and conceptual framework of theories of public space, social movements, and social networks. In this article we intend to reflect on the current protest movements, social networks and collective action, at a time when activism is exercised in electronic connections and in the street. Through this movement we aim to question whether we are facing new configurations of mobilization, visibility, public action and the creation of a common space, and / or if we are facing a continuity of the traditional social movement with the incorporation of new "repertoires of action".

The public realm as a generator of urban design

<p>For me, urban design at its heart is a positive activity that has a primary objective to contribute a public benefit. This is principally achieved by designing a network of public spaces – the public realm – that form the setting for individuals and communities to live their lives efficiently, safely, purposefully, meaningfully and memorably. The public realm consists of typical urban elements of streets, lanes, plazas, parks and environmental areas of different scales and purposes. These elements of public space are combined to create distinctive and unique places that invite use and activity. Underscoring this is the view that the primary user of public space is the pedestrian and the primary transport mode walking, cycling, and public transport. The car remains important but less so than the other modes.<br />With this approach, an essential requirement of the private realm of buildings is to form the public realm by positively defining public space, for it can’t exist without the physical form of the buildings, and landscapes. The mix and location of land-uses in close proximity activate the public realm, so people can readily access the uses needed for daily life, and are invited to do so due to the quality of the urban setting.</p>

Nodes-Connectors network of Public Spaces as a Manifestation of Power in Cairo’s Heterotopias

Nodes-Connectors network of Public Spaces as a Manifestation of Power in Cairo’s Heterotopias

THE EVOLUTION OF A PUBLIC LEVEL ORGANIZATION IN A CITY SAMARA AT THE MARK OF +/- 0.000

The article is devoted to the historical analysis of Samara’s public spaces at the level of +/- 0.000. Today our city is a collection of fragments from different eras. They differ greatly in the types of planning organization of the public level, the functional saturation and scale of development. From the pedestrian historical compact city, the transition to a modernist type with a micro-district mono-functional building was made. The urban environment has become disparate. In the zero urban level, gaps emerged associated with the lack of of open spaces in pedestrian accessibility and inadequate concentration of public components. Today Samara continues to be built up with neighborhoods with a predominance of residential functions, while not paying attention to the organization of public spaces. The solution to this problem will be an approach based on the creation of a pedestrian city at the level of +/- 0.000, which will be able to form a continuous network of public spaces in the lower level and qualitatively transform urban fabric. The article considers the historical evolution of public spaces in Samara as a necessary precondition for the future of the project.

Expresiones pictóricas urbanas: paisaje urbano y configuración espacial en Iztacalco

<p>Este artículo se enfoca en las prácticas pictóricas localizadas en el paisaje urbano de Iztacalco. A través de sistemas de información geográficas se pretende encontrar patrones de localización o relaciones de proximidad entre los edificios educativos, el espacio público o la red de transporte público, y la presencia de prácticas pictóricas en los muros de las edificaciones, sin perder de vista la aceptación, familiaridad y tolerancia de los habitantes hacia este tipo de prácticas.</p>

Design and Urban Shape for a Resilient City

Today the themes related to urban design are lacking of appropriate legislation references in Italian urbanism, falling in between the strictly urban issues related to the city and those concerning individual building objects.Public and private operators seek to address -and solve- the key topic of the impossibility, via ordinary tools, of developing significant parts of the city, relying on the minimum requirement in terms of standards and public areas to be sold to citizen community, given the limited economic resources available for the public Administrations. Through instruments such as Masterplan, they offer the opportunity to design new urban territories with the introduction of high -quality solutions in terms of connections between empty spaces and constructions, life quality and environmental sustainability. (Giberti, 2008). The growing complexity of the urban landscape of the Italian cities, more and more influenced by exogenous reasons (events, natural disasters, financial programs..), confirmed the dual role that the Urban Planning Project can acquire, taking into account the Project typical local resources and at the same time providing the Plan guarantees of transformation, offering a more efficient and effective response than ordinary actions. The alternatives ran in the case of the city of L’Aquila, include on one hand the application of the slogan “where it was, as it was”, through the accurate reconstruction of individual building, not considering the urban problems already present, and on the other hand, the Urban Regeneration Plans introduction, without any temporal certainty. The LAURAq and Laboratory AnTeAtoday experimentations are actually concentrated on the Urban Planning Project and resilience theme, particularly on the role of the network of public spaces in natural disasters. The “street” has a key role, since it is the main element of the public space in L’Aquila city, that even before the 2009 earthquake had evidents urban problems and that, post-disaster, was reorganized along a single main road, the National Road n. 17 (SS17), which moved from crossing roadtook to both distribution road and urban street.(http://www.laboratoriourbanisticoaquila.eu/index.html).

Ensuring Public Realm Through Private- private Partnership, in the Context of Rapid Urbanization (Case of CBD area Kochi)

In the context of rapid urbanization, the lack of public space development is one of the major issues of commercial development in city cores of Kerala. The reasons of this issue are related to land division. In the present context, there are lacks of guidelines to regulate the minimum size of plot during plot subdivision. The individual plot of small size is not feasible for high density commercial development. The land reconstitutions like feasible solutions were adopted by the individual developers to develop large commercial blocks. The public spaces developed as the result of these changes are segregated, introverted and self contained entities like, space inside the commercial malls, shopping centers etc. The intent of this research is to develop the real-estate policies as an urban design tool to create an integrated public space network system in commercial core of the city, and to develop a framework of strategies for the space management models like Private-Private partnership to integrate the existing isolated hybrid spaces in to the city fabric, and to create new integrated system of public space network. A sample precinct of M.G road stretch of Kochi was taken up for demonstration after a detailed analysis of various parameters of open space such as ecology, land use, morphological pattern, and transportation infrastructure.

Public Spaces and Private Spaces Open to the Public: Spatial Planning and Development Using Urban Design Guidelines

The continuing growth of urban populations has intensified the need for cities to provide conditions for a healthy and creative way of life, work, and leisure activities. From the aspect of spatial planning in cities, the key is to have a public space network of sufficient scope and quality. “In addition to public space, which is public in terms of ownership and use, private space open to the public is important” [1], i.e. space that is “privately owned, but in public use. It comprises parts of private structures and their external areas” [1], such as green areas, squares, atria, shopping centre arcades, movie theatres, and similar. The development of network of private space open to the public in Slovenian cities was not planned, but was driven by owners’ profit motivations. The study findings presented in this paper show that private space open to the public could complement and improve the city’s public space network to a greater extent than now, and that this should be pursued in a planned manner. “By analogy with Slovenian mountain trails that already constitute an extensive network” [1] of private space open to the public outside towns and cities, we suggest the planned development of the network of private space open to the public in urban areas as well. It is connected with, and complementary to, public space. The enforcement of this special spatial planning category can be achieved through urban planning practice, i.e. by using urban design guidelines and by working towards their gradual introduction into legislation.

A multi-scale approach of public space networks in the scattered city

Scattered metropolitan cities are characterized by new urban realities that offer a variety of typologies and services – new centrality areas – that function as cores of attraction, but show a lack of integration between local and wider territorial scales, triggering problems of fragmentation and polarization. In addition, public space is often reduced to its minimal and infrastructural function, ensuring critical connections but lacking design qualities. In this article we will try to understand how it is possible to articulate these multi-scale centralities with local urban fabrics, focusing on the role of public space. We will analyse, within the scope of the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, the South Bank, and in more detail, a number of areas of the Almada municipality developing an analysis methodology for identifying problems and opportunities. The hypothesis we place is that public space, in a systemic and multi-scale perspective, as ‘the connecting element’, can link different territorial scales, forming a coherent structure and acting as a reference for scattered urban contexts. We discuss how public spaces as multi-scale connectors can work as binding elements, proposing some design actions and strategies to tackle these urban problems, contributing for the urban design practice.

Right-of-way gentrification: Conflict, commodification and cosmopolitanism

As gentrification processes accelerate in American cities, how do newcomers become solidly in-place while longtime residents become hopelessly out-of-place in neighbourhood public spaces? Bringing focus to the often-overlooked public right-of-way – streets, sidewalks and alleys – I examine social rhythms comprising this network of public spaces when used as an everyday infrastructure of transportation and socialisation or when configured for special events. Using the notion of symbolic economy to link the social production of public space with the municipal regulation of public space, this essay approaches gentrification from three perspectives: conflict, commodification and cosmopolitanism. Focusing on Highland, a rapidly gentrifying neighbourhood in Denver, Colorado, I first delve into skirmishes over street legitimacy. I then unpack quiet workaday measures used by cities to regulate the public right-of-way, namely parking policy and liquor license issuances. I move on to the commodification of ethnic culture by those who ultimately benefit from the displacement of Latino families from North Denver. Lastly, I engage with the concept cosmopolitanism, arguing that diversity discourses, both in the academy and on the street, obscure important relationships between asymmetrically positioned symbolic economies and low-level regulation of public space. Foregrounding routine urban governance over neoliberal agendas, this study critiques gentrification as a commonsense urban policy.

Libraries as transitory workspaces and spatial incubators

Growing flexibility in work arrangements, particularly in the knowledge industries, and the ensuing possibilities for teleworking are challenging the traditional ways of conceptualizing and designing public spaces and public services. As an example of this development, public and university libraries are studied from the point of view of teleworking. Although work still only accounts for a small amount of the activities that take place in libraries, its transformations can be seen as a ‘weak signal’ of newly emerging spatial arrangements. In addition to the home and workplace, teleworkers are using a network of public, semi-public and private spaces (so-called third places) for different types of working. The research used the concept “spatial portfolio” to address this phenomenon of spatial modalities. The new role of public libraries within this context is discussed. In addition to their traditional functions of lending books and providing spaces for reading newspapers and magazines, libraries are now becoming more multifunctional, providing space for different activities, including work. This new phenomenon has been studied empirically by conducting a qualitative interview and observing teleworkers in two public libraries and one university library in the City of Helsinki, Finland. The objective was to find and analyze different profiles of workers in libraries, thus providing input for future planning and design of these spaces, as well as the urban fabric around them. The results show that a considerable range of activities within research and education, art and culture, information technology, business and finance, and social services and government are performed in the libraries, all of which are in part supported by the new concepts and policies of the city. Libraries can be seen as ‘transitory workspaces’ where people work at least a couple of hours per week and for different reasons such as free wifi connection and location. Also, libraries might be considered ‘spatial incubators’ or rather places able to attract people who start up their own activities. These concepts contribute to define a new way of appropriating libraries.

Effects of built environment on walking at the neighbourhood scale. A new role for street networks by modelling their configurational accessibility?

The hypothesis of this paper is that some features of the built environment, particularly those concerned with the accessibility of the street network, could be associated with the proportion of pedestrians on all trips (modal split) found in different parts of a city. Quantitative analysis (bi-variate correlation and a multiple regression model) was used to establish the association between variables. The study area covered a substantial part of the metropolitan area in Madrid, Spain. Results showed a consistent influence of five particular indexes in the multi-variate model. Not surprisingly for this kind of research, four of them described density and mix of land uses. But perhaps more interestingly, the first one was a measure of the accessibility of the public space network, a less prominent variable in literature to date. This variable is called herein configurational accessibility, calculated using Space Syntax, an urban morphology theory. The relevance of configurational accessibility is probably related to its surprising ability to synthesize global and perceived properties of street networks at the same time. The findings introduce the idea that the configuration of the urban grid can influence the proportion of pedestrians (as a part of total trips in any transport mode) who choose to walk on single-journey trips. The discussion links with the current debate about walkability indexes and the need of empirical support for the chosen variables and also with transport planning. Because the relevance of the street network’s role is not so easy to grasp, inputs from configurational theory and the pedestrian potential underlying this fact are also discussed at the end of the paper.

Перспективы общественных пространств в Иркутске: взгляды, интеграция, требования

Open spaces are ‘backbones’ of the city, important places of communication and identification of the urban society. In an era of increasing privatization and commercialization of urban spaces the design of public spaces remains as one of the most important responsibilities for the municipality. The article discusses possibilities for improving public spaces in Irkutsk. Three conceptional approaches – 1: Network of public spaces, 2: Integration of different interests, 3: Encouraging special features and spatial identity – by presenting international best practices (e.g. from Dresden, Cleveland, Oulu) are recommended as approach for sustainable city development.

Public Space Networks as A Support for Urban Diversity

In the planning and design processes, the urban territories frequently face problems related to the lack of cohesion, not only regarding the morphological fragmentation but also fragilities of social and economic dynamics. The proposed concept of urban cohesion involves these two dimensions – the physical form of the city and the city's socio-economic and socio-cultural dynamics. In introducing this concept our aim is to focus on the idea that public spaces play a fundamental role in those processes, understanding that they are organised in a systematic way. This means that public space is structured in a cohesive system on different territorial scales within the city, forming a "network of networks". Intending to contribute to the strengthening of urban cohesion, the study proposes a method capable of assessing public space networks in terms of their cohesion, not only within the urban structure of the neighbourhood, but also their links to the surrounding networks. This method assumes that the city is formed by diverse territories due to several reasons. Firstly, due to their specific history and genesis, secondly, due to their morphologic characteristics, and thirdly, because of their socio-economic and socio-cultural features. This leads to the key principle that the city is the place of diversity par excellence, and that it is this diversity that gives the city its own character and distinguishes it from other territories. Two cases in the city of Barcelona are analysed. The neighbourhood of Barceloneta, a historic quarter outside the city walls that is now part of its consolidated urban fabric, and the Baró de Viver neighbourhood, an area that can still be considered peripheral to the city.

Traffic Network and the Urban Environment: An Adapted Space Syntax Approach

The general idea of Space Syntax approach postulates that, the total network of public spaces which is defined by the natural form of the urban tissue in every settlement or city, can be considered as a single and continuous spatial system. This system can be divided into components, analyzed as networks of choices, and then represented as maps and graphs that describe the relative connectivity of those spaces. Among the Space Syntax analysis methods the most widely used is the integration analysis which identifies the preferred shortest route between two points in a given street network. Although paradoxes arise using this method, many research results from European and American cities of different morphology have claimed strong connectivity of preferred routes and traffic volume generated by city planning choices (land use, population density, etc). The proposed adaptation of the chosen Space Syntax methodology is applied to Xanthi, a Greek medium size city in Northern Greece with a very interesting variety in the form and density of its urban tissue. It is the purpose of this application (which uses the DepthMap program) to verify and interpret the functional structure of the city through identifying the form of its core, the principal and most congested road axes, the allocation of the central land use etc. Moreover, it aims to verify the argument that the space syntax attributes of the urban public space have an impact on the accomplishment of the objectives in the regeneration studies and are able to affect the development and structure of its central functions.

Private space open to the public as an addition to the urban public space network

Private space open to the public as an addition to the urban public space network

Tokyo Public Space Networks at the Intersection of the Commercial and the Domestic Realms (Part III) Study on Transit Urban Centers

The domestic qualities that Tokyo offers to accommodate urban nomadism are found not only at the interior and building scales (addressed in Part I and II, respectively) but also at the district scale. This paper examines this scale through the study of specific Tokyo districts, referred to here as Transit Urban Centers, by comparing and highlighting its differences with an urban configuration emerging in Tokyo through redevelopment projects. By means of this comparison, relevant conclusions for architectural and urban planning can be extracted in order to construct an alternative to gentrifying urbanism. This alternative relies upon the amplification of the concept of domesticity as a spatial quality at the interior, architectural and urban scales.

The Geography of Survival and the Right to the City: Speculations on Surveillance, Legal Innovation, and the Criminalization of Intervention

The "geography of survival" describes the spaces and spatial relations that structure not only how people may live, but especially whether they may live. For very poor people, such as the homeless, the geography of survival is knitted together into a network of public and private spaces and social services. In this article we focus on three trends that are simultaneously restructuring this geography of survival—the rise of automated surveillance (CCTV), innovations in trespass law, and the criminalization of sharing food in public—to assess their impact on homeless people's geography of survival in particular, and their right to the city more generally.

Tokyo Public Space Networks at the Intersection of the Commercial and the Domestic Realms (Part II)Study on Urban Content Space

The domestic qualities that Tokyo offers to accommodate urban nomadism are found not only at the interior scale of the dividual space studied in Part I, but also in urban exterior spaces. This paper examines the functional features of these exterior spaces, created by the aggregation of ′zakkyo buildings′. Both cases, interior and exterior are classified as ′content space′ due to their commonalities. ′Content space′ is presented as a valid design paradigm that, however, must be considered within its specific socio–cultural context, examined in this paper using the theory of liminality.