Provision Of Public Space Research Articles

Social sustainability in public housing: insight from social network analysis of recent residential developments in Enugu, Nigeria

Despite the growing need for public housing schemes to contribute to the attainment of sustainable residential neighbourhoods in line with the Sustainable Development Goal 11 (SDG 11), the extent to which such schemes are achieving this in countries in the Global South is yet to be determined. This study investigated the social sustainability of three public housing estates in the Enugu Urban area, Nigeria, with a view to understanding their social sustainability indices. A cross-sectional survey of randomly selected 160 residents of the estates was done and the data analysed using descriptive and social network analyses. The findings revealed that the sampled housing estates recorded moderate social sustainability values due to differing availability and use of public spaces, and associational activities. The study implies that the provision of public spaces and facilities is vital in enhancing the social sustainability of mass housing developments.

Navigating between private and public: Understanding publicness of public open spaces in private developments in Hong Kong

Given that lands became increasingly expensive for governments to meet open space standards, there emerged a growing trend towards private sector involvement public open space provision. This collaboration has given rise to public open spaces in private developments (POSPD), characterised by varying levels of ‘publicness’ – the degree to which a space embodies public qualities and serves public interests. This research seeks to systematically understand the diverse manifestations of publicness in POSPDs using a proposed conceptual framework. Empirical examination of cases in Hong Kong yielded the statistical categorisation of POSPDs into five types, namely Edge Zone, Hide-and-Seek, Pseudo-Public Park, Consumers’ Paradise and Public Plaza. The results revealed a classist nature of POSPD publicness, with accessibility disproportionately favouring privileged groups. These findings contribute to a better understanding of POSPD publicness and highlights gaps in POS service and governance practice, provides valuable guidance for urban planners, policymakers, and developers in navigating the complexities of public space provision in increasingly privatized urban environments. The insights are relevant for creating more inclusive public spaces that cater to the needs of all community members, particularly in Asia’s high-density urban contexts.

Strategi Penyediaan Fasilitas Ruang Publik Inklusif di Kota Lama Semarang Berdasarkan Persepsi dan Preferensi Lansia

A good public space must be friendly and accommodating to everyone, including the elderly. Elderly is a group that has limitations when they are in public spaces because of their different needs. To find out the needs of the elderly in public spaces, it is necessary to understand their perceptions and preferences for the facilities provided so that the elderly do not need to adapt. The purpose of this study is to determine the perceptions and preferences of the elderly in the provision of inclusive public spaces in Kota Lama Semarang. Analysis of the perceptions and preferences of the elderly was carried out on three aspects, namely accessibility, comfort and safety. Data collection was carried out through filling out questionnaires by 60 elderly in Kota Lama Semarang area. This study uses Likert scale as measuring tool for the perceptions and preferences of the elderly. The conclusion from the three aspects studied, the perception of the elderly in the condition of public space facilities shows that there are advantages and disadvantages. While the preferences of the elderly in the provision of public space facilities show that the elderly agree if procurement, additions, or improvements to facilities related to the three aspects studied. The strategy for providing inclusive public space facilities can follow the standards or best practices in other cities or countries, but does not leave the classic nuance which is the identity of the Kota Lama Semarang.

Children's playgrounds: ‘inadequacies and mediocrities inherited from the past’?

ABSTRACT This Viewpoint considers why children's playground provision has changed so little in the UK over the last century despite radical changes in our understanding of children's geographies, considerable research into play space design and committed advocacy that has promoted children's more equitable access the city. It argues that the equipped playground has become increasingly embedded in to social, political and professional attitudes relating to the provision of public space for play. This history continues to have an enduring influence on the present-day management and maintenance of more than 26,000 children's playgrounds and the £86m spent on them each year.

The State of Public Space in Lusaka

Lusaka, a city of around three million people, faces massive urban growth challenges. Designed on the Garden City planning paradigm principles, the city currently lacks open public recreational spaces. The lack of public space is often linked to the high land value alongside the high demand for housing, the lack of national government prioritization of public space provision policies, and a general lack of financial resources available to Lusaka's local council.This article explores the state of formal public spaces in Lusaka, its urban history, development patterns, and the effects of these factors on everyday life and social interactions. It also outlines different private sector attempts to make up for the lack of public spaces through the provision of private green spaces (e.g., green private entertainment centres, private play parks, private back yards, and front yards) and the commercial units and malls that cover some public space functions. It asks questions on where kids play (e.g., private play parks, mall play parks, etc.) and highlights the design elements preventing streets from becoming lively public spaces (e.g., walls and roads).The article also examines Lusaka's plans for creating green and open spaces networks inside the city and their applicability. It studies public space provision plans in Lusaka's Development Plan 2030 and older public space provision attempts. It highlights the urgency and the importance of taking serious steps towards public space provision in the city now. The article used field research, mapping, desktop research, and interviews.

The Effects of Microclimate on the Behaviour of People in Urban Public Spaces: Insights from the Waterfront in Kandy, Sri Lanka

Human beings by nature are social beings. Therefore, the provision of public spaces for social activity is an integral part of urban design. It is known that public spaces have positive impacts on the health and well-being of people. However, the modern-day decline in the use of urban public spaces is due to comfortable thermal environments being created indoors through technologies and advanced design principles. In this context, this study examines the effect of microclimatic conditions on the behavior of people in outdoor urban public spaces, in order to identify design methods to create more conducive environments. This research employs a case study method: a plaza and waterfront in the city of Kandy as an urban public space. Data collection involved physical observations, activity mapping, a photographic survey, a thermal sensation questionnaire, 3D modelling, and simulations of the thermal environment. Data was subject to triangulation for establishing validity, to generate a better understanding and to show that tropical climate shade is not the only solution. Air temperature and solar radiation greatly affect the use of urban public spaces and people adapt to environmental conditions by experience. Wind, shade, vegetation cover, and surrounding urban geometry also contribute to thermal perception. It was inferred that there was no one primary factor but rather the culmination of all factors in different ratios that causes the environmental temperature to morph and change, affecting the thermal comfort of a space. This study provides a design-based recommendation in order to achieve an optimum level of thermal comfort and provide design efficacy for urban public spaces.

TRANSFORMATIVE IMPACT OF COVID 19 PANDEMIC ON THE URBAN PUBLIC SPACES

Urban areas attract population influx due to central economic, social, and technological growth. However, living in the city comes with an undesirable cost due to the scarcity of land area. People are forced to live in smaller housing without personal open space and lawns. Future urban population will opt for small living spaces and indirectly increase the need for public open spaces. Unfortunately, the Covid 19 pandemic outbreaks in 2020 have forced the urban community to be confined to their own home later negatively impacting the urban population's physical and mental health. This research aims to identify the possible long-term transformative impact of the covid 19 pandemic from the space and user context. Two types of approaches were adopted by the research, the Systematic Literature Review using the PRISMA method, and the questionnaire survey analysed using SPSS. The findings from SLR are coded and categorised into three themes: transformative impact on user behaviour and perception, the planning and design of space, and the Social-Political impact. Next, the survey was developed based on the themes of transformative impact. One of the most important conclusions is that the urban public space provision and accessibility vary according to the socioeconomic background of the community. By understanding the possible transformative impact of pandemics on urban public space, better policy and guidelines for planning and managing the public space can be made where the urban public space can be fully utilised, functional safely and conveniently and accessible for all in the post-pandemic era.

Assessment of User Perception on Public and Private Spaces within Urban Context

Public spaces are vital features in the urban context which offers inclusive environment for everyone in the society. Traditionally, urban public spaces (UPS) were developed by the government intended for places of interaction with the aims of social welfare and public health. In the recent past, private sector involvement in the public space provision was visible with significant changes in the form and functions influenced by market-based motives. Although commercialization or privatization aspects of public space was often debated, the user perception of the use of public spaces from ownership and access control aspects were less studied in the context of developing countries. This study aimed at identifying the attributes for which people differentiate and experience in four public spaces owned and operated by the government and private sector in the city of Colombo, Sri Lanka. The study used 35 semi-structured interviews and 119 online questionnaire surveys to identify the user defined features of ownership and access control for public space use. The results revealed that government owned and operated spaces were preferred by the users due to easy access and freedom for activities while privately owned spaces were preferred due to better infrastructure, safety, and security within. Also, each public space offered benefits to specific user profile regardless its ownership or access controls. However, the freedom and openness provided by government owned spaces were identified as important in comparison with the restrictions imposed by private sector operated public spaces. This study provides key insights for urban planners and policy makers to identify the role of private sector in the provision of effective urban spaces in the fast-growing cities as well as possible pitfalls and negative externalities created by unregulated spaces

Public Space and Solid Waste Facilities in Makkah

Rapid urban development and modernization in Makkah have led to an increase in urban infrastructure needs. The city of Makkah is a main destination for the global Islamic pilgrimage and is highly utilized for major infrastructure and building expansion including processes of densification. As a consequence of Hajj and Umrah activities, the city experiences a major annual upward trajectory of public space usage and solid waste production which caters to the needs of temporary activities targeted to foreign visitors. These circumstances lead to issues of inefficiencies in the management of public services in the city, particularly in the provision of public space and solid waste management for residents. Within this context, the aim of this paper is to understand the development of public space in Makkah and the level of services delivered to local residents based on residents’ perspectives on services provided in formal and informal settlements in Makkah. The study contributes to the gap in research on public space and waste handling in Makkah. Interviews addressing resident characteristics and public space with the quality of solid waste provision in Makkah are presented. An explanation of residents’ preferences for public space was also presented. At different times of the day, in the year 2018, the observations were carried out to identify usage patterns by the residents. The paper accomplishes this by presenting significant points for developments in community space and solid waste management.

Do welfare states need privately owned public spaces? The relevance of and need for such spaces in German cities

ABSTRACT Privately owned public space (POPS) are a new type of public space that was first introduced in New York City in the 1960s. POPS have been thoroughly studied in the Anglo-American world; however, little examination has been conducted in welfare states. This paper examines to what extent this type of space is relevant and needed for German cities where the private sector involvement is limited. Survey findings, document analysis, and in-depth interviews indicate that private stakeholders are important partners in the provision of public spaces, and co-produced public spaces like POPS are already part of the urban reality in Germany.

PERSEPSI PENGUNJUNG TERHADAP KUALITAS REST AREA TAMAN GISTING SEBAGAI RUANG PUBLIK

Public space is part of the urban element that facilitates the interaction and communication needs of the society and describes the quality of urban space. The provision of public space affects social, economic, environmental and community quality activities, so a quality public space is needed. Parks as public spaces in Tanggamus Regency have not been evenly distributed because they are only available in 3 sub-districts, namely Taman Kota Ir. Soekarno (Kota Agung Pusat District), Rest Area Taman Gisting (Gisting District), and Rest Area Pugung (Pugung District) showed that the provision of public space had not met the distribution and quantity aspects. Rest Area Taman Gisting is located in Gisting Urban, which acts as a public space, so it is necessary to identify its quality because it has to serve the surrounding sub-districts. In addition, the declining quality of facilities and various other problems affect its quality as a public space. This study aims to determine the visitor's perception of the quality of the Gisting Park Rest Area as a public space. This study uses quantitative research methods with descriptive statistical analysis techniques and scoring methods (Likert scale). Based on the results of the study, visitors' perceptions of the quality of the Rest Area Taman Gisting as a public space are sufficient to meet the needs of visitors, sufficient to protect the rights of visitors, and sufficient to provide meaning for visitors.
 
 Keywords: Quality, Public Space, Perception

Examining the Dynamics Between Formal and Informal Institutions in Progressive City Planning

What explains the institutionalization of progressive city planning practices? Using Medellín as a case study, I analyze how state and nonstate actors target both formal and informal institutions in efforts to maintain the continuity of progressive public space provision practices. I introduce the idea of institutional compounding, defined as the quest by networks of individuals and organizations to create and sustain both formal and informal institutions, where each maintains its particular defining features while together they provide continuity and legitimacy to an existing practice. I draw on in-depth, semi-structured interviews, direct observation, and document analysis to demonstrate that continuity efforts are more likely to have an effect when actors engage in institutional compounding, since the strategy minimizes the shortcomings of formal and informal institutions alone. The findings contribute toward conceptualizing how nascent institutions become effective, highlighting how actors strengthen practices and how they seek to embed them through networked efforts.

Accessibilità post-pandemia: riflessioni sullo spazio pubblico

The correlation between the psycho-physical well-being of citizens and the provision of green areas has been one of the cornerstones of urban planning since its inception, as its constant commitment to adapt cities and territories to emerging challenges. The spread of SARS-Cov-2 has changed the relationship between citizens and urban space. The public space, has been limited and banned, confining citizens within their private space and the psycho-physical well-being of citizens depended only on the quality of the domestic space.The pandemic represents a moment of reflection and research for the disciplines that deal with the quality of life of citizens. The pandemic crisis may be an opportunity to rethink the role and importance of the provision of public space, in particular urban green areas, their distribution and effective accessibility. The contribution aims to rethink urban models capable of responding to the challenges of the post-pandemic city

Evaluation of Incorporation of Universal Design Parameters in the Planning Approval Process of Kisumu Main Bus Terminus

Consideration of the normate template by designers usually leads to the production of living spaces that fail to meet most of the spatial requirements of would-be users. This phenomenon arises due to the fact that the normate template keeps a walking and fleshy body at the centre of thinking about design. As a result, the template fails to consider additional space requirements for bodies that use technologies to navigate space. In order to sustain itself, the normate template relies upon the impression that normates are normal, average, and majority bodies. When built-up spaces block out potential users, then the viewpoint which is reinforced is that certain spaces are meant only for those who are “privileged” to use these spaces independently. The presence of accessible spaces on the other hand confirms that designers hold that built environments should serve all potential users regardless of physical stature. Universal Design thereby provides a platform for making the weakest person in society strong through design. Embracement of a Universal Design perspective therefore becomes a stepping stone in the provision of public spaces that are accessible to all- regardless of physical stature. This study, therefore, evaluated the incorporation of Universal Design parameters in the design process of public spaces in Kisumu City. The study established that Universal Design requirements are usually executed only on new constructions. There is a need, therefore for major renovations to take place in buildings open to the public that are not necessarily classified as “new” constructions.

Digital-Based Communication Facilities in Increasing Public Participation in Government Policies

Public participation is closely related to the concept of openness, namely the opening of communication spaces between government and society. Without openness, it is impossible for the community to participate in achieving good governance and social welfare. Public participation is a constitutional right for citizens as regulated in Article 1, Article 28 E, Article 28 F of the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia. The public sphere functions as a forum to accommodate public participation, which has shifted to digital. This study aims to see the level of public participation in government policies and see the availability of digital public space by the government in Indonesia. The research method uses a mixed-method between qualitative and quantitative, with a survey method. The results obtained are that the government's provision of public space in the form of social media is very high served by Ministries and the provincial communication and information office. The government's response rate in disseminating its public policies through Ministry social media and the Provincial Communication and Information Office are also high. However, public participation in government policies is inadequate. Therefore, community involvement is a necessity in order to ensure the effectiveness of a policy.

Reframing Public Spaces: from Recreational Amenity to Civic Good in Resilient Cities. COVID-19 Offers an Opportunity to Re-evaluate Neighbourhood Spaces to Ensure they are Available to All

Cities emerging from the pandemic increasingly recognize that public spaces are a critical element of resilience, not merely recreational amenities. Future public spaces must be designed to accommodate more diverse and distanced activities, and may even change function entirely during public health emergencies. The need for informal public spaces has also become apparent, and cities can benefit from identifying them as resources and integrating them into land-use plans. Parks, sidewalks and cycling paths can be justified as investments in resilience and survivability and quickly expanded. Their provision must be viewed through the lens of social and spatial equity: in many cities, not every person or community has convenient access to these critical public goods. Planners must go beyond metrics on the mere availability or density of public spaces, and delve deeper to assess the quality of spaces, and the ability of different demographic groups to reach them. Historic neighbourhoods that developed organically offer useful inspiration when designing for equitable access and daily convenience, and can also accommodate the dispersal of jobs away from central business districts. Efforts to develop decentralised, “complete” neighbourhoods can be a boon for adaptive reuse, public space provision, and greater variety of work settings, while public areas of civic buildings can be re-imagined as nodes of collaboration in a knowledge-based economy. Beyond building infrastructure, maintaining lively and welcoming public spaces requires empathy, respect for the commons, and care for fellow human beings. Physical spaces in a city can only be fully and genuinely “public” if they are safe, and open to everyone, regardless of age, language, identity, sexual orientation or ability. As cities undertake revitalization efforts following the pandemic, they must strive to ensure such places are available to all.

Contesting density: beyond nimby-ism and usual suspects in governing the future city

ABSTRACT Density is often a major focus of contestation in imagining the future city. The built form of the future city, including its height and density, is a crystallization of current and projected urban growth, as well as a realization of policy ambitions. However, also determinant of future built form are present capacities to extract value from urban development, on the part of both private and public actors. This tight ‘nexus’ of concerns and interests drives the specific heights, densities and public space provision of the future city. This paper considers, on what grounds today’s urban residents might be drawn into a battle for the quality of the future city?

TOD, volumetric TOD, Destination, Public Space and Community Cohesion

Transit Oriented Development (TOD) has become an urban planning and design policy and practice approach to deliver sustainable transport through the world. TOD as infrastructure contributes to urban liveability in determining way of life and well-being of the inhabitants of a city. Urban liveability can be understood as a perceived notion of well-being and social cohesion among residents of an urban area. TOD has been hypothesised to create gentrification. Does gentrification impact negatively on social cohesion in high density TOD-led cities? We address this question by deploying an exploratory difference in differences qualitative analysis of the relationships between measures of involuntary residential displacement and ‘built environment’ indicators. These are proxies for ‘gentrification’ and ‘social cohesion’ respectively. This investigation examines displacement indicators before and after the opening of three new MTR stations in 2014, using a control neighbourhood which has an existing station. It also analyses BE dimensions related to social cohesion such as ‘destinations’ and ‘public space provision’. The displacement indicators have variable trajectories when details are compared. There is limited evidence of systematic displacement, although there are other more prominent and dynamic changes in those destinations. The provision of new public space is associated with the most dynamic changes. From a placemaking point of view, further detailed study to better understand the role of development drivers of gentrification is required.

Whose space is privately owned public space? Exclusion, underuse and the lack of knowledge and awareness

ABSTRACT Privately Owned Public Space/s (POPS) is a mechanism to increase provision of public space, particularly in densely built-up urban areas. The empirical work undertaken along the Teheran-ro in Seoul reveals that even well-equipped and highly accessible POPS can be exclusive or underused. This paper argues that the problem of exclusion and underuse of POPS is related to the lack of knowledge of POPS and of awareness that they are public spaces. The more they are known and perceived as public spaces, the more widely and actively they will be used. Hence, the paper adds further recommendations to the existing suggestions.

Sharing Seoul: Appropriating Alleys as Communal Space through Localized Sharing Practices

Sharing practices are an important part of urban life. This article examines the appropriation of alleys as communal space to understand how sharing practices are embedded in localities, how communal space is constituted and maintained, and how this sustains communal life. In this way, the article aims to understand the spatial dimension of sharing practices, and the role of communal space in strengthening social relationship networks and urban sustainability. Seowon Maeul and Samdeok Maeul in Seoul are compared in terms of their urban regeneration approaches, community engagement in planning, street improvement, and the consequences that the transformation had on the appropriation of alleys as communal space. The research findings show that community engagement in planning is as important as the provision of public space if streets are to be appropriated as communal space. Community engagement has changed residents' perception and use of alleys as a shared resource in the neighbourhood by improving their capacity to act collectively and collaborate with other stakeholders in addressing problems and opportunities in cities.