Supporting Children’s Independent Activities in Smart and Playable Public Places

The global process of urbanization, and the modification of social interaction determined by the pandemic crisis poses the issue of the place of vulnerable users, and in particular children, within the contemporary city. This research aims to elaborate a theoretical and methodological framework, based on the concepts of affordance and capability, for analyzing the potential of public spaces to enable and support children’s independent activities. This potential, or meaningful usefulness, is expressed by the Index of Meaningful Usefulness of public Urban Spaces (IUIS). The latter is calculated via the tool ‘Opportunities for Children in Urban Spaces’ (OCUS). This methodology is applied to the analysis of significant public spaces within the historic center of the city of Iglesias in Sardinia, Italy. The results reveal adequate usefulness of the selected spaces, while underlining criticalities related to intrinsic spatial and physical attributes. The application to the case study confirms the validity of the theoretical and methodological framework embodied in the OCUS tool for supporting urban design and planning by orienting place-shaping processes towards the acknowledgement of children’s needs.

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Laneway redevelopment programs : a case study review

10.32920/ryerson.14663352 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Christine Marie Oldhall

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

North America ◽

Land Use Planning ◽

Natural Environment ◽

Public Spaces ◽

Design Guidelines ◽

Urban Spaces ◽

Full Potential ◽

The City

The revitalization of formerly dark, dirty and often uninviting urban spaces is occurring across many cities throughout North America. This is because the hundreds of kilometers of laneways located behind buildings to be viewed as significant semi-public spaces and are being redeveloped into active spaces that can play a role in improving the state of the natural environment. The City of Toronto has a vast laneway system that is not being utilized to its full potential. This report attempts to demonstrate this point and suggests that there is an opportunity for recreating these laneways into vibrant spaces that support the natural environment while maintaining their primary functions as light vehicular thoroughfares and access points for homes and businesses. Through the examination of nine laneway redevelopment programs and projects this report highlights the successful techniques being implemented within these laneways and emphasizes the significant lessons that can be learned. Finally, each lesson learned is review, and recommendations are given on how the City of Toronto can potentially address each point if attempting to implement its own laneway redevelopment program. Among a host of recommendations, this includes the need to promote laneway redevelopment through a change to the City's existing land use planning policies; the development of laneway design guidelines; and, the implementation of a dynamic funding system.

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Genopdagelsen af gadens kultur – om Isaac Joseph og den pragmatiske vending i fransk bysociologi

Dansk Sociologi ◽

10.22439/dansoc.v22i1.3473 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 22 (1) ◽

pp. 7-25

Author(s):

Martin Severin Frandsen

Keyword(s):

Public Space ◽

Urban Culture ◽

Urban Sociology ◽

Public Spaces ◽

Urban Spaces ◽

Public Places ◽

Transit Systems ◽

Local Populations ◽

Pragmatic Turn ◽

The City

Denne artikel tager afsæt i den aktuelle sociologiske og offentlige diskussion om offentlige byrum og præsenterer nyere og i dansk sammenhæng stort set ukendte bidrag fra den strømning i fransk sociologi, der betegnes som ”den pragmatiske vending”. Artiklen har to hovedpointer. For det første at den pragmatiske bysociologi kan bidrage til denne diskussion ved at beskrive og fremhæve betydningen af de oftest upåagtede og dagligdags kompetencer, ved hjælp af hvilke byboere skaber sociale overenskomster og fredelig sameksistens på offentlige steder i socialt og kulturelt differentierede byer. For det andet at bysociologien ifølge de pragmatiske sociologer ikke kan standse ved analyser af segregation, ghettodannelser og lokale fællesskabers tilegnelser af territorier. ”At tænke byen” indebærer at bevæge sig videre til også at undersøge de byrumsmæssige design og trafikale forbindelser og passageveje, der skaber sammenhængen i det urbane væv og tillader byboeren at overvinde fremmedheden på et ikke fortroligt territorium. ENGELSK ABSTRACT: Martin Severin Frandsen: Rediscovering Urban Culture and Public Space: On Isaac Joseph and the Pragmatic Turn in French Urban Sociology This article analyses current sociological and public discussions concerning public urban spaces, and introduces new (and in a Danish context largely unknown) contributions from the movement in French sociology that has been labelled ”the pragmatic turn”. The article makes two main arguments. Firstly, the pragmatic urban sociology can contribute to these discussions by highlighting the importance of the often unnoticed and everyday civilities through which city-dwellers create social agreements and peaceful co-existence in public places in socially and culturally heterogeneous cities. Secondly, urban sociology cannot, according to the pragmatic sociologists, stop with inquiries into segregation, ghettos and local populations appropriations of territories. Imagining the city implies moving on to explore the designs of public spaces and public transit systems that create continuity and mobility in urban agglomerations and allow city-dwellers to overcome the strangeness of unfamiliar territories.

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Laneway redevelopment programs: a case study review

10.32920/ryerson.14652087.v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Christine Marie Oldnall

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

North America ◽

Land Use Planning ◽

Natural Environment ◽

Public Spaces ◽

Design Guidelines ◽

Urban Spaces ◽

Full Potential ◽

The City

The revitalization of formerly dark. dirty, and often uninviting urban spaces is occurring across many cities throughout North America. This is because the hundreds of kllometres of laneways located behind buildings are beginning to be viewed as Significant semi-public spaces and are being redeveloped into active spaces that can play a role in improving the state of the natural environment. The City of Toronto has a vast laneway system that is not being utilized to its full potential. This report attempts to demonstrate this point and suggests that there is an opportunity for recreating these laneways into vibrant spaces that support the natural environment while maintaining their primary functions as light vehicular thoroughfare.s and access points for homes and businesses. Through the examination of nine laneway redevelopment programs and projects this report highlights the successful techniques being implemented within these laneways and emphasizes the significant lessons that can be learned. Finally, each lesson learned is reviewed, and recommendations are given on how the City of Toronto can potentially address each point if attempting to implement its own laneway redevelopment program. Among a host of recommendations. this includes the need to promote laneway redevelopment through a change to the City's existing land use planning policies; the development of laneway design guidelines; and, the implementation of a dynamic funding system. Key words: Laneway, Redevelopment. Natural Environment, City of Toronto

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FEATURES OF SPATIAL ORGANIZATION OF THE SYSTEM OF PEDESTRIAN ZONES IN THE HISTORICAL CENTER OF KYIV

Architectural Bulletin of KNUCA ◽

10.32347/2519-8661.2021.22-23.53-63 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 53-63

Author(s):

Olena Oliinyk

Keyword(s):

Public Space ◽

Spatial Organization ◽

Public Spaces ◽

Transport Infrastructure ◽

Public Places ◽

Integrated Network ◽

Historic Center ◽

The Uk ◽

Sanitary Conditions ◽

The City

Abstract. The article substantiates the need to complete the formation of an integrated network of pedestrian spaces in the historic center of Kiev. Now the historic center covers three hills - the Upper Town, Pechersk and Kiev-Pechersk Lavra. However, the problem of creating an integrated network of pedestrian connections in the historic center of Kyiv has not yet been solved, and its formation is one of the urgent tasks today. After all, the creation of a holistic system of pedestrian ways in the historic city makes it possible to increase its tourist potential and ensure the preservation and development of historical and cultural heritage. The author proposes a method of spatial analysis to assess the state of public spaces in the city. The author's comparative analysis of two cities in the UK confirmed the importance and cost-effectiveness of pedestrian public spaces. It is noted that the existing transport infrastructure of the city of Kyiv does not provide for the formation of new pedestrian zones. The author analyzes the central squares of Kyiv: Independence Square, Troitska, Tolstoy, European, Sofiyska, Mykhailivska, Lvivska and Peremohy Squares in terms of comfortable pedestrian movement and the availability of public places. It turned out that in terms of transport accessibility, they are convenient, but not suitable for pedestrians; by use - have mainly administrative, political functions; sometimes - cultural; by category of comfort - are inconvenient, there are no sanitary conditions, places for sitting, rest, greens; these are mainly transport interchanges; by category of social function - meeting places, commercial spaces; there are no signs of identity. Means of forming a network of pedestrian public spaces and proposals for the design of individual fragments of the city are proposed. The author determines how transit space and stationary spaces are used, whether it is possible to use them as a citywide public space and connect it to the main axis along Volodymyrska and Khreschatyk.

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Thermal comfort and pedestrian behaviors in urban public spaces in cities with warm and dry climates

Open House International ◽

10.1108/ohi-06-2020-0060 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽

Author(s):

Hocine Boumaraf ◽

Louisa Amireche

Keyword(s):

Urban Design ◽

Social Cohesion ◽

Urban Areas ◽

Public Spaces ◽

Urban Spaces ◽

Field Surveys ◽

Content Type ◽

Microclimatic Conditions ◽

The Impact ◽

The City

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to move beyond the stage of analysis of exclusively physical microclimatic phenomena and extending ourselves to the study of the impact of the microclimate environment on the user behavior in public spaces. This paper will open up new opportunities for the development of urban open spaces and facilitate the decision-making for urban decision-makers, city managers and planners to make the right urban planning decision. Design/methodology/approach The methodology for identifying the links between microclimatic quality of urban routes and behaviors was developed on the basis of the results obtained from field surveys carried out in nine public urban areas of the city of Biskra, three urban space are located in a traditional urban fabric (the medina) and the other five in new urban areas, in the two climatic seasons (winter, summer) of 2019. For this exploratory research, two types of instruments were used to collect data from environmental and human monitoring. Findings Improving microclimatic conditions in urban spaces can allow people to spend more time outside, with the possibility of increasing their social cohesion. The overall objective of this research is to better understand the impact of microclimatic characteristics on pedestrian behavior of nine selected public urban spaces in the city of Biskra, Algeria. To characterize this impact, the authors developed an approach based on crossing data of field surveys, including structured interviews with a questionnaire and observations of human activities (video recordings), as well as microclimate monitoring, conducted during the two climatic seasons (winter, summer) 2019. The analysis of the results allowed to verify the impact of the two climatic seasons (winter, summer) on the variation in the density of occupancy of the different urban areas studied and the duration of the user stations. The authors also illustrated that the number of individuals higher in the traditional urban spaces of the city of Biskra or the conditions of climate comfort are more comfortable than the urban spaces in the new urban areas of the city of Biskra during the summer, which is the season most problematic. Originality/value In recent years, there has been a proliferation of scientific studies on the subject of control of microclimatic characteristics and, in particular, on the consideration of the thermal comfort of persons by qualitative analysis, prediction and representation of the perception of external environments. Improving microclimatic conditions in urban spaces can allow people to spend more time outside, with the possibility of increasing their social cohesion. This study highlights the importance of climate-conscious urban design and design flexibility. Urban environments can be modified in summer and winter to provide a better outdoor thermal environment for users. In addition, this study also shows the importance of harmony between microclimate and urban design. Such harmony can be achieved by including requirements for a climate-conscious urban design in the planning regulations for cities in arid zones.

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Laneway redevelopment programs: a case study review

10.32920/ryerson.14652087 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Christine Marie Oldnall

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

North America ◽

Land Use Planning ◽

Natural Environment ◽

Public Spaces ◽

Design Guidelines ◽

Urban Spaces ◽

Full Potential ◽

The City

The revitalization of formerly dark. dirty, and often uninviting urban spaces is occurring across many cities throughout North America. This is because the hundreds of kllometres of laneways located behind buildings are beginning to be viewed as Significant semi-public spaces and are being redeveloped into active spaces that can play a role in improving the state of the natural environment. The City of Toronto has a vast laneway system that is not being utilized to its full potential. This report attempts to demonstrate this point and suggests that there is an opportunity for recreating these laneways into vibrant spaces that support the natural environment while maintaining their primary functions as light vehicular thoroughfare.s and access points for homes and businesses. Through the examination of nine laneway redevelopment programs and projects this report highlights the successful techniques being implemented within these laneways and emphasizes the significant lessons that can be learned. Finally, each lesson learned is reviewed, and recommendations are given on how the City of Toronto can potentially address each point if attempting to implement its own laneway redevelopment program. Among a host of recommendations. this includes the need to promote laneway redevelopment through a change to the City's existing land use planning policies; the development of laneway design guidelines; and, the implementation of a dynamic funding system. Key words: Laneway, Redevelopment. Natural Environment, City of Toronto

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Laneway redevelopment programs : a case study review

10.32920/ryerson.14663352.v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Christine Marie Oldhall

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

North America ◽

Land Use Planning ◽

Natural Environment ◽

Public Spaces ◽

Design Guidelines ◽

Urban Spaces ◽

Full Potential ◽

The City

The revitalization of formerly dark, dirty and often uninviting urban spaces is occurring across many cities throughout North America. This is because the hundreds of kilometers of laneways located behind buildings to be viewed as significant semi-public spaces and are being redeveloped into active spaces that can play a role in improving the state of the natural environment. The City of Toronto has a vast laneway system that is not being utilized to its full potential. This report attempts to demonstrate this point and suggests that there is an opportunity for recreating these laneways into vibrant spaces that support the natural environment while maintaining their primary functions as light vehicular thoroughfares and access points for homes and businesses. Through the examination of nine laneway redevelopment programs and projects this report highlights the successful techniques being implemented within these laneways and emphasizes the significant lessons that can be learned. Finally, each lesson learned is review, and recommendations are given on how the City of Toronto can potentially address each point if attempting to implement its own laneway redevelopment program. Among a host of recommendations, this includes the need to promote laneway redevelopment through a change to the City's existing land use planning policies; the development of laneway design guidelines; and, the implementation of a dynamic funding system.

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A Methodological Framework for Assessing Practicability of the Urban Space: The Survey on Conditions of Practicable Environments (SCOPE) Procedure Applied in the Case Study of Cagliari (Italy)

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su10114189 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 10 (11) ◽

pp. 4189 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Chiara Garau ◽

Alfonso Annunziata ◽

Mauro Coni

Keyword(s):

Built Environment ◽

Urban Space ◽

Smart City ◽

Public Spaces ◽

Urban Spaces ◽

Methodological Framework ◽

Key Dimensions ◽

Rights To The City

Children’s independent activities within public spaces emerge as a fundamental condition for their development considered in the context of their needs: socialization, movement, autonomy, and enrichment of their creative, imaginative, and cognitive potential. The promotion of their independence represents a relevant issue for implementing the smart city paradigm. This paradigm calls for a methodological framework where the urban fabric’s performance is evaluated via comprehensive analytic protocols. The proposed study presents an audit tool for evaluating the quality of urban spaces in terms of their practicability by children: the Survey on Conditions of Practicable Environments (SCOPE). The practicability of this research is establishing the quality of urban spaces’ usability, and it is expressed in terms of compositional, configurational, functional, and social factors of the built environment organized within a framework articulated in seven key dimensions (connectivity, convenience, comfort, commitment, conviviality, conspicuousness, and coexistence). The introduction of the concept of practicability and of indicators incorporating the demand for a children-sensitive perspective in the project of public spaces determine the novelty of the SCOPE procedure. This methodology was applied to an area in Central Cagliari, Italy, to evaluate the usability of public spaces. The results reveal that the proposed methodology is relevant for implementing the smart city paradigm because it addresses children’s autonomy and their rights to the city by selecting and defining indicators to clarify and assess conditions of the built environment conducive to children’s autonomy and independent social activities.

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The Role of Urban Design in Achieving Sustainability through Promotion of Sustainable Behaviors (Case Study: Mellat Park in Tehran, Iran)

10.31219/osf.io/bp746 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Maryam Khabazi ◽

Hooman Foroughmand Araabi

Keyword(s):

Urban Design ◽

Consumption Rate ◽

Public Spaces ◽

Behavioral Pattern ◽

Urban Spaces ◽

Behavioral Patterns ◽

The Government ◽

Physical Changes

Sustainability is debated in social and economic aspects of urban design but there are few studies on behavioral aspect of it. People with their behavioral patterns have the most significant role in achieving sustainability. The promotion of Behavioral pattern is considered a down-top planning in a country thus any lack in governmental activities enhance the importance of this approach. It means in developing countries where the government does not succeed to achieve sustainability through its top-down planning, considering down-top planning could be efficient. Behavioral patterns shape people consumption of energy and resources and finally determine the consumption rate of city resources. Urban design is one of the branches of knowledge that can obtain the possibility of some circumstances in public spaces of cities for better behaviors so in this article we can suggest some strategies to achieve this target. This article tries to survey how we can achieve patterns of sustainable behavior through some physical changes in urban spaces in the case study of Mellat Park in Tehran, Iran.

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