Magnetic Places in Riga Soviet Residential Areas

This article focuses on magnetic places in Riga Soviet residential areas – locations which are differ from ordinary spaces due to their naturalness, possibility of restoration, perceived beauty and possibility to appropriate such places. This paper utilises two theoretical fields – the one of evolutionary aesthetics in dealing with such elements as prospects and refuges that is crucial for survival, but also phenomenology dealing with mental maps and subjective perception of space. The method in use is semi-structured interviews, since they provide a valuable in situ material for proving a theoretical thought. It can be concluded that the magnetic places that often are as much as 200 m far from the interviewees’ homes are more attractive than the location outside their window. This finding is in stark contrast to Oscar Newman’s Defensible Space Theory. There are also few recommendations for landscape architects included in this text: one of those is to not only invest more resources into the design of magnetic places, but carefully design the ordinary places. The latter should be done not only in order to avoid the arousal of no-go areas in a residential complex, but also because any ordinary space has a potential of becoming a place.

THE PROVISION OF VERTICAL SOCIAL POCKETS FOR BETTER SOCIAL INTERACTION IN HIGH-RISE LIVING

High-rise living makes it difficult for social communities to form despite the provision of several dedicated social spaces at ground, podium, mid- and roof-levels, partially due to the sheer number of residents per block. The pull of easily-accessed, solitary recreational activities such as surfing the Internet and watching television further exacerbates the problem. Social spaces need to be brought closer to residents to promote social interaction. This paper proposes to improve social interaction by supplementing currently stratified social spaces with vertically-connected social hubs using existing transitional spaces in high-rise living, such as the lift lobby, to create micro-communities comprising the residents of each respective floor in a cost-effective way. Previous research indicated that strong communities look after each other, indicating that the creation of microcommunities will create an effect not unlike the defensible space theory. Therefore, this paper analyses residential high-rise layouts based on chosen case studies in Malaysia, then suggests several possible design outcomes that turn the lift lobby into social spaces at every floor level.

THE PROVISION OF VERTICAL SOCIAL POCKETS FOR BETTER SOCIAL INTERACTION IN HIGH-RISE LIVING

High-rise living makes it difficult for social communities to form despite the provision of several dedicated social spaces at ground, podium, mid- and roof-levels, partially due to the sheer number of residents per block. The pull of easily-accessed, solitary recreational activities such as surfing the Internet and watching television further exacerbates the problem. Social spaces need to be brought closer to residents to promote social interaction. This paper proposes to improve social interaction by supplementing currently stratified social spaces with vertically-connected social hubs using existing transitional spaces in high-rise living, such as the lift lobby, to create micro-communities comprising the residents of each respective floor in a cost-effective way. Previous research indicated that strong communities look after each other, indicating that the creation of microcommunities will create an effect not unlike the defensible space theory. Therefore, this paper analyses residential high-rise layouts based on chosen case studies in Malaysia, then suggests several possible design outcomes that turn the lift lobby into social spaces at every floor level.

THE APPLICATION OF THE CONCEPT OF DEFENSIBLE SPACE FOR SECURED HOUSING ENVIRONMENT

Housing areas in Malaysia has always relied on the local authorities to take care of the neighbourhood, resulting in apathy in respect to the community's well being, safety and a rise in crime. Most housing developments have been designed to provide a secure home rather than a secured living environment. The provision of a large and undefined communal space, leads to a situation of "anonymity" and become "lost spaces" which allow criminals to "disguise" among the crowd. A viable solution in ensuring a secured housing environment is through the provision of "defensible" communal spaces that encourage community interaction and social cohesion. This paper will discuss the current problems concerning crime and safety in high-density housing settlement in Malaysia. The paper will also review the prevailing ideas and concepts that have been articulated by prominent theorists for the designer to use in designing secured housing development, This is where the defensible space theory raises the issue of 'creating' a community within a neighbourhood, and how it could be applied successfully to local housing.