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How to Study Public Life
01 Jan 2013-
TL;DR: Gehl and Svarre as mentioned in this paper provide a history of public-life study as well as methods and tools necessary to recapture city life as an important planning dimension, and provide inspiration, tools, and examples for improving city life.
Abstract: How do we accommodate a growing urban population in a way that is sustainable, equitable, and inviting? This question is becoming increasingly urgent as we face diminishing fossil-fuel resources and the effects of a changing climate while global cities continue to compete to be the most vibrant centres of culture, knowledge, and finance. Jan Gehl has been examining this question since the 1960s, when few urban designers or planners were thinking about designing cities for people. But given the unpredictable, complex and ephemeral nature of life in cities, how can we best design public infrastructure - vital to cities for getting for place to place, or staying in place - for human use? Studying city life and understanding the factors that encourage or discourage use is the key to designing inviting public space. In How to Study Public Life Jan Gehl and Birgitte Svarre draw from their combined experience of over 50 years to provide a history of public-life study as well as methods and tools necessary to recapture city life as an important planning dimension. This type of systematic study began in earnest in the 1960s, when several researchers and journalists on different continents criticized urban planning for having forgotten life in the city. City life studies provide knowledge about human behaviour in the built environment in an attempt to put it on an equal footing with knowledge about urban elements such as buildings and transport systems. Studies can be used as input in the decision-making process, as part of overall planning, or in designing individual projects such as streets, squares or parks. The original goal is still the goal today: to recapture city life as an important planning dimension. Anyone interested in improving city life will find inspiration, tools, and examples in this invaluable guide.
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TL;DR: The result indicates that visual quality of Hutongs are not satisfied, while some regeneration projects in the historical protection block is better, and the difference between physical and perceived quality indicates the feasibility and limitation of the auto-calculation method.
114 citations
Cites background from "How to Study Public Life"
...Classic academic works have repeatedly proven that physical space and street form are the cornerstones of street activities ( Lynch, 1984; Gehl & Svarre, 2013; Gehl, 2013)....
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...By contrast, a relatively narrow street encourages public leisure (Gehl & Svarre, 2013; Gehl, 2013)....
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...Continuity could be defined as the proportion of street edge intersecting with buildings (Harvey, 2014; Heath et al., 2006); a complete and continuous building façade generates a streetscape with order and vitality within the provided enclosure (Ewing & Handy, 2009; Gehl & Svarre, 2013)....
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TL;DR: Evidence is described that the authors' living contexts constitute a measurable factor in determining cognitive ageing, and different environmental characteristics in relation to cognitive performance in ageing are analyzed.
110 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, an exploratory case study with a qualitative approach with an aim to inform resilient practices of teaching in the face of public health emergencies is presented, focusing on the experience of teaching the Research Methods and Techniques subject during lockdown.
Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic has become a critical challenge for the higher education sector. Exploring the capacity of this sector to adapt in the state of uncertainty has become more significant than ever. In this paper, we critically reflect on our experience of teaching urban design research methods online during the early COVID-19 lockdown in the UK. This is an exploratory case study with a qualitative approach with an aim to inform resilient practices of teaching in the face of public health emergencies. Drawing on the experience of teaching the Research Methods and Techniques subject during lockdown, we discuss the rapid transition from face-to-face to online teaching and point to the challenges and opportunities in relation to the learning and teaching activities, assessment and feedback, and digital platforms. This paper concludes by outlining some key considerations to inform the development of more adaptive and resilient approaches to online teaching in the context of unprecedented global health crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic. We argue that it is critical to move beyond fixed pedagogical frameworks to harness the productive capacities of adaptive teaching.
94 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined the relationship between legibility attributes (clear structure, visual obstacles, and accessibility) with social interaction (park engagement and the intensity of contact) within neighborhood parks and found that the level of visual obstruction was strongly linked with the quality of the edges and distances between park activities.
70 citations
TL;DR: This study will help to find design principles that can be adopted in the design of future public spaces to meet the needs of the digital era’s users with the new concepts of social life respecting the rules of place-making.
Abstract: Nowadays, Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have spread extensively in everyday life in an unprecedented way. A great attention is paid to the ICTs while ignoring the social aspect. With the immersive invasion of internet as well as smartphones’ applications and digital social networking, people become more socially connected through virtual spaces instead of meeting in physical public spaces. ICTs are categorized in this paper into four elements which are as follows: Wi-Fi networks, digital interactive media facades, interactive public displays, and smartphones’ applications in public spaces. These elements will play major roles in the public space classified into five domains which are as follows: culture and art, education, planning and design, games and entertainment, and information and communication. Based on this classification various examples and proposals of ICTs interventions in public spaces are presented to encourage good old fashioned social interaction by creating the new social public place of this digital era. Accordingly, this study will help to find design principles that can be adopted in the design of future public spaces to meet the needs of the digital era’s users with the new concepts of social life respecting the rules of place-making.
69 citations