The future of public space: how to measure active public space in the digital era

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Albeera, H.A., 2019. The future of public space: how to measure active public space in the digital era. PhD, Nottingham Trent University.

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Abstract

This research contributes to the area of architecture and urban design by developing active public space framework to design a better place. Past studies on assessing the quality of public space have focused on either design or social aspect; whereas the Wellbeing, technology and users' experience have received very little attention in general. Active Public Space Framework is designed to be effective and respond to the needs of users of public space in the digital era and be a guideline for an architect, planners, urban designers to design better quality place.

The dramatic increase in the urban population numbers nowadays, in most modern cities and towns has a significant and confusing impact on the current urban planning system. The main reason for this environmental chaos is the phenomenon of urbanization; that is, the urbanism phenomenon consequences of the vertical and horizontal growth of built environments, where people from different cultural and social backgrounds live together. Furthermore, urbanism has a positive effect in providing a better quality of living whereas it has a negative effect on many other contexts, such as; increasing populations in the cities and towns, which creates slums and unplanned residential areas, environmental pollution, and other challenges.

This research investigates which criteria can make better public spaces, this investigation has analysed the design aspect, based on the users' experience and has taken into account the new communication media such as WiFi, to develop active public space framework to design a better place. The list of recommended criteria was developed through three iterations using mixed methods research to ensure data validation. The use of users' experience questionnaire and Delphi technique helped to develop the framework.

The Framework of Active Public Space is designed to measure and assess the quality of public spaces within five categories – Use and Activities, Identity and Image, Access and Connectivity, Wellbeing, Sociability. Overall this looks at enhancing the quality of the place in urban spaces and also encourage critical thinking of the quality of public space assessment by validating and testing the proposed framework using a real case scenario. The Main outcome achieved from this research is that the quality of place and placemaking can be achieved through engaging the community in design process of the public spaces, including the user's experience and their perception of the place, also taken into account the new communication media such as (WiFi), mental health and wellbeing in the design process. All these elements can enhance the quality of the public spaces.

Item Type:	Thesis
Creators:	Albeera, H.A.
Date:	September 2019
Rights:	This work is the intellectual property of the Author, Haithem Ahmed Albeera. You may copy up to 5% of this work for private study, or personal, non-commercial research. Any reuse of the information contained within this document should be fully referenced, quoting the author, title, university, degree, level and pagination. Queries or requests for any other use, or if a more substantial copy is required, should be directed to the owner of the Intellectual Property Rights.
Divisions:	Schools > School of Architecture, Design and the Built Environment
Record created by:	Linda Sullivan
Date Added:	21 Oct 2019 10:38
Last Modified:	21 Oct 2019 10:38
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/38006