scholarly journals An Inclusive Model for Assessing Age-Friendly Urban Environments in Vulnerable Areas

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (15) ◽  
pp. 8352
Author(s):  
Raquel Agost-Felip ◽  
María José Ruá ◽  
Fatiha Kouidmi
Keyword(s):  
Public Space ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Social Inclusion ◽  
Open Space ◽  
Population Aging ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Urban Environments ◽  
Technical Standards ◽  
The Public ◽  
Planning Decision

Population aging is becoming a major challenge in many countries. This paper deals with the elderly’s specific needs in the public open space as it can play a significant role in their social inclusion and could be especially relevant in deprived areas. The main goal is to build a model to evaluate the vulnerability of the public space by focusing on the elderly’s needs, using indicators. A previous analysis of the scientific and policy-oriented literature and of the technical standards and regulations linked with accessibility and social aspects that affect the elderly in urban areas was performed to identify the main dimensions for evaluation. The interjudge agreement technique was applied to validate the indicators with a panel of experts in technical and social disciplines. The model was applied to a vulnerable area in Castellón (East Spain), based on indicators adapted to the specific context features. The agreement level reached by experts was used to weight the indicators. The application of the model permitted the vulnerability in the suggested dimensions to be estimated and a global integrated index of vulnerability in the area to be calculated. It could assist in urban planning decision making toward age-friendly and, therefore, inclusive cities.

scholarly journals Social Interaction in Public Spaces and Well-Being among Elderly Women: Towards Age-Friendly Urban Environments

2022 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 746
Author(s):  
Yingyi Zhang ◽  
Ge Chen ◽  
Yue He ◽  
Xinyue Jiang ◽  
Caiying Xue
Keyword(s):  
Social Interaction ◽  
Public Space ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Elderly Women ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Public Spaces ◽  
Field Investigation ◽  
Urban Environments ◽  
The Social

The world’s population is aging and becoming more urbanized. Public space in urban areas is vital for improving the health of the elderly by stimulating social interaction. Many urban design projects are advertised as age-friendly but ignore the real needs of the elderly, especially elderly women, for social interaction in urban public spaces. Insufficient attention is paid to the physical and psychological characteristics of elderly women when shaping public space. This analysis addresses the question: What are the qualities of urban spaces which facilitate health-improving social interaction for elderly women? Methods include a case study in Beijing, field investigation, mapping, and qualitative and quantitative analysis. The survey was carried out in April 2021, and concerned 240 women aged 55–75 years. Results indicate that the social interactions of older women relate to both their physical and psychological situations. Public spaces can positively impact the psychological well-being and social participation of elderly women. Conclusions include insights regarding the relationship between social interaction and well-being among elderly women, as well as proposing a series of principles for shaping public spaces for an age-friendly urban environment.

scholarly journals Can a University Campus Work as a Public Space in the Metropolis of a Developing Country? The Case of Ain-Shams University, Cairo, Egypt

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (17) ◽  
pp. 7229
Author(s):  
Mona Ali ◽  
Youngmin Kim
Keyword(s):  
Public Space ◽  
Open Space ◽  
Implementation Strategies ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Urban Environments ◽  
Space Distribution ◽  
University Campus ◽  
Student Groups ◽  
The Public ◽  
The University

Even though public open space has been taking more important roles in improving urban environments, most of the metropolises in developing countries suffer from lack of both quantity and quality of parks and green spaces. This research examined the possibility of opening the university campus to the public in order to improve the public space service of the city, focusing on the case of the Ain-Sham University campus in Cairo, Egypt. The study is structured in three steps: (1) Analysis of open space distribution at the district level to find out how the university campus can contribute to improving urban public service, and if it works as an open space; (2) Survey of resident and student groups to find a perception of opening the campus for public use; and (3) Interview with government officials and university faculty members. The level of agreement on opening the campus was neutral from both resident and student groups. However, the result shows some significant acceptance of opening specific places for public use upon employing proper strategies. According to the result, it is not appropriate to fully open the controlled public space of universities in the context of Cairo, following exemplary cases of developed countries. Although sharing privatized open space with adjacent communities can be a good solution for the fast-growing metropolis, lack of proper public spaces, and insufficient resources, the process should be carefully designed with step-by-step implementation strategies.

scholarly journals Integrating Multifunctionality Framework for Planning Emergency Open Public Spaces in High-Density Urban Areas: Lessons from COVID-19 Pandemic

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guzin Yeliz Kahya ◽  
Aynaz Lotfata
Keyword(s):  
Public Schools ◽  
Public Space ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Open Space ◽  
Vegetation Index ◽  
Normalized Difference Vegetation Index ◽  
Urban Environments ◽  
Emergency Planning ◽  
Public Facilities ◽  
New Research

Purpose This study aims to translate residents’ and local organizations’ responses to the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions into the emergency planning agenda of cities. The study underlines the multifunctionality of existing public facilities to raise urban flexibility, in particular, if there is a need to increase the open public space capacity of dense built-up urban areas in emergency conditions.Design/methodology/approachThe preliminary accessibility analysis was conducted using the public schools of Bahcelievler in Istanbul Metropolitan to study whether there are ways to improve open public space deficits in high-densely urban environments. In addition, the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and the Normalized Difference Built-up Index (NDBI) were mapped using Remote Sensing to identify the existence of greenery and vacant lands for future interventions. The literature review on multifunctionality was applied to propagate the formulation of the research problems and identify the potential research idea. Findings The preliminary analysis’ results have shown that by including open public space of schools into public use about 96,740 m2 of open space will be added to the Bahcelievler District. In addition, this study conceptualizes a new research idea by inviting policymakers and planners to reinvent traditionally defined multifunctionality concepts in emergency planning of public facilities. This study suggested a guideline that underlines three spatial, temporal, and regulative aspects for the resident-based emergency planning of public facilities. Social implicationsThe multifunctionality of public facilities improves neighborhood walkability, supports mixed land uses as a critical component of achieving better places to live, and addresses the diversity of opportunities within the walking distance.Originality/valueThis study reinvents the multifunctionality concept and defines it in a way to boost urban flexibility in conditions of emergency.

Reconceptualizing the Public Spaces of New Urban Areas in Hanoi: The End or the New of Public-Making?

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Minh-Tung Tran ◽  
◽  
Tien-Hau Phan ◽  
Ngoc-Huyen Chu ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Space ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Public Spaces ◽  
The Public ◽  
Doi Moi ◽  
The World ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The City ◽  
Neighborhood Level

Public spaces are designed and managed in many different ways. In Hanoi, after the Doi moi policy in 1986, the transfer of the public spaces creation at the neighborhood-level to the private sector has prospered na-ture of public and added a large amount of public space for the city, directly impacting on citizen's daily life, creating a new trend, new concept of public spaces. This article looks forward to understanding the public spaces-making and operating in KDTMs (Khu Do Thi Moi - new urban areas) in Hanoi to answer the question of whether ‘socialization’/privatization of these public spaces will put an end to the urban public or the new means of public-making trend. Based on the comparison and literature review of studies in the world on public spaces privatization with domestic studies to see the differences in the Vietnamese context leading to differences in definitions and roles and the concept of public spaces in KDTMs of Hanoi. Through adducing and analyzing practical cases, the article also mentions the trends, the issues, the ways and the technologies of public-making and public-spaces-making in KDTMs of Hanoi. Win/loss and the relationship of the three most important influential actors in this process (municipality, KDTM owners, inhabitants/citizens) is also considered to reconceptualize the public spaces of KDTMs in Hanoi.

scholarly journals EKSISTENSI RUANG TERBUKA PADA LINGKUNGAN PERMUKIMAN

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 54-58
Author(s):  
Eva Elviana ◽  
Diyan Lesmana
Keyword(s):  
Public Space ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Open Space ◽  
Descriptive Analysis ◽  
Public Facility ◽  
Current Development ◽  
Economic Activities ◽  
Joint Activities ◽  
Qualitative Descriptive ◽  
Karo Batak

The housing environment that appears in many urban areas today, is available in the form of real estate and in the form of simple housing. The existence of these houses is equipped with supporting infrastructure. One of them is the availability of open space as a public facility, which can be utilized by all residents of housing. If you look at the historical aspects of past traditional settlements, such as the Tanean Lanjang Madura settlement, the Samin Bojonegoro Community Village, the Sumatra Karo Batak Village, and so on, it is found that there is open space as a public space. Where the function and role of open space are used for joint activities, gathering places and socializing, as well as the center of orientation of several groups of houses, so that the location tends to be in the center. The purpose of this study is to see the existence of open space of traditional settlements (past) and present. As well as analyzing the activities carried out by the pas community and its current development. By using the method of field observation (observation) and qualitative descriptive analysis, the results show that the existence of open space in the present, such as in residential or residential groups, still exists. If in the past traditional settlements, the existence of open spaces was used as a means to gather and socialize, then in its current development, open space could be used as a means of playing and exercising for children, recreational activities (gathering on holidays), supported economic activities (traders who sell), as well as a means of worship (Eid al-Fitr / Eid al-Adha). This shows the development and diversity of functions and activities in the open space, so that its utilization can increase economic values, religious values and other social values.

scholarly journals Retrofitting Obsolete Railroad Infrastructure

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Corina Ardeleanu
Keyword(s):  
Public Space ◽  
Open Space ◽  
Natural Areas ◽  
Urban Fabric ◽  
Urban Network ◽  
Ecological Awareness ◽  
The Public ◽  
Thesis Statement ◽  
Post Industrial ◽  
The City

Thesis Statement This thesis will explore the development and design opportunities related to the retrofitting of abandoned railroad corridors in post industrial cities. These lines of infrastructure will be viewed as the lifelines of the city whereby, the ramifications of main transportation arteries will impact the urban network through connectivity and the creation of public open space. This thesis will look at obsolete public railroad infrastructure, as an important fragment of the collective memory of a post-industrial city that can be reactivated to connect back into the transportation urban network. These structures will be identified as landmarks that must be preserved and incorporated into public space and amenity. The reestablishment of the railroad in this context will result in the connection of the contemporary to its past, creating more meaningful and resonant spaces. These transportation corridors will be addressed as part of expanding ecological and man-made systems, thus becoming lifelines of the city, expanding their arteries to feed life into the urban fabric. The natural areas affected by these railroads will be treated as the lungs of the city and made more accessible to the public in order to raise ecological awareness. The railroad thus creates permeability, linking urban and natural areas and reviving its former function of connectivity by re-stitching the urban fabric.

scholarly journals Life project and work as matter of exclusion/inclusion of the elderly person

2014 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 215-223 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria de Fátima Fernandes Martins Catão ◽  
Alice Fernanda Martins Grisi
Keyword(s):  
Social Inclusion ◽  
Population Aging ◽  
Elderly Person ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Project Work ◽  
Thematic Content Analysis ◽  
Life Project ◽  
Care For The Elderly ◽  
Textual Data

This study was developed based on the reality of population aging, the Aging Era, and the matter of exclusion and psychosocial suffering experienced by elderly people, with the aim of analyzing the meanings of the construction of the life project, work and exclusion/inclusion of this population. A semi-structured interview was performed with 25 participants of the Care for the Elderly Person Program. The lexical and contextual Thematic Content Analysis was performed using the Alcest program for the quantitative analysis of textual data. Three themes were recovered: The world and I: process of exclusion/inclusion - represented 27.77% of the statements; The Future as the present - foremost expressed with 44.44%; Work and the Life Project as a way of social inclusion - 27.77%. The need for conscious actions was highlighted, with reference to the ethics of citizens who are involved and interested in experiencing aging in a healthier way, in order to humanize the living/aging relationship.

scholarly journals Public space: an exhibition of photography and video

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Franchi
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Public Space ◽  
General Public ◽  
Private Property ◽  
Urban Environments ◽  
First Century ◽  
The Public ◽  
Unrestricted Access ◽  
Private Corporations ◽  
The Public Sphere

Public Space is a photographic and video project examining the relationship between the public sphere and private corporations. The project explores various sites throughout Toronto and New York that are on private property but have been built with the intention of allowing the general public to have unrestricted access to these areas. These spaces are referred to as Privately Owned Public Space or “POPS”. The goal of the project is to question and document, through photographic and video practice, these spaces within the urban environment and to challenge others to consider whether these spaces are effective in achieving their intended use and if they are truly accessible to the general public. Loss of the public space is an ongoing issue that faces cities and developers often receive concessions to bylaw zoning requirements in exchange for incorporating POPS. This thesis project is a personal exploration of how these spaces are changing the urban environments of North American cities in the twenty first century.

scholarly journals VIRTUAL NETWORK AS THE TECHNOLOGICAL LAYER OF THE PUBLIC SPACE AND ITS EFFECTS ON URBAN SPACES

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 182-194
Author(s):  
Merve KAYA ◽  
Özlem KANDEMİR
Keyword(s):  
Public Space ◽  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
Virtual Network ◽  
Public Realm ◽  
Virtual Networks ◽  
The Public ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
Physical Spaces

The physical and representational contents of the public space are in a dynamic evolving state with the changes in the social structure and urban structure. In the historical process, the phenomenon of public space has been affected by the developments experienced with the change in the way individuals establish relationships in public life. Today, this transformation has occurred through virtual networks with the development of information and communication technologies. The paper aims to understand the public sphere dynamics that have changed with information and communication technologies. Accordingly, it limits its scope on these questions: How virtual networks affect the representational form of public space? What are the spatial structuring of this new representational public realm? What effect does this transformation have on urban areas that are the physical spaces of public realm? The method of the study is to explain theoretical discussions by supporting examples. In this context, it has been found that virtual networks, known as a new form of public space, transform the representative and physical form of the public space in a multifaceted manner by relocating the way individuals communicate with each other on a virtual layer. In this virtual transformation, it has been seen that the representative public space is now formed on social networks and platforms and the spatial structuring of these areas is defined as virtual network. The effect of virtual networks on the physical spaces of the public realm is possible by clustering data about urban areas in these virtual environments. Therefore, the visibility of virtual networks on the physical spaces of the publicity takes place through the understanding of space usage; moreover, virtual network data, which hybridizes with contemporary urban areas, reveals new qualities in the sense of the city by embodying it through maps. The physical transformation of the public space with information and communication technologies is made possible by the use of virtual network data in the design processes of this new sensory city.

Temporary urban landscapes and urban gardening: re-inventing open space in Greece and Switzerland

2019 ◽  
pp. 59-73
Author(s):  
Sofia Nikolaidou
Keyword(s):  
Public Space ◽  
Social Inclusion ◽  
Open Space ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Collaborative Governance ◽  
Urban Landscapes ◽  
Urban Gardening ◽  
Institutional Contexts ◽  
Access Rights

New forms of urban gardening are gaining a momentum in cities transforming the conventional use and functions of open green and public space. They often take place through informal and temporary (re)use of vacant land consisting part of greening strategies or social inclusion policy through new modes of land use management, green space governance and collaborative practices. Particular emphasis is placed on shifted meanings of the notion of open public space by referring to its openness to a diversity of uses and users that claim it and relates to the questions of access rights, power relations among actors, negotiations and the so called right to use and re-appropriate land. By using examples drawn from the Greek and Swiss case, this chapter underlines differences and similarities in urban gardening practices, social and institutional contexts, collaborative governance patterns, motivations, levels of institutionalisation, openness and inclusiveness of space. More specifically it calls attention to the critical role of the temporary nature of these initiatives in relation to their multifunctional, spatial and socio-political aspects that affect new configurations of urban green areas and public space as well as related planning practices.

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