Measuring the relationship between spatial configuration, diversity and user behavior: A Post Occupancy Evaluation study in Istanbul’s peripheral districts
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47818/DRArch.2020.v1i1006Keywords:
Post Occupancy Evaluation, space syntax, user perceptions, Istanbul, peripheral urban squaresAbstract
Post Occupancy Evaluation (POE) is a robust tool to systematically evaluate the effects of design decisions on spatial performance and to identify the relationship between the space and its users. Although there is a growing body of POE research on complex buildings, such as hospitals and education spaces, studies on the POE evaluation of public open spaces are limited. More importantly, few studies have investigated public squares designed at the periphery and how they are used.
This study aims to identify the extent to which spatial configuration of public squares is related to users’ behavior (i.e., modes/distances of access, level of satisfaction). For this purpose, we focused on four peripheral urban squares located in Istanbul, Turkey. The methodology applied in the study includes a synthesis of three types of expertise: 1) behavioral mapping of urban squares (through the analysis of patterns of use based on direct observation), 2) cognitive evaluation of spaces based on perceived factors (through user questionnaires), and 3) quantifying urban public spaces objectively (through the methodology of space syntax and urban morphology).
The results identify associations between objective characteristics of public spaces designed at the peripheral districts, patterns of use and users’ perception of these areas, to a certain extent. For example, the variety and intensity of activities within the square as well as the length of occupancy are highest for Avcılar square, which is most integrated within its urban surroundings with reduced average block size. An important finding is the association between the average street connectivity levels of these squares with their pedestrian catchment areas. In other words, the more integrated a public urban space is with its surroundings (800mt buffers), its users will access this space on foot from a larger distance. Based on these findings, spatial configuration as measured by space syntax measures appears to be an explanatory measure assessing the potentiality of public open spaces for bringing users together, hence, creating a lively, well-used space. However, the results also point to some disagreements between the perceived (users’ evaluations) and objective (syntactic analysis) measurements, which indicate that both types of measurements are needed in POE research of public spaces.
Metrics
References
- Acar, H., Yavuz, A., Eroğlu, E., Acar, C., Sancar, C., & Değermenci, A. S. (2020). Analysis of activity, space and user relations in urban squares. Indoor and Built Environment, 1420326X20942271. https://doi.org/10.1177/1420326X20942271
- Akad, S., & Çubukçu, E. (2006). Kentsel Açık Alanlarda Kullanım Sonrası Değerlendirme: İzmir Sahil Bantları Örneği Üzerine Ampirik Bir Araştırma. Planlama Dergisi, (3), 105–115.
- Becker, F. D. (1977). Housing messages. John Wiley & Sons Inc.
- Bendjedidi, S., Bada, Y., & Meziani, R. (2019). Urban plaza design process using space syntax analysis: International Review for Spatial Planning and Sustainable Development, 7(2), 125–142. https://doi.org/10.14246/irspsda.7.2_125
- Bin Roslan, M. R., Bin Noor Azman, N. A. H., & Zakariya, K. (2014). Examining the social and communal values of urban square towards families and youth. UMRAN2014: Fostering Ecosphere In The Built Environment.
- Carmona, M. (2010). Public places, urban spaces: the dimensions of urban design (Routledge, Ed.).
- Carr, S., Francis, M., Rivlin, L. G., & Stone, A. M. (1992). Public space. Cambridge University Press.
- Churchman, A., & Ginosar, O. (1999). A theoretical basis for the post-occupancy evaluation of neighborhoods. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 19(3), 267–276. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1006/jevp.1999.0128
- Crowe, D., Averbeck, B., Chafee, M., Anderson, J., & Georgopoulos, A. (2000). Mental Maze Solving. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 12(5), 813–827. https://doi.org/10.1162/089892900562426
- Cybriwsky, R. (1999). Changing patterns of urban public space: Observations and assessments from the Tokyo and New York metropolitan areas. Cities, 16(4), 223–231. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/S0264-2751(99)00021-9
- Çakılcıoğlu, M., Reyhan, S., & Kurt, T. (2010). İstanbul Meydanları: Kent Genelindeki Önemli Meydanların ve Plan Kararları Doğrultusunda Belirlenen Öneri Meydanların Değerlendirilmesi. Istanbul. Retrieved from http://www.skb.gov.tr/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/İSTANBUL-MEYDANLARI.pdf
- Çalışkan, O. (2005). Doç. Dr. Baykan Günay ile Söyleşi: Şehre biçim verme sanatı ya da düşüncede devrim. Planlama, (3), 6–19.
- Dovey, K. ., & Polakit, K. (2009). Urban slippage: Smooth and striated streetscapes in Bangkok. In Becoming Places: Urbanism / Architecture / Identity / Power (pp. 168–193). Routledge.
- El-Geneidy, A., Grimsrud, M., Wasfi, R., Tétreault, P., & Surprenant-Legault, J. (2014). New evidence on walking distances to transit stops: identifying redundancies and gaps using variable service areas. Transportation, 41(1), 193–210. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11116-013-9508-z
- Fard, H. R. (2014). Evaluating spatial behavior in the urban public space of Kadıköy square. 2nd ICAUD International Conference on Architecture and Urban Design, 344-1,344-12. Tirana, Albania.
- Francis, M. (2010). Mixed-life places. In T. Banerjee & A. Loukaitou-Sideris (Eds.), Companion to Urban Design. New York, NY, USA: Routledge.
- Frank, L. D., Schmid, T. L., Sallis, J. F., Chapman, J., & Saelens, B. E. (2005). Linking objectively measured physical activity with objectively measured urban form: findings from SMARTRAQ. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 28(2 Suppl 2), 117–125. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2004.11.001
- Garau, C., Annunziata, A., & Yamu, C. (2020). A walkability assessment tool coupling multi-criteria analysis and space syntax: the case study of Iglesias, Italy. European Planning Studies, 1–23. https://doi.org/10.1080/09654313.2020.1761947
- Gehl, J. (1987). Life between buildings: using public space (Island Press, Ed.).
- Goličnik, B. (2005). People in place: a configuration of physical form and the dynamic patterns of spatial occupancy in urban open public space. The University of Edinburgh.
- Goličnik, B., & Thompson, C. W. (2010). Emerging relationships between design and use of urban park spaces. Landscape and Urban Planning, 94(1), 38–53.
- Gürcan, D. (2002). Spastik çocukların rehabilitasyon ve eğitim mekanlarında programlama ve tasarım kararlarının belirlenmesinde kullanılabilecek bir kullanım sonrası değerlendirme modeli. Selçuk University.
- Hepcan, Ş., Kaplan, A., Küçükerbaş, E., & Özkan, B. (2001). Kemalpaşa (İzmir) Kentsel Dış Mekanlarının Yeterliliği Üzerine Bir Araştırma. Ege Üniversitesi Ziraat Fakültesi Dergisi, 38(2–3), 143–150.
- Hermida, M. A., Neira, M., Cabrera-Jara, N., & Osorio, P. (2017). Resilience in Latin American Cities: Behaviour vs. Space quality in the Riverbanks of the Tomebamba River. Procedia Engineering, 198, 467–481. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.proeng.2017.07.101
- Hillier, B. (1996). Cities as movement economies. Urban Design International, 1(1), 41–60. https://doi.org/10.1057/udi.1996.5
- Hillier, B., & Hanson, J. (1984). The social logic of space. Cambridge University Press.
- Hillier, B., & Iida, S. (2005). Network effects and psychological effects: a theory of urban movement. 5th International Space Syntax Symposium, 553–564. Delft.
- Hillier, B., Penn, A., Hanson, J., Grajewski, T., & Xu, J. (1993). Natural movement: or, configuration and attraction in urban pedestrian movement. Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design, 20(1), 29–66. Retrieved from http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/1398/3/Hillier1993data_notes.pdf
- Jacobs, A. B. (1993). Great Streets. MIT Press.
- Jansen-Osmann, P., & Wiedenbauer, G. (2004). The representation of landmarks and routes in children and adults: A study in a virtual environment. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 24(3), 347–357. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2004.08.003
- Karagenç, O. (2001). Toplu konut alanlarında simgesel performansa yönelik kullanım sonrası değerlendirme modeli. İstanbul Technical University.
- Kerr, J., Frank, L., Sallis, J. F., & Chapman, J. (2007). Urban form correlates of pedestrian travel in youth: differences by gender, race-ethnicity and household attributes. Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment, 12(3), 177–182. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trd.2007.01.006
- Kılıç, A. (2001). The Evaluation Of Urban Open Spaces: Kadiköy Square And Its Environment. Istanbul Technical University.
- Korkmaz, E. (2001). User’s Evaluations Of Urban Open Spaces: Beşiktaş Sample. Istanbul Technical University.
- Lee, C., & Moudon, A. V. (2006). The 3Ds+R: Quantifying land use and urban form correlates of walking. Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment, 11(3), 204–215. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trd.2006.02.003
- Lefebvre, H. (1991). The production of space. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.
- Long, J., Rain, D., & Ratcliffe, M. (2001). Population density vs. urban population: comparative GIS studies in China, India, and the United States. International Union for the Scientific Study of Population Conference, 18–25. Salvador, Brazil.
- Lynch, K. (1960). The image of the city. MIT Press.
- Lynch, K. (1981). A theory of good city form. Cambridge: MIT Press.
- Madanipour, A. (2003). Public and private space of the city. In Public and Private Spaces of the City. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203402856
- Malkoc, E., & Ozkan, M. B. (2010). Post-occupancy Evaluation of a Built Environment: The Case of Konak Square (İzmir, Turkey). Indoor and Built Environment, 19(4), 422–434. https://doi.org/10.1177/1420326X10365819
- Marcus, C. C., & Francis, C. (1998). People places: design guidelines for urban open space. New York.
- Marcus, L., & Colding, J. (2014). Toward an integrated theory of spatial morphology and resilient urban systems. Ecology and Society, 19(4). Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/26269695
- Marušić, B. G. (2011). Analysis of patterns of spatial occupancy in urban open space using behaviour maps and GIS. Urban Design International, 16(1), 36–50.
- Marušić, B. G., & Marušić, D. (2012). Behavioural Maps and GIS in Place Evaluation and Design. In D. M. E.-B. M. Alam (Ed.), Application of Geographic information System (pp. 113–138). Rijeka: IntechOpen. https://doi.org/10.5772/47940
- Monokrousou, K., & Giannopoulou, M. (2016). Interpreting and Predicting Pedestrian Movement in Public Space through Space Syntax Analysis. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 223, 509–514. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2016.05.312
- Montgomery, J. (1998). Making a city: urbanity, vitality and urban design. Journal of Urban Design, 3(1), 93–116.
- Peponis, J. (2001). Interacting questions and descriptions: How do they look from here? Proceedings of the 3rd International Space Syntax Symposium. Atlanta, Georgia.
- Preiser, W. F. . E. (1994). Built environment evaluation: conceptual basis, benefits and uses. Journal of Architectural and Planning Research, 11(2), 91–107. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/43029114
- Preiser, W. F. E. (2001). Feedback, feedforward and control: post-occupancy evaluation to the rescue. Building Research & Information, 29(6), 456–459. https://doi.org/10.1080/09613210110072692
- Project for Public Spaces. (2008). A Primer on Seating. Retrieved from https://www.pps.org/article/generalseating
- Rabinowitz, H. Z. (1975). Buildings in use study. Center for Architecture and Urban Planning Research Books.
- Ramírez-Lovering, D. (2008). Opportunistic urbanism. RMIT University Press.
- Reilly, M., & Landis, J. (2002). The influence of built-form and land use on mode choice. Washington, DC.
- Riazi, N. A., & Faulkner, G. (2018). Children’s Independent Mobility. In Children’s Active Transportation (pp. 77–91). Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-811931-0.00005-3
- Sanoff, H. (1994). School design. New York, NY, USA: John Wiley & Sons Inc.
- Schwebel, D. C., Wu, Y., Swanson, M., Cheng, P., Ning, P., Cheng, X., … Hu, G. (2018). Child pedestrian street-crossing behaviors outside a primary school: Developing observational methodologies and data from a case study in Changsha, China. Journal of Transport & Health, 8, 283–288. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jth.2018.01.005
- Sherman, S. A., Varni, J. W., Ulrich, R. S., & Malcarne, V. L. (2005). Post-occupancy evaluation of healing gardens in a pediatric cancer center. Landscape and Urban Planning, 73(2), 167–183. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2004.11.013
- Subiza-Pérez, M., Vozmediano, L., & San Juan, C. (2020). Welcome to your plaza: Assessing the restorative potential of urban squares through survey and objective evaluation methods. Cities, 100, 102461. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2019.102461
- Tonkiss, F. (2005). Space, the city and social theory: Social relations and urban Forms. Cambridge: Polity Press.
- Turner, A. (2001). Angular Analysis. Proceedings of the 3rd International Symposium on Space Syntax Georgia Institute of Technology. Retrieved from http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/35952/
- Varoudis, T. (2014). Depthmap X (Computer Program). London, United Kingdom.
- Whitehouse, S., Varni, J. W., Seid, M., Cooper-Marcus, C., Ensberg, M. J., Jacobs, J. R., & Mehlenbeck, R. S. (2001). Evaluating a children’s hospital garden environment: Utilization and consumer satisfaction. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 21(3), 301–314. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1006/jevp.2001.0224
- Whyte, W. H. (1980). The social life of small urban spaces. Washington, D.C.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
License
Copyright (c) 2020 Journal of Design for Resilience in Architecture & Planning
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.