Sixteenth International Conference on Environmental, Cultural, Economic & Social Sustainability

Abstract

This research contributes to the effort of establishing a dialogue between the theoretical fields of Urban Ecology and Urban Design, applying it to a small human settlement, focusing on public spaces. Its main purpose is to identify urban design patterns of public spaces that would stimulate human development leading to more sustainability communities. The research was conducted in two steps: a theoretical discussion and an empirical study of public spaces of the municipality of Feliz (Rio Grande do Sul, southmost State of Brazil). The review of the literature identified a dichotomy between the planning of urban expansions and theoretical and practical approaches with emphasis on human and environmental dimensions. Thus, a layer of analysis were conceived and considered for public spaces: biodiversity, urban vegetation and domestic food production. In this layer, the aim was to combine spatial and ecological patterns. Altogether, forty-seven urban patterns were organized and structured, in four levels of reading of the public space (community; open/living urban space; streets as public spaces; and built- environment interface). This was followed by a graphical representation of the public spaces of the area under analysis, in a way to compare and associate urban form with the identified patterns, considering the layer under analysis, what eventually conducted to a diagnosis. Finally, the challenges and potentialities of public spaces enabled the formulation of design strategies, aiming at achieving more sustainable urban development.