Ninth International Conference on The Constructed Environment

Abstract

Small Urban Public Open Space for People (SUPOS) is an important category of public space which makes a significant contribution to the aesthetic experience of cities, with many famous examples dating from the Renaissance onwards, which include, the Piazza San Marco, in Venice, the Piazza San Pietro, in Rome, the Place des Voges, in Paris, and Paley Park, in New York. Many small new public open space (POS) were created in the twentieth century in the east and west. While some were successful, many were not. This indicates a need for research and for the development of a method that can be used to assess the design and planning of POS. This paper focuses on small POS in urban areas, which set out to develop and test a systematic assessment method which could be used to test theories about POS use and use intensity and to assess the character and quality of individual POS in urban areas. In addition to published data, the assessment method uses criteria drawn from theorists and includes assessments of use intensity made by the researcher. The assessment method was tested on 100 small urban POS in London in the UK and Tianjin in China. The assessment method could, therefore, be used to help with the development of an evidence-based approach to the assessment, design, and planning of SUPOS for people.