PUBLIC SPACE . SCALE . FOCUS
Tatiana Armijos Moya, Pinal Desai, Truke Zeinstra
‘To be modern is to find ourselves in an environment that promises us adventure, power, joy, growth, transformation of ourselves and the world – and at the same time threatens to destroy everything we have, everything we know, everything we are.’
All that is Solid Melts into Air: The Experience of Modernity
A public space is a social space that is generally open and accessible to people, or a collective area that is shaped within the building mass improving the connection between the building and its surroundings and prevent the city from being reduced to uniform public space and or uniform closed building masses. In fact, within these transitional areas different kind of activities are developed such as walking, staying, sitting, seeing, hearing, talking, among others. Furthermore, regarding urban scale, public space can be defined as the connecting spaces that organize the relation between the buildings and the city. Therefore, public space is defined as the life or space between buildings where people can share with others and with the city in a relaxed and undemanding way.
What is more, several thinkers have attempted to describe the characteristics of the modern public space. For instance, the German philosopher Jürgen Habermas defines the term Öffentlichkeit, ‘the public realm’ ‘public space’, as ‘a realm of social life in which something approaching public opinion can be formed . . . and in which citizens can confer in an unrestrictive manner’.He defines this realm as a social area where rational discussion takes place between citizens regarding general interests.
In order to understand the importance of the existence of public spaces, it is important to establish that people generally want the buildings that represent their social and community life to give more than functional fulfillment. They want their aim for monumentality, happiness, pride, and excitement to be satisfied. That is why the spaces and the movements that link those buildings and its surroundings are essential, because they have to achieve the same goal of fulfillment between the people and the city.
Finally, it is important to mention that people are attracted to other people.It is commonly factual that people and human activities attract other people. Generally, people gather with and move about with others and seek to place themselves near others. New activities begin in the vicinity of events that are already in progress.
(Gehl, 2011) (Gameren, 2013) (Avermaete, 2013)
Many cities around the world aim to optimize city systems for efficiency and accomplishing carbon-neutrality. However, in order to produce a sustainable urban environment it is necessary to generate a change of citizens’ minds. What is more, environmentally friendly technologies and strategies need to be supported by the integration of cultural, social, educational and environmental policies that create the ethical and intellectual knowledge, skills, attitudes and behaviors of citizens.
In fact, it is important to develop a harmonious continuity between the past, present and future in order to achieve a smart a sustainable city. Therefore, it is important to generate an ecological balance and social identity of urban communities, fostering creativity and technology, to increase their productivity and resilience, and thereby improving welfare and quality of life for citizens.
Regarding public space development, culture can be a key for sustainable urban development and management. In fact, exciting cultural life and the quality of urban historic environments are the key for achieving sustainable cities. On the other hand, supporting to creativity is also a strategy in order to generate a sustainable city. Actually, cultural and creative industries represent one of the most rapidly expanding sectors in the global economy.
Regarding that Texel is one important touristic point within the Netherlands, It is important to take in account that cultural tourism nowadays represents 40 per cent of world tourism revenues. Therefore it is important to generate a kind of tourism that provides significant links between cultural and natural heritage and sustainable development. The aim is to promote urban public spaces where creativity fosters social engagement, inclusion and security. (UNESCO, 2014)
UNESCO. (2014). UNESCO STATEMENT: ECOSOC Integration Segment on Sustainable Urbanization. Retrieved 11 21, 2014, from United Nations: http://www.un.org/en/ecosoc/integration/pdf/unesco.pdf
Avermaete, T. (2013). FROM UNITÉ TO JUSSIEU: THE PUBLIC REALM AS FRAME, SUBSTANCE AND GOAL OF ARCHITECTURE. In S. K. Dirk van den Heuvel, DELFT LECTURE SERIES ON ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN (pp. 102-117). Delft: TU Delft.
Gameren, D. v. (2013). REVISIONS OF SPACE: POSITIONING AND REPOSITIONING SPACE IN AND AROUND BUILDINGS. In S. K. Dirk van den Heuvel, DELFT LECTURE SERIES ON ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN (pp. 118-140). Delft.
Gehl, J. (2011). LIFE BETWEEN BUILDINGS: Using Public Space. Arkitektens Forlag - The Danish Architectural Press.