Designing Public Spaces

Essential Questions:

How do cities balance people’s needs, environmental sustainability, and corporate interests?

What part do various stakeholders play when designing public spaces?

How are project proposals created and submitted?

How can we design around people’s habits and behaviors?

Action Items Post

Since my pitch, I’ve met with my Councilman and he informed me that the lot for my project is stuck between city and state jurisdiction and conflicting interests, so nothing is going to be happening to it. He offered to reach out to some groups about internships, but if those don’t work out, I’m going to be going ahead with my initial project, but not as an official proposal that will be submitted to the city.

The Learning Goals & General Work Plan and Documentation Plan Post

Goals:

• I want to learn how to balance environmental interests and people’s interests. I will be able to do this by creating a project plan, learning about different stakeholders in my project, and researching the lot’s environment.
• I want to learn how to design around people’s habits and behaviors. By doing a study of my neighborhood, I can learn about what people want and their daily routines, helping me incorporate these variables in my design.
• I want to learn how to complete a study of my neighborhood which I can do through online research and practice,
• All of the above may differ slightly if I have an internship.

Plan:

Week 1: Research how to do a small-scale ethnographic study, start reading the books, start off the study by interviewing community members about their daily lives, etc.

Week 2: Continue the study and reading of resources, research lot history, the lot’s environment and elements, and sustainable solutions.

Week 3: Observe behaviors and patterns in the neighborhood, interpret results of the study.

Week 4: Research other projects that have worked in similar environments, and nearby projects

Week 5: Put together project “proposal”

Week 6: Put together project “proposal”

Documentation:

I will be compiling the information that I’ve been able to collect at the end of each week and reflecting on it through blog posts. I plan to display my final work probably as a presentation, which would include an explanation of my project proposal, why I made the choices I did, and the data behind each choice.

Possible key readings and resources:

Life Between Buildings: Using Public Space by Jan Gehl

The Death and Life of Great American Cities by Jane Jacobs

Happy City: Transforming Our Lives Through Urban Design by Charles Montgomery

The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces by William H. Whyte (book or movie)

Ethnography: https://nsuworks.nova.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1071&context=tqr