Planning of public green open spaces to foster social interaction

Abstract

Urban areas are magnets for most of the people who look for job opportunities,technology, resources and proper facilities. In this process of urban development, the human scale is ignored; also, the social structure is disappeared. This has also led to the lack of public green open spaces which in turn have discouraged social interaction, increased pollution and negatively impact health. Since the Land Use changes are difficult to be made, we can work upon the enhanced quality of these spaces. The Primary Need is to balance the competing demands of Public Green Open Spaces by structuring and planning for a better quality of Existing Spaces within the cities which would increase Social Interaction and Physical Activity among residents. This can be done in terms of less-documented role of the recent phenomenon of Activity Usage and Management, which further contribute to Sustainable Growth of the city. The study aims to examine the characteristics of Public Green Open Spaces that foster or impede Social Interaction and Physical Activity among residents in the selected areas of Nagpur City. The focus is on all the hierarchy of Public Green Open Spaces, both genders and diverse age group. Emphasis is given towards the lessdocumented role of the recent phenomenon of activity usage planning, Management and Development. The study involves mixed methods: with quantitative, qualitative, spatial and observational analysis through Transect Walks/Walking Tour Assessment and interviews by examining factors that foster social interaction in these spaces. The first objective focuses on strong literature study of factors of Successful public places and their methods of assessment. A total 18 factors are listed with three assessment methods. These 18 factors are further bifurcated into 68 elements. The study majorly focuses on two probes, the probe one assesses the socio-spatial interaction by investigating the area suggested by the URDPFI guidelines and the city level gap. Also the correlation between proxy indicator of use i.e. Google Maps Review Counts is studied. Further integration analysis is performed through depthmapX software to study the accessibility of Public Green Open Space locations, later the integration and proxy indicator are correlated. The next level of probe focuses on the casual social interaction and the elements of PGOS desired by the people, wherein, visual analysis and surveys are performed. The idea is to provide directives for management and activity usage patterns in policy making which would result in improved social interaction, physical activity and PGOS that are reflected by multiple users at different times of day contributing to a vibrant and sustainable environment. The study also provides a set of elements for future planning of all the hierarchy of Public Green Open Spaces which improve engagement of users and contribute to high social interaction.