Transcript Session 10. Places, Spaces & Community Design, Part 2

Issues of Mix & Density in Urban Design
MIX: Jane Jacobs forcefully argued the advantages of planing city centres and
suburbs to promote social mix to generate exchange of ideas , goods, services
and culture [Death and Life of Great American Cities (1961) and The Economy
of Cities (1971)]. These are recognized in both New Urbanism and Responsive
Environments.
But: competing views of traditional planning theory argue the need to segregate
incompatible land uses & activities into different zones, such as noxious
industries and residential areas.
DENSITY: Dr Johnson’s celebrated dictum: “It is Density , Sir, that creates
Convenience!” has regained great currency in recent times & is annexed by
both advocates of inner city residential conservation and of massive
redevelopment of the same areas.
But: excessive densities can cause conflict, congestion and pollution.
Copyright 2011 Phil Heywood
Brisbane:
Queen Street Mall’s historic facade, sub tropical sun
& human scale draw city centre users
Systems of Centres
Systems of Activity Centres within broad regions and
majorcities can promote both:
• interaction &
• differentiation
and provide the basis for ranges of densities and activities
that meet the objectives of:
• Mix
• Diversity
• Convenience
• Contact
• Amenity
Public, Private & Community Spaces
Even when physically small, public spaces play important roles in
the social, cultural and commercial lives of Brisbane City:
1. Post Office/ Anzac Square in Brisbane (collects,
accommodates and distributes pedestrian flows between
Central Station, GPO & all other parts of the city canter)
2. Queen Street Mall (Commercial & casual social hub &
hangout spot)
3. South Bank Gardens (Recreational & Tourist focus for
metropolis and all visitors)
4. Former King George’s Square (Performed Civic , Historic
& emblematic roles before current unsympathetic redesign)
Many Levels in Post Office Square
Queen Street Mall again
Mixed Use in South Bank Gardens
Public Life in the Gardens
BUZZ PAIRS
•
In pairs or groups of three, each identify and describe to the
other(s) a great or horrible space you have experienced &
together discuss reasons for those experiences and responses
(5 minutes)
Iconic & Symbolic World Spaces
1. Times Square -The focus & expression of Manhattan & New
York
2. Trafalgar Square -The hub of London’s life from New Years Eve
to mid summer splashing in the fountains, & from mass demos
to daily throngs
3. St Peters in Rome -combines timeless architecture with
universal religious & cultural significance
4. Tianenmen Square -the huge iconic fortress of Chinese Culture
& Central Control
Iconic & Symbolic World Spaces
5. Taj Mahal -a universal expression of harmony & love relating
India to the world in a symbolically boundless form
6. The Obis of Onitsha Inland Town -Harmonious and irregular
spaces framing sacred trees and totems and the compounds of
the surrounding clans
7. Sydney’s Circular Quay -a robust meeting zone of land and
harbour, past and present, and local and international that has
survived constant piecemeal changes
Trafalgar Square –
Still busy on a wet Sunday
Evolution of Public Space in History
• There is a 3,800 year history from Hapshupsit’s Temple
Forecourt, (see below), the Sacred Court of Medinet Habu, the
Avenue of the Kings at Luxor, through the Athens Agora and the
Acropolis which made up the 2 sides of the city’s life.
• Commercial Space dates from the Athenian Stoa to the Medieval
Market Square and the contemporary Shopping City.
• Public community spaces for play, contemplation and culture:
parks, commons, gardens & sacred places like Varanasi and New
Zealand Maraes
Grand Collective Spaces over 4,000 Years
Hapshupsit’s Temple Forecourt, the Avenue of the Kings at Luxor,
Sacred Court of Medinu Habet & Beijng’sTianenmen Square
The Great Square & Holy Kaaba at
Mecca: Designed to Assemble
Space Designed with Feeling:
The Jewish Holocaust Museum &
Surrounding Spaces, Berlin