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Author(s): E. Aga
Abstract:
Today, much emphasis is placed on the ecological dimension of architectural and
town planning, focusing on the relationship between humans and the
environment.
Outdoor public spaces are a prominent element in physical
planning structures, firstly because it is within them that the public life of their
users may develop – they in fact serve to maintain an equilibrium between the
private and public spheres in the cities – and secondly because with suitable
planning they can provide environmentally-friendly natural inputs.
A central
open public area can function as the heart of a city.
A whole network of open
spaces, suitably interlinked and extending throughout the urban fabric, goes
further, imparting vigour to all parts of it.
Such open spaces comprise a totality
that is something more than the sum of its components.
Networks of open spaces
in the historic cities of Venice (Italy), Venice Canals (L.A.), Savannah
(Georgia), and Folegandros (Greece) are outstanding individual examples
tending to confirm the above thesis.
It has been verified that the balanced
proliferation of open public spaces can create a comprehensible network and
constitute an important element in their identity.
The purpose of the following
article is to document the importance of suitably planned polycentric structures,
the crucial element being their relations of mutuality and their linkage with the
cities not only of the present but also of the future.
Keywords:
network, urban fabric, open public spaces, legibility, livability,
identity.
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Pages: 10
Size: 3,706 kb
Paper DOI: 10.2495/SW100061
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