Mapping Informal aActivities in Urban Squares

Urban squares are a type of public open space that cater for various activities for the public, such as for events and leisure. The activities in the square are not only contributed by annual events and celebrations, but also daily and weekly informal activities of visitors and tourists, such as lei...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors:	Zakariya, Khalilah, Harun, Nor Zalina
Format:	Monograph
Language:	English English
Published:	RMC, IIUM 2016
Subjects:	NA Architecture NA9000 Aesthetics of cities. City planning and beautifying NA9053.R4 City planning NA9080 Urban planners
Online Access:	http://irep.iium.edu.my/47361/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/47361/1/Final_Report_EDW_B13-018-0903_5-JANUARY_2016.pdf http://irep.iium.edu.my/47361/2/END_OF_PROJECT_REPORT_SUMMARY_-_RIF_06_%281%29_EDW_B13-018-0903.pdf

id	iium-47361
recordtype	eprints
spelling	iium-473612018-05-23T07:48:02Z http://irep.iium.edu.my/47361/ Mapping Informal aActivities in Urban Squares Zakariya, Khalilah Harun, Nor Zalina NA Architecture NA9000 Aesthetics of cities. City planning and beautifying NA9053.R4 City planning NA9080 Urban planners Urban squares are a type of public open space that cater for various activities for the public, such as for events and leisure. The activities in the square are not only contributed by annual events and celebrations, but also daily and weekly informal activities of visitors and tourists, such as leisure strolls, gathering, night picnicking and others. Some squares even become landmarks and focal points of the city. While the design of urban squares has been studied in depth by researchers in other countries, however, a local study that seeks to understand how urban squares are used in Malaysia are still scarce. This research examines three prominent urban squares, which are Dataran Putra, Dataran Merdeka and Dataran Pahlawan, to explore and outline the key criteria that contribute to the activities of the squares. The research objectives are: 1) To map the activities found in the squares and their distributions; 2) To identify the spaces and design elements; 3) To analyse and establish the connections between informal activities, square design and infrastructures; and 4) To recommend design considerations for squares in the Malaysian context. The methods adopted for this research comprise of conducting site inventory and photographic documentation, observation and mapping, and semi-structured interviews with 150 visitors. The analysis reveals that there are five (5) key criteria that contribute to the activities in the urban squares. The criteria consist aspects of planning for strategic location, provision of parking spaces and linkages to public transportations, provision of hard-paved area and open lawn area, provision of shaded and unshaded spaces and provision of functional street furniture and design elements. The research also found that urban squares are significant to the visitors as leisure spaces, urban attractions, and spaces to conduct leisure activities at night. The findings from this research are useful for planners and designer in planning and designing urban squares in Malaysia, or upgrading underutilized urban squares that already exist. This research concludes that an urban square needs to be planned and designed based on its location and context, accessibility and connectivity, infrastructure and design elements, and the subspaces. RMC, IIUM 2016-01-05 Monograph NonPeerReviewed application/pdf en http://irep.iium.edu.my/47361/1/Final_Report_EDW_B13-018-0903_5-JANUARY_2016.pdf application/pdf en http://irep.iium.edu.my/47361/2/END_OF_PROJECT_REPORT_SUMMARY_-_RIF_06_%281%29_EDW_B13-018-0903.pdf Zakariya, Khalilah and Harun, Nor Zalina (2016) Mapping Informal aActivities in Urban Squares. Research Report. RMC, IIUM. (Unpublished)
repository_type	Digital Repository
institution_category	Local University
institution	International Islamic University Malaysia
building	IIUM Repository
collection	Online Access
language	English English
topic	NA Architecture NA9000 Aesthetics of cities. City planning and beautifying NA9053.R4 City planning NA9080 Urban planners
spellingShingle	NA Architecture NA9000 Aesthetics of cities. City planning and beautifying NA9053.R4 City planning NA9080 Urban planners Zakariya, Khalilah Harun, Nor Zalina Mapping Informal aActivities in Urban Squares
description	Urban squares are a type of public open space that cater for various activities for the public, such as for events and leisure. The activities in the square are not only contributed by annual events and celebrations, but also daily and weekly informal activities of visitors and tourists, such as leisure strolls, gathering, night picnicking and others. Some squares even become landmarks and focal points of the city. While the design of urban squares has been studied in depth by researchers in other countries, however, a local study that seeks to understand how urban squares are used in Malaysia are still scarce. This research examines three prominent urban squares, which are Dataran Putra, Dataran Merdeka and Dataran Pahlawan, to explore and outline the key criteria that contribute to the activities of the squares. The research objectives are: 1) To map the activities found in the squares and their distributions; 2) To identify the spaces and design elements; 3) To analyse and establish the connections between informal activities, square design and infrastructures; and 4) To recommend design considerations for squares in the Malaysian context. The methods adopted for this research comprise of conducting site inventory and photographic documentation, observation and mapping, and semi-structured interviews with 150 visitors. The analysis reveals that there are five (5) key criteria that contribute to the activities in the urban squares. The criteria consist aspects of planning for strategic location, provision of parking spaces and linkages to public transportations, provision of hard-paved area and open lawn area, provision of shaded and unshaded spaces and provision of functional street furniture and design elements. The research also found that urban squares are significant to the visitors as leisure spaces, urban attractions, and spaces to conduct leisure activities at night. The findings from this research are useful for planners and designer in planning and designing urban squares in Malaysia, or upgrading underutilized urban squares that already exist. This research concludes that an urban square needs to be planned and designed based on its location and context, accessibility and connectivity, infrastructure and design elements, and the subspaces.
format	Monograph
author	Zakariya, Khalilah Harun, Nor Zalina
author_facet	Zakariya, Khalilah Harun, Nor Zalina
author_sort	Zakariya, Khalilah
title	Mapping Informal aActivities in Urban Squares
title_short	Mapping Informal aActivities in Urban Squares
title_full	Mapping Informal aActivities in Urban Squares
title_fullStr	Mapping Informal aActivities in Urban Squares
title_full_unstemmed	Mapping Informal aActivities in Urban Squares
title_sort	mapping informal aactivities in urban squares
publisher	RMC, IIUM
publishDate	2016
url	http://irep.iium.edu.my/47361/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/47361/1/Final_Report_EDW_B13-018-0903_5-JANUARY_2016.pdf http://irep.iium.edu.my/47361/2/END_OF_PROJECT_REPORT_SUMMARY_-_RIF_06_%281%29_EDW_B13-018-0903.pdf
first_indexed	2023-09-18T21:07:24Z
last_indexed	2023-09-18T21:07:24Z
_version_	1777411025500372992

Mapping Informal aActivities in Urban Squares

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