Literature Review on Open Space

Introduction

The literature review incorporates the topics that can elaborate subject maters about
recreational open space in the neighborhood level, people and open space relation
and the community perception and the value it.

Open space:

Open space is defined in the Town and Country Planning Act 1990(Section 336) as
land laid Out as a public garden, land for a public recreational purpose, or an empty
land which is a burial ground however.

The author Hellen Wolley on her book called Urban Open Space a definition of open
space by different authors are mentioned

Open space has also been described from a user‟s point of view as being an arena
that allows for different types of activities encompassing necessary, optional and
social activities (Gehl, 1987).

Open space can be defined as land and water in an urban area that is not covered by
cars or buildings, or as any undeveloped land in an urban area (Gold, 1980).

Cranz (1982) argued that open spaces are wide-open areas that can be fluid to the
extent that the city can flow into the park and the park can flow into the city.

Types and functions of open space

As from the definitions above an open space is understood as a space left open
without a building constructed on it. Based on the cover material the space can be
seen in two categories as soft and hard space. Soft space is covered by soils and
plantations which are permeable, where the hard space finishing materials are non
permeable materials.

The continuity between the hard open space and the soft open space is very necessary
for the integration of different settings of social, economic and environmental
development.

Hard open space are used for the purpose of movement like paved pedestrian way,
parking, social functions include activities such as play, sport and recreation. Hard
open spaces are the ideal setting for gatherings like festivals or market places
(Moughtin 1992), which function in parallel with the space as an agent for social
interaction.

Local open spaces are classified by their size and function. If it the open space is
larger in size in with in the neighborhood it Provides for court games, children‟s play,
sitting-out areas, nature conservation, landscape environment ; and playing fields. For
small sized open space gardens, sitting-out areas, by old people and children,
children‟s playgrounds or other particularly valuable in areas of a specialist nature are
in corporate (Llewelyn-Davies 2007). Depending on different criteria many schools
and institutes have brought their classifications of open space, but for this paper the
following table is developed from categorizations set out by English partnership
housing cooperation.

Benefits of open space

According to the oxford definition benefits can be understood to be something that

gives a positive advantage to a person. Helen Wooly, on her book called urban open
space made the statement that the council of Europe in 1986 stated about the open
space and its importance.

Open space is an essential part of the urban heritage, a strong element in the
architectural and aesthetic form of a city, plays an important educational role, is
ecologically significant, is important for social interaction and in fostering community
development and is supportive of economic objectives and activities. In particular it
helps reduce the inherent tension and conflict in deprived parts of urban areas of
Europe; it has an important role in providing for the recreational and leisure needs of
a community and has an economic value in that of environmental enhancement.

Urban open space book by Hellen woolley describes the open space benefits in four
major categories which are environmental, social, Health, and economic benefits.
These four points are discussed in depth below:

Social benefits

Neighborhood open spaces have a variety of purposes for the society they serve; they
unite residents of all ages in fun and productive outdoor activities and facilitate the
growth of community unity and neighborhood revival (Olmos 2014). In the
neighborhood open space benefits the social aspects serve as recreation, Children‟s
play, a focus for the community or a cultural group and educational.

Recreational place:

open spaces serve the society as recreation spaces, recreation can be considered as
passive and active recreation. Active recreation is usually taken to represent activities
such as football, basket ball, volleyball and other games, whereas passive recreation is
taken to present activities such as looking after Children, looking at views of nature or
other, reading, resting or meeting friends.

Children‟s playground:

children play spontaneously and the modern civilization interferes to this act by the
cause of development. The provision of play ground space should not be at a far
distance from where they live and also have to take account of roads and traffic
placement that may cut off children‟s access to the play ground.

Environmental benefits

Environmental benefits is related to climate and environmental amelioration, create

opportunity for the wildlife habitats. Air cooling and purifying the carbon contents in
the atmosphere is the main environmental benefit of open spaces.

“A tree„s ability to offset carbon emissions is determined by size, canopy cover,

health, and age, but large trees can help lower carbon emissions in the atmosphere by
2-3%. An 80-foot beech tree has been shown to remove daily carbon dioxide amounts
equivalent to that produced by two single-family dwellings.”

Health benefits

The evidence for the preventative health value of high quality green space is growing.
The health benefits can be identified primarily as physical and mental health benefits,
with the restorative effects that nature can have and the importance of near nature in
daily life.

Apart from the ability of urban green space to reduce pollution, and the build-up of
the particulates that can aggravate respiratory diseases such as asthma and
bronchitis, green space contributes significantly to stress reduction, the alleviation of
depression and dementia.

Economic benefits

Properties located in neighborhoods with open spaces and green area parks have
been found to have higher re-sale price and homeowner‟s value. These spaces are
important attributes when making decisions about residential location and housing
choice (Jason Byrne and Neil Sipe 2010). This indicates that the existence of open
space imposes a positive impression to the community of a place where they live and
add economical value of the neighborhood. Green spaces in urban areas can provide
opportunities for community involvement that can in turn help to develop a sense of
self-esteem and enable individuals and communities to develop skills new to them
creating an opportunity of employment. In addition the aesthetically high valued open
spaces are a means of tourism.

Valuing open space

The word value indicates the monetary worth of something, a numerical quantity that
is assigned of an equivalent return in good, service or money for exchange (Webster
n.d.). From the word definition value open space can be understood as the fair
exchange for the benefits gain from the open space.

Recognizing the provision of open space benefits is quite another to place a financial
value on them in order to make important policy and planning decisions about
zoning, restrictions on land use, government purchase of lands for parks.

Open spaces always have intangible values that may be planned for it. Some of the
intangible values are as following;

• “Scientific value – understanding nature and how it came to be.

• Aesthetic value – appreciating the beauty of a natural feature independent of its

utility.

• Genetic diversity value – maintaining the capacity to adapt to environmental

changes.
• Historic value – understanding ourselves by understanding our natural heritage. •
Cultural symbolization value – the contribution of geomorphic, faunal or floral
features to our sense of identity.

• Character building value – the opportunity to test and learn one‟s limits and
abilities.

• Stability and spontaneity values – Nature is both constant and infinitely variable. •
Dialectical value – the value that derives from overcoming oppositional forces.

• Spiritual value – the deep introspection inspired by wild lands and sanctuaries“

People‟s perception towards open space

The book called “Responsive Environment” which is a manual for design clearly states
that the design of a place affects the choices people can make, at many levels (Ian
Bently et al 2008). The book lists points covering an important key issue in making
places more responsive for people understanding and use of a place in this case an
open space are the case. The following list clarifies this in detail.

• “It affects where people can go, and where they cannot: the quality we shall call
permeability.

• It affects the range of uses available to people: the quality we shall call variety

• It affects how easily people can understand what opportunities it offers: the quality
we shall call legibility.

• It affects the degree to which people can use a given place for different purposes:
the quality we shall call robustness.

• It affects whether the detailed appearance of the place makes people aware of the
choices available: the quality we shall call visual appropriateness.

• It affects people's choice of sensory experiences: the quality we shall call richness

• It affects the extent to which people can put their own stamp on a place: we shall
call this personalization.”

Awareness and appreciation of environmental perception, and specifically the

perception and experience of place is an important dimension of urban design
(Matthew Carmona , Tim Heath, Taner Oc and Steven Tiesdell 2007). Perception
engages the gathering, organizing and making sense of information about the
environment. This process is made generally by two processes that gather and
interpret environment which are „sensation‟ and 'perception'. It is not clear where
sensation ends and perception begins, in practice. Sensation refers to human sensory
systems response to environmental motivation. The four most valuable senses in
interpreting the environment are vision, hearing, smell and touch. By this people can
have their own perception, understanding and sensation of the environment/
neighborhood/ they are living in.

Open Space Plan and Design

It is now believed that sustainability indicators for urban development should include
more parameters about public spaces and green open areas, as well as indexes
reflecting citizens‟ satisfaction and perception of their living environments (Chiesura
2004).Based on the community perception and understanding, their reflection on the
open space design would be satisfactory for the citizens. A research done on
thepocket park states pocket parks should be designed with the following criteria to
ensure maximum safety fort the community.

• Active, frequent use

• Regular maintenance

• Comfortable pedestrian traffic

• Opportunities for recreational activities

• Community groups and steward ship initiatives

• Formal or informal supervision

• Access to help if needed like telephones

• abundant lighting

Open space design considerations

3.6.1.1 Pedestrian movements

The scale and form of a space will influence pedestrian behavior and the type of
social communication that may occur within that space. Physical distances that bring
people into close proximity, or separate them, are important design considerations,
Settings for conducive active social communication, or those meant to allow a certain
degree of privacy, require careful thought as to the degree of possible eye contact,
and proper within the scale and layout of the setting.

Standards for movements

Based on the standards obtained from a book called Time saver standards for
landscape architecture the following stairs and ramp slopes are listed.

• Minimum width for stairways should be 1 500 mm for public spaces

• Ramp slopes should be no greater than 1:12 or 8.33 %. Curb cuts may be 1:8 or 12%
if the run is less than 900 mm.

• Landings should be provided every 9 000 mm or less of ramp length. Heights

between stair landings should be a maximum of 1 500 mm to allow an average adult
standing on one landing to see the ground plane of the next higher landing.

• Seating walls are typically 400 to 450 mm (16 to 18 in) wide and between 350 and
450 mm (14 and 18 in) in height.

Sitting space

Arranging sitting spaces are very essential in landscape design. While designing a
sitting space one should emphasize on comfort, simplicity of form, simplicity of
detail, ease of maintenance, durability of finish, resistance of vandalism. Sitting
spaces within the proposed public space must be along the street and at the sitting
area.

Open space management

The way spaces look and feel today and the ease with which they can be managed
relates fundamentally to how they were designed in the first place. Furthermore,
because every involvement in space has an impact upon its overall quality, the
importance of design skills remains fundamental. Open space management activities
are undertaken primarily by public-sector agencies, by voluntary bodies or community
organizations, or by private-sector companies.