Abstract
The On-site Observation , one of three Urban Audit tools, observed and recorded the various ways in which a range of public outdoor spaces are used by older and other users from the community through a weekday and weekend day. Interest is with investigating the relationship between spatial characteristics, activity patterns and the social dynamics of urban public spaces in residential neighbourhoods. The analysis showed that design features and time of day could impact the activity patterns of these public spaces .
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Notes
- 1.
Carmona et al. (2010) have argued that successful spaces are spaces that support and facilitate people’s activities.
- 2.
Void decks can be found on the ground floor of apartment blocks in public housing . They have been purposefully left vacant (open space) and typically used for communal activities.
- 3.
See Chap. 10.
- 4.
For the purpose of analysis in this study, nodes will also refer to the physical provision on the site that encourages the usage of the space.
- 5.
For site maps, see Chap. 5.
- 6.
HDB is the abbreviation for Housing and Development Board, the public housing agency in Singapore. Public housing is popularly referred to as HDB housing/block/flats.
- 7.
See Chap. 10.
- 8.
See Chap. 10.
- 9.
- 10.
This 1.4 km park connector links Bukit Panjang Park to Zhenghua Park and Central Catchment Nature Reserve via the heartlands of Bukit Panjang, passing by Bukit Panjang Ring Road, Segar Road and Saujana Road.
- 11.
Refers to the Individual Physical Proficiency Test (IPPT) set by the Singapore Armed Forces, Singapore Police Force and Singapore Civil Defence Force to test the basic components of physical fitness and motor skills of their service people.
- 12.
- 13.
See Chap. 10.
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Acknowledgements
We gratefully acknowledge the following for their generous support and assistance with the On-Site Observation Survey : all students at Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) including Architecture and Sustainable Design (ASD) 2015 class of 20.016 Urban Analysis who helped us record the observations at the four sites of study; student intern, Lim Aunn Ning, for meticulously compiling the observation data digitally; our colleagues Cheong Sue Wei and Emily Yongxu Soh for verifying the data entry; Laura Jasmine for coordinating the observation data collection and Adithi Moogoor for assisting with the photo presentation in this Chapter.
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Yuen, B., Nair, P. (2019). Investigating Space, Activities and Social Dynamics. In: Yuen, B. (eds) Ageing and the Built Environment in Singapore. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-92444-1_7
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