A Scientific Approach to Evaluate the Efficiency of External Spaces Design in Universities and Their Compatibility with Users’ Needs

Abstract

Universities are one of the important centers that determine the educational and cultural level of countries. It has a significant effect on the community and society's growth. However; designers neglect the end-user phycological ineffable needs which is one of the fundamentals of external spaces design. These factors affect negatively the university end-users and their social values. This paper presents a mixed methodology between qualitative methodology using data analysis and quantitative methodology using data collection approaches. The methodology is obtained and assessed according to international standards. A sum of 300 surveys are made by university students, based in Egypt, showing that the end-user phycological ineffable needs are directly proportional to the quality of the external spaces designed in universities. Thus, the process of designing and coordinating the various elements of the site does not come spontaneously without awareness of the visual and sensory factors affecting them, and the formulations of the external space need integration between functional, visual, and sensory considerations. This process is considered to have a social and cultural dimension and goes beyond being a space cut out from the total void, as it determines the activity for which this space was created.