Urban migration is not a new concept. For centuries, people have been moving to cities for better opportunities and a better life, and cities thrive on the availability of people for social and economic prosperity. However, as a result of unprecedented growth in the global population in the past century, urban migration has led to rapid urbanization. This, in turn, has called for an increase in demand for housing, transportation, and commercial/privatized infrastructure. As the rate of urban migration has been higher than urbanization, it has often led to inequitable, unsustainable, privatized, and often haphazard development of cities and urban areas, especially in developing countries. As a result, a common sight for city dwellers is the narrow, crowded streets, traffic-choked roads, with small pockets of greenery and open spaces hidden amidst residential and commercial buildings. Thus, in an attempt to accommodate the growing urban population, the area allocated to public spaces has been greatly reduced.
Public spaces range from parks and gardens to town squares and streets to open cafes and public buildings. While seemingly ostentatious and a secondary requirement for cities that always struggle to accommodate more people and infrastructure, numerous studies show extensive benefits of investing in public spaces. They can broadly be divided into four impact areas:
Social Inclusion
Public spaces can be considered a melting pot of different communities, age groups, and diversities of people. In 2004, Elizabeth Diller's firm along with two citizen activists reimagined a 1.5 mile-long abandoned infrastructure into a public architecture space, called ‘High Line’. This soon attracted a large number of people that craved an escape from the fast-paced, stressful city life. Matthew Mazzotta built Open House in New York out of the dilapidated and abandoned houses of the post-segregation period. This became a space for public gatherings in the form of an open-air theatre for music, plays, and movies with an open invite to everyone. Amanda Burden, an urban planner, and animal behaviorist observes that the presence of people in public places attracts more people to it. It encourages social cohesion, contributes to social capital and community well-being when people of varying demographics come together to utilize it. Children, who grow up in and around public places, not only develop more superior physical attributes, but stronger social and cognitive skills in confrontation, emotional understanding, and crisis management. The same can be ascribed to improved socialization for the elderly.
Health Benefits
Urban life can very simply be defined as sedentary where a large number of people work desk jobs and transportation requires no physical effort any longer. Public spaces such as well-designed streets and neighborhoods are found to encourage people to walk or bicycle more. In Copenhagen, 62% of the trips to work or school are done by bike; in Utrecht, about 34.5% of people cycle to work. Cities across Europe and the US are chasing ambitious targets to create bicycle infrastructure to encourage increased utilization. Parks, outdoor gyms, and esplanades draw people to run, work out or even just take a walk. In a work culture charged with persistent productivity, public spaces allow people to detach and take a breath. Cognitive overload, mental fatigue, and mental health concerns such as depression, anxiety, and loneliness are found to be assuaged as a result of an experience in or interaction with green spaces. Research has also posited that access to public (especially green) spaces result in higher levels of creativity, new trajectories of thinking, and increased curiosity.
Economic Benefits & Experience Economy
The presence of public spaces is also found to contribute to an enhanced ‘liveability’ of the locality. The presence of parks and town squares attracts local businesses and public markets. Companies are also attracted to well-designed locations which further increases the economic value of the location and stabilizes housing prices. In 2001, localities near a newly developed public space in Pittsburg, USA garnered a 60% hike in value over the next two decades, in comparison to the 32% hike in the properties away from the same. In Arkansas, USA, the development of a public market expedited the development of the downtown residential buildings, a sports arena, a museum, and the relocation of the city library. Such benefits contribute to improved community involvement as well as increased tourism owing to an enhanced experience economy.
Environmental Benefits
Public spaces which are often greenspaces, or with elements of nature positively impact the environment. It balances out the "heat island effect" - an increase in atmospheric temperatures in the otherwise concrete forests. Research in Tel Aviv showed that trees led temperatures to lower by 1° C in trafficked areas and 4° C along quieter roads. Moreover, besides being attractive to humans, it is also inviting to birds, insects, squirrels, and street animals of the locality. Broolyn's Prospect Park is a good example of this with over 200 species of birds. Cycling lanes and walkable streets encourage people towards these non-motorized modes of transport, which have obvious direct benefits to pollution levels.
Human beings are social animals, often with a need for aesthetics. Life during COVID-19 has highlighted the need for people to go out to exercise, socialize, or leave the confines of their homes for a change in scenery. In today’s world, infrastructure is becoming privatised and segregated in terms of class, culture, or age. Hence, public spaces provide an opportunity for the intersection for all those living in society, and further impact the way they interact with each other and their built environment. All these reasons illuminate a pressing need for more investments in public spaces by cities and towns globally. Finally, to quote Jan Gehl again, “The city throughout the history of mankind has been the meeting place for people. Much of the culture of mankind has happened in the public space. Public space is a very important aspect of a good and well functioning city.”
Esha Gupta
