Junk for Code

lively public spaces

Piazza el Campo, Siena, TuscanyThis post is courtesy of The Adelaide Review. It comes from this article by Chris Bowe.

This is about this article by the Project for Public Spaces in their Making Places newletter.

The article is called, 'Six parks we can all learn from', and it asks: 'Why do some parks succeed as lively public spaces while others fail?'

One public square that succeeds is the Piazza el Campo in Siena, Tuscany:

It bears the title of the world's best square/plaza.

So why do some public spaces fail?

Some of Adelaide's public squares/parks fail to meet the needs and desires of people who would use them. Though Victoria Square occupies a major place in the heart of Adeliade's urban community, it adds very little to the identity or quality of our city. As Chris observes

"Adelaide’s Victoria Square is absent from the winner’s circle and is too far gone to make the “Worst” list – a category with a qualifying clause that salvation is both desired and possible."

Why?

Kathy Madden in the Making Places newsletter outlines some characteristics that make a public space bad. She says:

"For a park to attract visitors, people must be able to get inside easily. But a surprising number of parks are incredibly difficult to reach, whether because of high-volume traffic on surrounding streets or poorly conceived entrances.

Once inside a park, you need things to hold your interest. Many parks that could be spectacular public places offer virtually nothing to do -- and as a consequence they're thin, without the variety of activity common to the best parks.

Parks are frequently located next to major cultural institutions like museums, schools, and concert halls. Too often, however, these neighboring institutions have little or no presence in the park itself. To succeed as centers of civic life, parks must capitalize on the impact of nearby institutions, engaging them as partners."

All these apply to Victoria Square. thanks to the engineers the diagonal square is seperated fromthe important buildings on all sides by north south car flows; whilst the square is dissected in the middle by east west car flows.

That is why it is a disaster zone as a liveable public space compared to Piazza el Campo in Siena, Tuscany:

The first step would be to ban the cars from Victoria Square---but the Adelaide City Council and State Government are deeply opposed to such a course of action. A car invaded city is good for business in their eyes.

The best bet would be to turn Victoria Square into a giant car park.

Posted by Gary Sauer-Thompson at October 13, 2004 08:10 PM | TrackBack