IN BETWEEN SPACES

About Solution

" Shopping malls can be fun places... But when malls begin to replace public spaces as a meeting place for the community, for people in a city, it is a symptom that a city is ill and perhaps society as well". Peñalosa 2004

Cities are facing a significant challenge regarding the number of public spaces they have, you don’t need to be one of the experts to distinguish the lack of a proper and vibrant public spaces that allows city’s residents to practice their right to spend their time in. It is more than enough to just pass by any city on your trip during your vacation to feel the suffocation of its people. Like many others in my generation, I face this dramatic problem each time my friends and I decide to spend some time together; the options are limited and no one of them include a public space as a choice. The only available destinations to go to are usually shopping malls, cafes, restaurants, and private clubs.

Moreover, according to the 11th goal of the 17th Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) set by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), one of the targets is to provide universal access to safe, inclusive and accessible, green and public spaces, in particular for women and children, older people and people with disabilities, which indicated the significant role of the public spaces to sustain the urban environment in cities ("About the Sustainable Development Goals
United Nations ...").

And also Cities are fluctuating with a dynamic lifestyle that leads to continuous changes in the urban environment, these changes may be building up a new bridge or a metro station, renovating streets or frontages, relinquishing a district and constructing a new one, or creating additional elements to an existing status. As a result of these common procedures a new IN BETWEEN SPACE appears, and there are two types of IN BETWEEN SPACES, the first one is on a micro scale which can be seen best in between bridges and the ground, between two buildings, or two roads. And the other type is on a macro scale; and this type is usually allocated between the gated communities and informal settlements, or in other words a space that is alocated between two borders.

These types of space are currently being used for criminal activities, as dump areas or are just unused. Therefore, the IN BETWEEN SPACES could be an opportunity to utilize these spaces as an urban pocket.

Moreover, these degraded spaces can be transformed into aesthetic venues for various community facilities and outdoor activities such as women gathering areas, children playgrounds, public events, art galleries, etc. Therefore these venues will enhance the social cohesion of the community, and provide vital spaces to the residents where they can practice their rights to use the public space.

Solution:

A business model that generates ideas and designs which enable city’s citizen to express their cultures and opinion without restriction through small and easy practices that will be taught to citizens to transform the IN BETWEEN SPACES to a vibrant one with materials from the ground, which will lead to make the place able to be changed over the time and, ensuring a sustainable management system for the transformed spaces that includes maintenance, security, and renovating repeatedly.

0

Comments

Contact Us

If you have any questions