Public Open Spaces & Soundscape by Freddy Hedberg

P32073: Urban Design Theory 1

PUBLIC OPEN SPACES & SOUNDSCAPE Freddy Hedberg - 12027233

CONTENTS Introduction

Part I : Public Open Spaces

Part II : Soundscape

Part III : The Link

Part IV : Oxpens Masterplan

Conclusion

References

35 3

INTRODUCTION

â&#x20AC;&#x153;The natural starting point for the work of designing cities for people is human mobility and the human senses because they provide the biological basis for activities, behaviour and communication in city spacesâ&#x20AC;? - Jan Gehl (2010)

Public open spaces can be found in every city and provide a place of opportunity for recreation activities. They vary in shape and size in the urban environment in order to accommodate different urban design qualities. These types of places encourage healthy living for people at close proximity that result in a happier city. The senses are vital organisms that guide us through different environments. Sensory experience is an important design aspect to consider when shaping cities. Soundscape is one of these experiences and can reveal what people feel about different urban areas through the sounds they hear. This piece of work will investigate the relationship between open spaces and soundscape by asking the following theoretical question: How can urban design create open spaces which will enhance peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s sensory experience of the city in terms of soundscape? To answer this question, this body of work will firstly explore public open spaces in urban design. Secondly, the sensory experience of soundscape will be studied to understand its part in the built environment. Thirdly, the link between parts one and two will be demonstrated in order to fully comprehend their link. Finally, drawing from this knowledge, examples of soundscape in open public places will be displayed from the Studio I masterplan.

PART I

PUBLIC OPEN SPACES

PUBLIC OPEN SPACES INTRODUCTION

Public open spaces (POSs) can be found in every city and bring a variety of functions to the built environment. They are a source of connectivity, interaction and health for people in neighbouring areas. Open spaces can be defined as “land laid out as a public garden, or used for the purposes of public recreation” (Department for Communities and Local Government, 2002). POSs are urban areas which offer a place for people to pause and relax before continuing their routine daily activities. They are all the areas “of public value, including areas of water such as rivers, canals, lakes and reservoirs (not just land) which offer important opportunities for sport and recreation and also act as visual amenity” (Villanueva et al., 2015). These POSs not only offer a wide variety of various opportunities for recreation, sport or leisure but they also gives the city a chance to breathe (Carmona et al., 2010). They take on different forms (Cullen, 1996) and have different names such as squares, plazas, pocket parks. Features found in POSs are vegetation, art displays, park benches, kiosks/outdoor cafes, fountains, ponds and play grounds (Figure 1).

FUNCTION Streets provide direct access into POSs by enabling the urban user to find these places of temporary rest and leisurely activities. Some POSs are easy to find due to their grandiose size and even obvious access, yet some are a little more difficult to find due to being tucked away in the city (such as pocket 10

Figure 1: Place des Nations in Geneva is one the city’s iconic squares due to its broken chair sculpture and fountains (Road To Travel, 2016).

parks) These hard to find POSs can be seen has hidden oases in cities with high density. The principle function of open spaces in the built environment is planned around the notion of people’s recreation needs (Omar, Ibrahim and Mohamad, 2015) therefore one should take into consideration the different recreational requirements for every target group that will be using the space (Chiesura, 2004). These recreational activities include the interactions between people and the provision of leisure activities which aim to relax urban users in POS areas. Public spaces in cities not only provide areas for people to enjoy themselves but also provide additional health benefits. POSs are seen as essential environmental features which can result in the mitigation of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases in a city’s population (Paquet et al., 2013). Research has also shown that “larger, greener, and more active locally available POS are associated with better cardiometabolic health” (Paquet et al., 2013). These types of open spaces are key built environment settings that impact people on a physical, mental and social level if they are at a close proximity; outcomes of this include better “air quality, quality of life, and community cohesion” (Koohsari et al., 2015). POSs also encourage physical activities in cities; these are usually initiated through the creation of public spaces which are safe, aesthetically pleasing, close to sporting facilities, and regularly maintained (McCormack et al., 2010).

Figures 2 & 3: A pocket park in New York providing an area to sit and relax (left) (The Global Grid, 2013). Ipanema beach in Brazil provides outdoor gyms for people (right) (Bodeswell.org, 2013).

PUBLIC OPEN SPACES

CASE STUDIES : BOPA SQUARE & Sďż˝REN KIERKEGAARDS PLADS When it comes down to the urban design aspect, there are some great public open spaces as well as some bad ones. Here are two examples located in Copenhagen illustrating good and the poor quality urban spaces for the public. The first is Bopa Square. It is delimited in a triangular shape by five-storey residential blocks (Figure 7) and incorporates trees which shade the public space. It includes a playground for children, a space for adults to play bocce (Figure 5), and coffee shops that provide outdoor seating (Figure 6). The buildings around the POS provide protection from the elements but still allow sun light to come through. There are comfortable benches for onlookers. Vegetation is used to produce a green character to the area, and hedges are strategically placed to divide the spaces into more intimate rooms showcasing different attractions (Gehl et al., 2006) (Figure 4).

Figure 4: Bopa Square provides seating for people in the summer (Bruun-Schmidt, 2013).

Figure 5: The square provides space for playing bocce (Bruun-Schmidt, 2013).

Figure 6: Neighbouring coffee shops provide outdoor seating (Lovecopenhagen.wordpress.com, 2011).

Figure 7: The buildings surrounding the square provide shelter to the square (Ramblersen, 2015).

The second example is Søren Kierkegaards Plads. This square possesses a 13,200 m2 car-free area which inevitably makes it a large POS next to the city’s waterfront (Gehl et al., 2006). It is located in Copenhagen’s inner city but unfortunately few people use this open space (Figure 8). The predominant reason for this is due to it not having any clear link to the city centre which would naturally encourage people to come down to the waterfront (Figure 9). When the neighbouring Royal Danish Library closes for the night, this POS is “left empty and deserted” (Gehl et al., 2006).

Figures 8 & 9: The square is practically empty during the day time (left) (Mishka.travel, 2012). It has great access to the water front (right) (Jørgensen, 2012).

PART II SOUNDSCAPE

SOUNDSCAPE INTRODUCTION

Our senses are powerful and valuable tools which are used to navigate around different environments. When looking at senses in the urban realm, one usually touches on the topic of sensory experiences. This concept refers to experiencing the urban realm of cities through the use of senses. The research around it examines people’s perception of the built environment in terms of their senses reacting to various attributes that appear around them. One of these senses is sound, and when investigating its properties in the built environment one often refers to soundscape. Payne, Davies and Adams (2009) define this concept as “the totality of all sounds within a location with an emphasis on the relationship between an individual’s or society’s perception of, understanding of and interaction with the sonic environment”. In other words, soundscape investigates the different sounds in an urban environment and their relation to people’s perceptions (Figure 10). When sound is discussed in terms of urban design, one often perceives it negatively. Noise has traditionally been seen as a nuisance as it can feel intrusive and undesirable (Jennings and Cain, 2012) (Figure 11).

Obviously, urban soundscape has both negative and positive sounds (Yu and Kang, 2013). But this concept is not so simple; in fact it is closely linked to psychological, physical and social factors of people (Cain, Jennings and Poxon, 2011). In addition, it is difficult to try and exclude the other senses when examining soundscape as environments are perceived with a “co-occurring visual setting” which may voice opinion on auditory assessment (Viollon, Lavandier and Drake, 2001).

Figure 10: Street furniture representing the concept of soundscape (Edmond Wong Studio, 2016).

Figure 11: One of New York’s noisy streets filled with various activities creating a complicated soundscape (Citywallpaperhd.com, 2016).

VALUE OF SOUNDSCAPE Soundscape affects everyday people moving through cities in order to accomplish daily tasks such as commuting, running errands, and enjoying leisure activities (Figure 12). As they move through the built environment, they hear different sounds which can be people talking, vehicles, children playing in playgrounds and wildlife in parks. Soundscape is an important concept for urban design as it considers the way people feel about places, failure to include it might lead to deterioration of the quality of life in city areas. The acoustic environment is a major factor in determining the comfort level of POSs (Yang and Kang, 2004). It also impacts peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s health by affecting their psychological and mental wellbeing (Hong and Jeon, 2016) and in some cases can lead to sleep disturbance or annoyance (Botteldooren, De Coensel and De Muer, 2005). Comfort level is a way of assessing peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s perception of soundscape; if a pleasant sound is introduced into an urban area, such as music or water (Figure 13), it may result in the increase of comfortability even if this particular sound is high (Yang and Kang, 2004).

Figure 12: Times Square in New York is full of people busy with their lives and moving through soundscape environments (Moore, 2013).

Figure 13: Street performers in London create intrigue through the music they create which makes for an interesting soundscape (Haysom and Tucker, 2014).

SOUNDSCAPE FUNCTION

With the human senses, one is able to understand our position in different urban environments due to the information we collect through these organisms. These senses can also create emotions from the body that are linked to sensory experience. Thus different acoustic environments can be seen as a cluster of many sounds which may conjure different emotions (Botteldooren, De Coensel and De Muer, 2005). For example, the Cowley Road Festival in Oxford plays music from different cultures and

therefore can bring joy to people on the street (Figures 14 & 15). But if a person was standing in an urban environment located next to a busy highway, with construction works occurring, and no natural sounds, he/she might evoke emotions such as sadness and depression. Therefore, understanding how a person reacts emotionally in an environment is the first criterion for decision makers followed by knowing the soundscape of that same area (Cain, Jennings and Poxon, 2011).

Figures 14 & 15: The Cowley Road Festival happens every year in Oxford and has a diversity not only in culture but also in sound (Hedberg, 2014).

Through urban design, cities are shaped with the goal of creating happy, healthy and comfortable cities. When designing certain urban spaces, there can come a time when triggering certain senses can cause an effect on people’s lives. For example the Mosquito MK4 alarm (Figure 16) is a gadget certain shops owners are using in order to “emit an ultrahigh pitched noise” (Alleyne, 2006) which wards off undesirable teenagers under the age of 25 (Merrill, 2013) (Figure 17). This is an extreme and currently controversial example of using soundscape in order to shape the behaviour of people. But urban designers need to be aware of certain design features that can impact the soundscape of the built environment (Jennings and Cain, 2012).

Figure 16: The Mosquito MK4 alarm in its operation (Capps, 2010).

Figure 17: The Mosquito MK4 alarm serving as an anti-loitering device for under 25s (Muse, 2014).

PART III THE LINK

THE LINK RESEARCH

Sounds can be heard in every urban environment due to various activities that are occurring in that space. A lot of research has been done in order to further understand the relationship between POSs and soundscape. Different approaches have been made to test different hypothesises on the subject (such as sound walks). Some research has demonstrated that the urban user’s gender doesn’t particularly demonstrate a varied opinion on the subject of comfort in terms of soundscape; but investigating different age groups can expose diverse opinions on the matter (Kang and Zhang, 2009). Other research has shown that many cities are creating their own noise maps (Yang and Kang, 2004). An example of noise maps can be seen on the website Chatty Maps by the research group GoodCityLife (Figures 18 & 19). They have mapped out different noises in almost every street of major cities (London, Barcelona, New York, etc…) (Figures 20 & 21) as well as provided information on the emotions felt by people (Schifanella, Quercia and Aiello, 2016).

Figure 20: London's ChattyMap (Schifanella, Quercia and Aiello, 2016).

Figures 18 &19: The GoodCityLife group have developed ChattyMaps which has recorded the predominant sounds of nearly every street in cities (Schifanella, Quercia and Aiello, 2016). Figure 21: London's ChattyMap (Schifanella, Quercia and Aiello, 2016).

THE LINK

CASE STUDY : SOLBJERG SQUARE Public open spaces and soundscape coexist with each other yet urban designers can use this link in order to create places that not only feel comfortable to the urban user but can also stimulate their different senses on multiple levels (Gehl et al., 2006).

The second space is an open square with a water themed design. A water landscape is formed when it rains due to the square possessing grooves. In addition, a network of water jets is integrated into the square that enables a mist to form so that children can amuse themselves (Figures 24 & 28). There are 32 loudspeaker wells that emit various sounds from rippling water to frog croaks (Gehl et al., 2006) (Figure 25). In the same space there is a water cascade that falls over a starry backdrop (Figure 26) and a ‘bowl’ holding a small garden for people to sit in (Figure 29).

There is a new trend in design in which a square is divided up into smaller themed spaces, this can be seen with Solbjerg Square in Copenhagen. There is a mix use of buildings around the square: library, high school and Copenhagen Business School (CBS), restaurant, bank, and shopping centre. The square itself is divided up into three themed sections giving a variety in character (Emotional Lightscapes, 2012) (Figure 23). The first is an intimate narrow street giving off a “warm unified feeling” (Gehl et al., 2006). At night, warm yellow lighting is used to create interesting effects and together with the street trees they produce an enchanted atmosphere (Figures 22, 30 and 31).

Figure 24: Emission of mist in the square (Sla.dk, 2016).

Figure 22: Light pattern at night (Landezine.com, 2010).

Figure 23: Map of the square (Emotional Lightscapes, 2012).

Figure 25: Loudspeaker wells (Landezine.com, 2010).

The final theme space can be identified as a copse of pine trees which are illuminated at night by red lamps that create a mysterious atmosphere to the Solbjerk Square (Gehl et al., 2006) (Figure 27). This square is a perfect example of how POSs stimulates peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s senses and creates an intriguing sensory experience through the use of built in effects enabling each space to become a stage both during the day and the night.

Figure 26: The water cascade (Emotional Lightscapes, 2012).

Figure 27: The 'red wood' (Sla.dk, 2016).

Figure 28: Children playing in the mist (Sla.dk, 2016).

Figure 29: The 'bowl' garden (Sla.dk, 2016).

Figure 30: The square at night (Emotional Lightscapes, 2012).

Figure 31: The lighting up of the street (Sla.dk, 2016).

PART IV OXPENS MASTERPLAN

MASTERPLAN STUDIO I

The Studio I masterplan for the Oxpens site in Oxford will include elements of sensory experience (notably soundscape) in open spaces to enrich different areas with intrigue and comfort. One design action for this target is to implement green corridors along the Oxpens Road (Figures 32 & 33). This will create a green link to different areas of the site; but most importantly it will bring wildlife to the street. With birds and squirrels inhabiting the trees along the road, passersby will be able to hear them. This provides a link with nature in a built up area and creates pleasant sounds for people. The second design action for a positive soundscape is to place pocket parks along the site (Figures 34 & 35). This will create an area for people to meet and connect, as well as providing aesthetically pleasing surroundings through landscape design invasions such as water features. The soundscape in these environments is predicted to be significantly calmer for people as the parks are located away from main roads. People using the space will hear sounds from people chatting, children playing, and running water.

And thirdly, one design actionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s aim is to create an innovative atrium in a POS (Figures 36, 37 and 38). This area would be designed to allow performers to showcase their talent to an audience. This in turn will create an interesting soundscape that includes musical instruments, singing, and people cheering and clapping. There might be a difference in opinion from people in terms of their comfort; some may enjoy the performances which would stimulate joy, whilst others may wish for quieter forms of sound. As demonstrated, the masterplan produced is incorporating different urban design elements which will stimulate the soundscape experience of people in the site. From calmer sounds such as birds chirping to live music being performed, the Oxpens site offered a range of sound levels that can be experienced by urban users.

Figure 32: Green corridor in Brazil at bird eye view (Hedberg, 2015).

Figure 33: Green corridor in Brazil at ground level (Hedberg, 2015).

Figure 34: Greenacre Park design inspiration (Theclio, 2013).

Figure 35: Photoshop model of pocket park for Oxpens (Hedberg, 2016).

Figure 37: Oxpens atrium with stage (Hedberg, 2016).

Figure 36: Atrium inspiration for Oxpens (Basulto, 2009).

Figure 38: Oxpens atrium with water (Hedberg, 2016).

CONCLUSION

CONCLUSION Public open spaces are vital in promoting better quality of life in cities, they enable urban dwellers to stay physically and mentally healthy as well as allowing them leisurely time to do recreation activities. Through this body of work it has also been seen that there are good and bad quality public open spaces. Soundscape is an important concept that has to be considered when designing the city as it will impact people’s emotions and feelings. It has been shown that public open spaces can in fact enhance people’s sensory experiences through soundscape by implementing various urban design features to stimulate the urban user’s senses. For example, Solbjerg Square successfully uses loudspeaker wells to incorporate the sound of running water and frogs in its open space. Being able to trigger certain senses in the built environment can indeed create a more interesting public space that people would want to use. This thought process was used for the Oxpens masterplan in order to also create places that will intrigue people to venture, enjoy and experience them.

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