Whyte, William H.

From CollabLandWiki

The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces

Small Parks

• Allow people to create new habits such as a place to have lunch, a place to stop and rest from walking from one place to another, and a place to cut through to make ones journey shorter from one place to another.
• The most used places tend to have a higher then average proportion of women.
• Small Parks tend to have a wider assortment of people ranging from upper-income people to people coming from quite some distance to reach the park.

Plazas

• Open plazas create spaces that are not used for much more then walking across averaging four per 1000 square feet of space. It is far easier to create a space that work for people then to create a space that does not work.
• Zoning is not the ideal way to achieve the better design of spaces.
• Plazas are typically used by young office workers from nearby offices that are trying to put a little distance between themselves and their boss. The typical users of the plazas do not typically travel more then three blocks to reach the plaza.
• Plazas are best used as a place for couples, people in groups, or people meeting other people.
• Most plazas have a typical routine that takes place regardless of the place. In the morning there might be vendors setting up places for food, delivery messengers moving from destination to destination, tourists traveling through sightseeing, or homeless people rumbling along. As the day progresses construction workers arrive if there is work to be done in the area and further more the main people to use the area begin to show up. Between noon and 2p.m. the most number of people utilize the space. As the day gets older the plaza becomes less used until almost full abandonment around 6p.m. and it will stay that way until the next morning.
• During the peak hours of noon and 2p.m. a plaza can experience varying number of people depending on the weather and what season of the year it is. Regardless of the weather or the season the routines of people is pretty much the same.
• During peak use people sit where they can and not necessarily where they want to sit.
• In public plazas mingling is at a minimum even though many people are inhabiting the space.
• Lovers are common in plazas oblivious to others and concentrating on each other.

Space Characteristics

• Surrounding building's design does not contribute to the use of the spaces around the building. People tend to care more about what is going on around them then the buildings that surround the space they are in.
• It is believed that a person's feeling of the sense of enclosure contributes to the enjoyment of the space.
• There is no correlation to the number of people using a space and the size of the space but large spaces don't not directly mean that a lot of people are going to use the space, also shape does not have an effect on the number of people that use a space.

Congestion

• People meeting each other tend to remain in the main flow of pedestrian traffic in plazas. It is speculated that if conversation takes place in the mainstream of a pathway that breaking off the conversation is easier and for each other to head out on their way. People also tend to stand and talk near objects like a flag pole, wall, or a fountain. This is believed to be because of the full view out and your back is covered preventing people from coming up behind them.
• Sitting in the mainstream is also common as the are popular spots for picnics and such. Congestion of people sitting together creates a wall for pedestrian traffic but most pedestrians just navigate their way through the sitting people.
• Congestion depends on the size of the city. Congestion in smaller cites is smaller, there is smaller pedestrian traffic through spaces, and people move at slower paces. Other then that congestion patterns are the same.

Seating Spaces

• The more seating the chances of more people using the space greatly increase. People tend to sit where there are places to sit.
• Just because there are fancy fountains or elaborate designs doesn't mean that people will use the space. One of the most important parts of a plaza or small park is to have seating.
• Seating should be comfortable but also be double use. This can be preformed by having ledges be low enough to sit on by high enough to allow people to use them as tables. Spaces don't need benches to have great seating. Well placed ledges throughout a space can preform the duties of benches with some being in full view of the sun, in full view of the shade, near the street, off in secluded areas, or under trees.
• People will sit on almost anything ranging from one to three feet high but benches or ledges that are sit-able on both sides are optimal because it allows people to sit on both sides comfortably without having to feel awkward or uncomfortable. If the space in between is too small, less then 30 inches, then people might sit on both sides with rigid backs and not in comfort but if there is enough space people will sit how they chose in comfort nit needing to worry if they are intruding on the person behind them. By including a few more inches in depth of the bench or ledge the possible seating area will double.

Benches and Chairs

• Benches with armrests and backrests are best to use because it means that pretty much all of the needs of the person are covered.
• Chairs are sometimes good to have because they can be moved anywhere throughout the square. They provide people with the chance to move the chairs into or out of the sun or into groups.
• By adding chairs it can liven up spaces and draw more people to the space.
• Permanent benches or chairs are not a good idea because of the chance of inactivity because the peoples needs are not met. Like as in if the people would rather sit in secluded areas in the space but all of the benches are permanent in the center of the space people will likely not use them.
• Permanent benches or chairs also might be too small for people to sit comfortably together. Loners might also take up seats that were meant for three people unless someone else is already sitting down.

Men's Preferences

• Men tend to take front row seats facing the streets and if there are gates they will tend to congregate near gates.
• There tend to be men that are "girl watchers." These types of men sit near each other facing the street so they can look at all the girls passing by on the side walk. These men try to play cool and act like they aren't looking. They also tend to just watch and not try to pick up a girl because they possibly have a wife and kids at home.

Women's Preferences

• Prefer places of seclusion. If there are places that have double sided benches or other seating the women will tend to be sitting on the outer side.
• Women tend to be more picky when and where they sit and be more bothered by outside noises and other distractions.