Home >>
ABSTRACT
This study addresses the concept of sustainable urban development in the context of open spaces. Relying on the symbolic nature of open spaces as desirable infrastructure in urban areas, where people meet to unwind, discuss and talk about things that matter to them, an empirical analysis was undertaken of how such places have high esteem for public life, contribute to the sustainable built environment as well as their role in shaping and creating the image of a city. The two case studies analyzed South Korean Cheonggyecheon, and Washington Square Park show that open spaces are a product of social activities and interactions, imageability, and physical forms that are instrumental in creating the image of a place and cities in general. Finally, the study concludes that successful open spaces can inherit and utilize the potentials of a site and, when carefully planned, are a means for attaining sustainable urban development. More particularly in Nigeria, where numerous open spaces and other natural features were being replaced with buildings and hard surfaces without adequate measures to install new ones or replace them, which increase the intensity of urban heat islands and possible exposure to pollution of the environment. Attaining successful sustainability in our urban places requires the careful maintenance of our open spaces in a functional and accessible situation open to all and not restricted to a few. Full Text
