Serge Wennen & Wampie Boerkamp have handed us their idea to make the ugly fence around the ‘Verversingskanaal’ more appealing. We brought the neighbors facing the kilometer long fence together and made a plan. Last Sunday, November 30, the neighbors brought their shovels and created two green test sites!
City district Scheveningen supplied the plants. The test sites are opposite to Kranenburgweg no. 88 (planted with Marram Grass) and opposite to no. 28-32 (planted with Honeysuckle).
Photo’s of the event in dire weather conditions can be found at our Facebook page.
Jackie Brown (1997) Frame image; copyright: Miramax Films
Car parks and parking structures have been a source of inspiration for filmmakers, photographers and writers. Yet to the people who use them, they’re not much more than a functional area one would rather leave as quickly as possible. Associations are often negative: too cold, too dark, too stinky and too insecure.
We went out on the streets in The Hague and asked different users how they experienced the parking areas they left their cars in. Two large parking areas were researched:
Grote Markt (part of a tramtunnel by OMA); a double height area with a length of approximately 2 km.
Lutherse Burgwal; a standard parking tower with many levels (split level concept).
These are the positive findings:
Grote Markt
Lutherse Burgwal
location close to city center
car is safer then on the streets
good lighting
camera surveillance
wide parking spaces
relatively clean
access close to parking place (many places of access)
just a few parking layers but still enough free places (often mentioned that people prefer to park their car in a garage with few layers)
only connection in the center between the southern and the north part of the city and the other way around
location close to city center
car is safer then on the streets..
…………………………………………………
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.
.
These are the negative findings:
Grote Markt
Lutherse Burgwal
steep stairs
just a few elevators
no pedestrian zones
can’t pass cars, which are waiting for a place
still not many people like to park their car here at night (dont’ feel safe “afraid of groups of boys”)
at the entrance the difference between outside light and the relative darkness inside of the parking garage is too harsh (a gradual change would be better)
high prices and not paying per minute
too dark (bad lighting)
stinks (not hygienic and clean)
bad sign posting
small parking places
camera surveillance not visible (important for the feeling of safety for the person and over its car).
high prices and not paying per minute .
We found similar results in our research as in scientific articles on parking garages, most importantly: adequate lighting [1] and visible opportunities for users to escape from the parking garage. Because adequate lighting and prospect (i.e., visibility into an environment that provides few hiding places for potential offenders) decrease the perception of danger in urban public spaces, especially in spaces where low opportunity for escape cannot be altered (e.g., bridges and parking garages).[2]
One of the interesting findings in our small user experience research is that people prefer parking garages with only a few levels instead of the often built parking towers. Even a very long parking garage is preferred over a small parking garage with more levels.
As the ones we’ve visited, car parks don’t usually tickle our imagination and people think of them as functional elements only. Innovative planners and creative designers have come up with new and refreshing ways of approaching car park design.
In HongKong plans are being made for a modern parking tower which houses space for concerts, fashion shows, art exhibitions and film projections.
A fun example of wayfinding is the parking garage of the Hotel Puerta America in Madrid.
Parking garage; Designer – Teresa Sapey; Hotel Puerta America, Madrid
Parking areas like these are not just about user-experience on a basic level (fulfilling needs like safety, recognisability, accessibility and cleanness), their aim lies on a higher level of being an experience on their own. It is important to focus on the needs and wishes of the users of certain parking garages. For example people who go out glamorously dressed to a theater prefer to park their car in a similarly glamorous environment instead of a grey concrete cold parking garage.
Parking could even be taken to a level of functioning as a restorative environment. Restorative environments provide relief from stress and/or attention fatigue. Restoration is a process that begins to occur when four factors are present in the person-environment interaction:
getting away from one’s usual context,
fascination
extent or immersion
compatibility. [3]
This means that a parking space should become a favorite place to be, an fascinating environment which allows you to forget your daily troubles.
Imagine you can park your car at hut 12 on the Maldives, or on a place with a wonderful view into a garden, or a place with a movie projected on the wall in front of you, or even into a cloud.
Maldives car park; artist impression [S!MPL]
Parking areas should always aim to answer to the basic requirements of their users. At the same time they have enormous potential to influence our daily experience. Not as dark areas of criminal intent, but a positive surrounding people talk about and want to spent some time.
If you have something to add from your own experience with parking garages, just drop us a line on Twitter.
References
C. Tseng, J. Duane, and F. Hadipriono; (2004) Performance of Campus Parking Garages in Preventing Crime; Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities Volume 18 Issue 1.
A. Blöbaum and M. Hunecke; (2005) Perceived Danger in Urban Public Space: The Impacts of Physical Features on Personal Factors; Environment and Behavior Volume 37 Issue 37
K. Korpela and T. Hartig; (1996) Restorative Qualities of Favorite Places; Journal of Environmental Psychology Volume 16 Issue 3.
‘Create Your City’ endeavours to change the traditional planning process. It facilitates new formats for planning by creating an platform that enables enthusiasts, governments, architects and other professionals to post their ideas and plans online. Through social media (facebook, twitter, etc.) people can react to these plans. When an idea or plan is detailed enough and has gathered enough support, it can be realized.
Citizens have many ideas for their city, but it is hard for them to have their ideas realised. People wish to get more involved and claim more responsibility in city planning. The city needs to take full advantage of this change in society and exploit the possibilities provided by new digital technologies.
The interactive website “createyourcity.org” breaks with traditional city planning and facilitates new ways of planning. The initiative creates a platform for citizens, stakeholders, professionals and municipality. New ways of interaction brings all these different parties together in a way that stimulates the development of well supported plans that will be carried out.
[S!MPL] tries to “close the gap between the needs of citizens and companies, and designers and developing parties.”, as said by Architectenweb. ‘createyourcity. org’ is based on the knowledge and experience we’ve gathered from participating in research lab “Vrijstaat” initiated by the Dutch goverment Buildings Agency and CreateYourTheHague.com at TodaysArt Festival 2011.
MUNICIPALITY, IT’S YOUR MOVE
Nowadays there is a lot of tension between municipality – bound by procedures for urban development and communication – and citizen, who expect more participation and responsibility. Society has changed dramatically. Tight budgets have allowed for less completed projects and the need for participation with citizens and private investors has grown immensely. The traditional channels used by municipalities are no longer valid; information isn’t reaching citizens. Dialogue starts too late when construction is already underway. Citizens only have the option to complain when plans are already finalized. This doesn’t leave much room for participation. A new initiative to promote a dialogue with citizens was employed in an urban development project for the Municipality of Melbourne, Australia. The initiative was a huge success: ‘manage the conversation before it manages you’.
INTERACTIVE PLATFORM
The most important part of ‘createyourcity.org’ is an interactive map, where enthusiasts, governments, architects and other professionals can post their ideas and plans. Through social media (facebook, twitter, etc.) people can react to these plans. When an idea or plan has been sufficiently developed and has gathered enough support, they can be realised.
The interactive google map has many layers, like: a layer for ‘new initiatives’, a layer for ‘empty plots’, a layer for ‘urban plans’ and a layer for ‘urban problems’, etc.
To give a excample:
Anne would like to have her studio at the waste site around the corner of where she lives and places her idea on the map. A lot of people in her neighbourhood react positively to her plan and entrepreneur Frank would even like to setup a small design shop there. Several building teams have come up with plans that include these functions and place their sketch designs on the website. The owner of the waste site is enthusiastic and even the municipality would like to participate. Eventually the plan was realised with studios, design shop, jazz cafe, conference center and even a green garden on the roof.
A totally new way of creating your city. It’s the urban dating site for creative enthusiasts, citizens, municipalities and professionals.
More information
Paul de Vries, M.Sc.
[S!MPL] Environmental Psychology and Architecture
T: +316 3356 9512
E: paul@smpl.biz
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