Open AccessPublic Open Spaces Urbanity: A Confrontation Between the Physical and Social Dimension at the Parque Germânia
Author(s) -
R. K. Edelweiss,
F. Bortoli
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
iop conference series. earth and environmental science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.179
H-Index - 26
eISSN - 1755-1307
pISSN - 1755-1315
DOI - 10.1088/1755-1315/503/1/012051
Subject(s) - urbanity , public space , appropriation , sociology , action (physics) , diversity (politics) , built environment , flexibility (engineering) , politics , urban design , public relations , environmental planning , urban planning , geography , political science , architectural engineering , civil engineering , engineering , epistemology , law , management , philosophy , physics , quantum mechanics , anthropology , economics
Public open spaces have historically been places of political action. Contemporary life, on the other hand, raises challenges to the city and its places of urbanity: they need to meet multiple demands, which indirectly include political action, but also involve leisure, entertainment, sport and social interaction, for example. Understanding the city as a place of encounter, and public open spaces as essential facilities for social interaction, leads to an approach to public open spaces from the perspective of urbanity. This article analyses the case study of Parque Germânia in Porto Alegre, Brazil. The case study considers a confrontation between the built environment as a physical dimension and appropriation as a social dimension. The study analyzes public use of the park through non-participant observation focusing on the following concepts: diversity and tolerance; visibility and flexibility. Diversity and tolerance is considered as a way of understanding the dynamic of appropriation by different social groups and their relationships; visibility is considered as a concept related to urban security, and flexibility is analyzed from the seasonal nature of different scenarios of use in the same space. The study analyzes the physical dimension by presenting a layered map that focuses on urban insertion, environmental aspects and design. Urban insertion is considered from the perspective of urban planning, such as use of the surrounding areas, access points and mobility; the environmental aspects consider areas of environmental preservation and hydrography; design considers the design of the park and its facilities as support for community activities and its multifunctional ability to serve different uses. The article presents a possible approach to public open spaces from the perspective of urbanity by considering both physical and social dimensions, and specifically builds a structured analysis of Parque Germânia.