Human Scale and Perception in Urban Spaces

Abstract

The study addresses a problem facing the urban planning and design processes of urban spaces, which is the focus on the material aspect and the neglect of the moral aspect (human scale), which had an impact in the formation of urban spaces that are not compatible with the needs of users, in addition to the emergence of negative effects on the social, economic, and cultural cognitive aspects. This appears in some urban spaces, where those spaces lack the human scale due to the speed of car movement and the presence of multiple bridges, in addition to pollution (visual, air, auditory...) and from the social and economic point of view, where some activities that no longer have a place in those spaces, such as walking, cycling, hiking, and entertainment, have disappeared, as the spaces have turned into a function of movement and transportation. The aim of the study is to reach a set of general foundations and standards that we need to improve the characteristics that urban spaces design must have in order to be compatible with the human scale in order to enhance public life, and as a result, increase the quality of life in cities, and apply them to some global examples to conclude the extent of their impact on the process of planning and urban design of urban spaces. Therefore, this research paper attempts to study the relationship between public urban spaces and their users and the different definitions of the human scale and its perception in urban spaces with more understanding of its concept outside the physical level. The research relies on the functional classification approach established within the framework of the comparative analytical scientific approach through the theoretical study in which the study and accurate analysis of "the human scale and urban spaces" is conducted. Then the analytical study is addressed and the thinking behind planning and shaping urban spaces is reviewed and evaluated, then the validity of the analytical results and their applicability are verified. The research ends with some results and recommendations related to the design of spaces with the aim of formulating some design and planning standards to reach the design of urban spaces that are appropriate to the human scale and meet the current and future needs of the population