Description
The research centres on public parks as “third places” in which people can connect outside their work or home. However, because of their divergent perception (e.g., from leisure during the day to potential illegal activities at night), public parks occupy a special role. Additionally, we want to investigate a park’s perception of safety and pleasantness in relation to different target groups (e.g., gender, physical disability) and structural factors (e.g., population density, rurality, socioeconomic background). Inspired by citizen science methodologies, the research emphasizes an inclusive and playful approach to public park design by harnessing the motivational pull of video games as a starting point. Participants can utilize a digital city-building game for designing their own "safe” park. Importantly, this goes beyond crime prevention through environmental design by focussing on the perceptions and the needs of individuals. The goal is to evaluate individual approaches to designing subjectively safe and appealing public spaces. Depending on the individual’s characteristics (e.g., gender, physical capabilities, past experiences) different aspects of park-design can be in focus. Based on these results we will extract general design-guidelines and rules that we can use to design “prototypically safe” parks for each perspective.
Research Questions
- What do people think about when creating a safe and appealing park?
- How does the perception of parks differ based on their previous experience and background?
- How can games be used to assists in imagining safe spaces?
Some research questions may be subject to change or adapted to fit the students interests. The RQs need to fit the directions of both students working on this project.
Type of Research
Experimental research.
Data Analysis
Data analysis will involve both qualitative (e.g., via the thinking-aloud method) and quantitative data (e.g., gathered via questionnaires).
Information
Please contact Lynn Weiher (l.weiher@utwente.nl) when you are interested in this assignment. The assignment is open to two students.
IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER:
This project will have you work with other students and colleagues across the University of Twente as well as collaborate with colleagues from the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. This is part of the ongoing project into “Safe & Pleasant Parks - Exploring the Power of Games for Co-Design and Perspective Taking “ funded by a VU-UT Grant.
Literature
Van Melik, R., Van Aalst, I., & Van Weesep, J. (2007). Fear and fantasy in the public domain: the development of secured and themed urban space. Journal of urban design, 12(1), 25-42.
Byrne, J., & Sipe, N. (2010). Green and open space planning for urban consolidation–A review of the literature and best practice. Issues Paper, 11.
Varna, G., & Tiesdell, S. (2010). Assessing the publicness of public space: The star model of publicness. Journal of Urban Design, 15(4), 575-598.
Low, S. (2020). Social justice as a framework for evaluating public space. In Companion to public space (pp. 59-69). Routledge.
Holden, G. (2019). Eyes on the street: the role of ‘third places’ in improving perceived neighbourhood safety. In Rethinking Third Places (pp. 95-115). Edward Elgar Publishing.
Van Melik, R. (2009). Visualising the effect of private‐sector involvement on redeveloped public spaces in the Netherlands. Tijdschrift voor economische en sociale geografie, 100(1), 114-120.
Vrancken, E. (2020). Investigation in how the personal perceived safety in city parks is influenced, by its characteristics, in the city Groningen (Doctoral dissertation).
Barker, A., Holmes, G., Alam, R., Cape-Davenhill, L., Osei-Appiah, S., & Warrington Brown, S. (2022). What Makes a Park Feel Safe or Unsafe? The views of women, girls and professionals in West Yorkshire.