ABSTRACT
A functionally successful place supports and facilitates various activities, and the design of urban spaces should be informed by awareness of how people use them. Accomplished urban designers generally develop a detailed knowledge of urban spaces, places and environments, based upon first-hand experience (Carmona 2003). Whereas, through planning, urban designers define the intended functions of a place, users may modify and appropriate it to their needs and activities. A place, which is designed in agreement with the needs of its users, invites users to
engage with the space at different levels. A passive engagement results in a sense of relaxation and enjoyment, while an active engagement involves a more direct experience and interaction with place and people. In a park, for instance, while there is the possibility of active engagement, it may be utilized merely to bestow a sense of relaxation and enjoyment in a form of passive engagement. Hence in Carr’s (1992) words “some people find sufficient satisfaction in people-watching, others desire more direct contact.” One should note that “the simple proximity of people does not mean spontaneous interaction.” Functional dimensions are also conditioned by what Lefebvre and Goonewardena (2008: 137) calls “ideologies of space” which articulate the spatial structures with the practices of everyday life, to render spatial practices coherent, guarantee the functioning of activities and prescribe modes of social life in any given space.
