Measuring public space quality
How can we evaluate the quality of public space quantitatively? Researchers from FCL and FRS introduce the Public Space Quality Index (PSQI), a framework to measure public space quality.
Public spaces play an integral part in creating vibrant and sustainable cities as they serve a multitude of functions: they are our platforms for social interaction, social mixing and social inclusion; they facilitate the exchange of ideas, culture, and skills; and they support trade, leisure, and tourist activities among many other functions.
Although public space use and the design of qualitative public space is being studied from various perspectives in many different disciplines, evaluating public space quality is not straightforward. In this book chapter, Dr Peijun He, Dr Pieter Herthogs, Dr Marco Cinelli, Ludovica Tomarchio, and Prof. Bige Tuncer introduce the Public Space Quality Index (PSQI), a systematic Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis framework to evaluate the quality of public spaces.
The researchers discuss the planned development of their research methodology and discuss the first steps and results in detail. In this first phase, researchers developed a set of 19 criteria relevant in describing public space quality, based on a literature review and discussions with urban design experts.
This list of criteria was put to the test in a workshop with 14 Singapore-based experts on urban design and public space. The workshop participants evaluated the completeness of the list, suggested changes, and tested a number of individual and collective methods to score and rank the relative importance of these public space quality criteria, in preparation for the second phase of the PSQI’s development.
One noteworthy observation was that, while expert opinion varied strongly in individual scoring exercises, consensus (and changes in opinion) where not difficult to reach in co-creative scoring methods; this is something to take into account when determining scores and ranks based on individual surveys.
Once completed, this proposed methodology could serve as a tool for various stakeholder groups, such as urban designers and policy makers, to evaluate and compare public space designs in a more quantitative way. It can also enable them to explore expected qualities and user appreciations of public space, both in terms of a diverse range of needs, and in terms of general quality.
Their work external page“A Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis Based Framework to Evaluate Public Space Quality” is published in Smart and Sustainable Cities and Buildings, part of the series Contemporary Urban Design Thinking.
He, Peijun, Pieter Herthogs, Marco Cinelli, Ludovica Tomarchio and Bige Tunçer (2020). ‘A Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis Based Framework to Evaluate Public Space Quality’, in Smart and Sustainable Cities and Buildings, Contemporary Urban Design Thinking, eds. Rob Roggema and Anouk Roggema. Springer Nature.