Measurements of public space 23 Individual data: Intercepted survey 16 Extent of public life, age/gender, 18 duration of stay, sociability:. Our public space/public life research is a set of methods that collects quantitative and qualitative data about people moving and staying in space, and their age and gender. To what extent robust public life and a high-quality public realm contribute to socio-economic mixing and diversity of public life.
The Public Life Diversity Toolkit enhances our Public Space/Public Life Survey, which has been tested over 50 years, with new tools to help generate data to answer this timely question. New methods for understanding how robust public life and a high-quality public realm contribute to mixing between people from different socio-economic backgrounds. Initiate collaboration with Next City on article series on the opportunity and challenges of measuring socio-economic mixing in public space, and the interplay between public life and public space.
The Public Life Diversity Toolkit creates benchmarks on the relationship between urban design and public life diversity and social mixing. These criteria are important for evaluating the impact of urban design against the goals of public life diversity and social mixing.
Objectives
Challenge
Goal
The Public Life Diversity
Review LitActivities
Outputs
Impacts
Outcomes
Theory of Change
What are the
Does social mixing between groups increase tolerance and
Do mixed-income neighborhoods provide
In his work on the geography of intergenerational economic mobility, Raj Chetty writes that there is a link between areas of high intergenerational economic mobility and “less residential segregation, less income inequality, better primary schools, greater social capital, and greater family stability. .“.
What are the economic benefits of social mixing in public
What is the relationship
What is the role of socially homogeneous spaces?
More research on the impact of ephemeral social mixing is
Sample Research Question
Public Life Metrics
Individual Data
Metrics
Scale
Intercept Survey: sample findings
Familiar Stranger Survey
Public life volume, age/gender,
Findings from the field
Macro-trends
Socioeconomic diversity
It has a high and racially diverse user base, is smartphone only, so it captures people on the go, and it was easy to capture data for this test (see previous report for more details). However, Instagram data does not represent a viable dataset for estimating the home neighborhoods of public space users. Additionally, 95% of user images in tests were taken from over 1 km from the reported home location.
We have high standards for accuracy and Instagram data is not suitable for this tool.
Social-Shed + Heat-Mapping
Granularity of Census Tracts
Instagram is designed for people to post about the places they love while they're there. Are there ways to relate the volumes of public life to the elements of public space and the diversity of public life to draw conclusions about critical thresholds for supporting the diversity of public life. How connected the road network needs to be to connect people to the places they want.
Public Space Metrics
Furnishings,
Landscape, and Program
As part of a study of the Public Life of Public Space in downtown Pittsburgh, Gehl conducted a careful inventory of a number of furnishings in the main corridors, including public benches. The Market Square, in which the city has invested heavily, has most of the public benches in the city centre. It also features some of the highest pedestrian activity and occupancy numbers in the city.
In contrast, Freedom Avenue, the main transit backbone of the city, has few benches, which contributes to the negative perception of this street as a place to live and enjoy - it simply did not invite public facilities to do so. Above: A map of public seating in downtown Pittsburgh reveals that Liberty Avenue, a major bus route, has almost no public seating, while Market Square has plenty of public seating. The lack of seating on Liberty helps explain the poor perception of this street as a place to live and enjoy, and conversely, the positive perception of Market Square and the many "living activities" that this place invites.
Quality Criteria
Quality Criteria help us understand and compare quality in the built environment and its ability to either
Kay Fiskers Plads
Straedet
Neighborhood Price Diversity
Data from the field
Building Facade
Activation + Entries
Neighborhood
Socioeconomic Mix
Findings from the Field
Urban Connectivity
Sample Neighborhoods
How to use these tools
Turning Data
Into Knowledge
Applying the Tools
Pairing methods to ask good questions
What are their demographics? How does reconfiguring street furniture change this public life profile?
Do people recognize more “familiar strangers” when there are more regular users of a public space?
What is more effective at inviting a more diverse audience to a place, periodic arts programming or a cafe?
How to Use these Tools
What has a stronger impact on a place's diversity in public life, the diversity of neighborhood business prices near that place, or.
What has a stronger impact on public life diversity of a place, the diversity of neighborhood business price points near that place, or
Are there more “familiar strangers” in a more diverse public place or a less diverse public place?
Next Steps
Test Tools with Partners
A Framework for Experimentation
Gehl
Public Life Database
Sharing Data: filtering data for different audiences
Sharing Methods: survey tools
Appendix
Works Cited
Existing methods of measuring social mixing public space
Measuring Familiar Strangers
Qualitative measurement of social engagement
Familiar Stranger
Many characteristics of social mixing are best captured by field observation, but they are easier and more fully described by qualitative impressions. The observational methods described in Rowntree's study and Whyte's method are similar to Gehl's in that the research was conducted by community members and based on ethnographic, observational analysis.
Direct Contact and Duration of Contact
Degrees of Separation
INSTRUCTIONS: If you recognize any of these people but don't know their name, write an "R" in the corresponding blank circle and use the connected box to tell us why you recognize them or what else you would like to tell us about them . If you know the names of any of these people, write a "K" in the blank circle and use the corresponding box to tell us how you know them or anything else you would like to tell us about them.
I see her during my morning commute
- Please take a few moments to look at the people around you
- How much time do you typically spend here?
- How do you use this place?
- Do you identify as?
- How did you get here today? (check all that apply)
- What is your race? (mark one or more boxes)
- What is the combined annual income of all working adults in your household?
- What is the street intersection closest to your home? ____________________________ & ____________________________
- What is your home zip code? ___________________
- Are you of Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin?
- What is your age?
- Do you use Instagram?
- What is the highest level of education you have completed?
Identify yourself as a researcher of public life and ask if the person has three minutes to answer an anonymous survey about social life in this space. You can submit survey questions verbally or hand the survey taker the form, especially those that relate to income, age, race, or gender. If you are surveying groups, indicate which surveys you are giving them by circling the appropriate numbers (see below). Note hour.
Event/concert/lesson Volunteer work/religious event Buying something/shopping Starting a conversation in line Sitting on the couch together. No, not of Hispanic, Latino or Spanish descent. Yes, Mexican, Mexican American, Chicano Yes, Puerto Rican. Yes - I posted from here Yes - I didn't post from here No - I don't use Instagram.
1 Appendix - 53
X Standing T Waiting for transit Xb Bench seating Xs Secondary seating Xc Cafe seating Xm Bring your seat.
USE MAP ON BACK
New framework for Stationary Activity mapping
Stationary Activity and Duration
STATIONARY
Mapping social groups
