The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces

1. The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces • What makes an open place (e.g., plaza, mall, park, etc.) pleasant? • How do we measure/assess the pleasant qualities of these spaces? • What view of city life is put forward in this film? • What was the societal impact (in New York City) of Whyte’s work?

2. Film: The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces Seagram Building, 375 Park Avenue (52nd to 53rd Streets, designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Phillip Johnson (1958), who won an architectural competition arranged by Phyllis Lambert, architect and daughter of Sam Bronfman. What building in Toronto did Mies van der Rohe design that is quite similar to Seagram’s?

3. Film: The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces • What ethical issues arise from Whyte’s filming behaviour occuring in the street? What does the current Canadian Tri-Council Ethics Code state about the filming of behaviour in public?

4. Film: The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces Characteristics of best used plazas: • higher proportion of groups rather than solitary individuals • Greater proportion of female users • Variablility over day, week, season *”People are most likely to sit where there are places to sit”

5. Film: The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces Design Criteria for Plazas: • “Triangulation: presence of people or things that induce strangers to talk with each other • Surveillance comes from vendors, newsstands, building employees. • Dealing with “undesirables”: make the area appeal to anyone

6. Film: The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces Design Criteria for Plazas • Movable chairs (benches are less desirable) • Seating area should be approximately 10% of the total open space • Protection from sun, wind and noise (use trees and water) • Availability of food (snack bars, vendors, tables & chairs) • Related to the street, near the action

7. Film: The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces Design Criteria for Indoor Spaces (e.g., atria, galleries, courtyards, arcades, concourses, indoor plazas) • Seating • Food • Retail stores • Public toilets • Presence of attractions

8. Underhill, P. (1999). Why we buy: The science of shopping. New York: Simon & Schuster. • A fascinating description of Underhill’s company’s (Envirosell) research into consumer behaviour. • % buying jeans after trying them on: • Females: 25% • Males: 65%

9. Underhill, P. (1999). Why we buy: The science of shopping. New York: Simon & Schuster. • A fascinating description of Underhill’s company’s (Envirosell) research into consumer behaviour. • % buying jeans after trying them on: • Females: 25% • Males: 65%

10. Examing price tags:Females: 86%Males: 72%“Butt-brush” stops female purchasersImportance of adjacenciesDetection of shopliftersImportance of shopping basket distributionRight turn bias of North American shoppers

11. Mean shopping times in a national housewares chain store (USA):Women with women 8 min. 15 secs.Women with children 7 min. 19 secs.Women alone 5 min. 2 secs.Women with men 4 min. 41 secs.How could you increase women’s shopping times for women accompanied by males?

12. Earthquake Fire Flood Meteor Comet Martians Glaciers Ghosts Atom bombs Class warfare Terrorism Invasion Apes, wolves, dinosaurs Disease Warfare Nuclear fallout Environmental degradation New York has been depicted as being destroyed by:

13. Milgram’s Cognitive Overload Model:Reactions to Overload • Allocate less time to each input (brusque manner) • Disregard low priority inputs • Redrawn boundaries in social transactions—shift overload to others • Receptor is blocked prior to entrance into system (unlisted telephone numbers) • Filtering devices diminish intensity of inputs (answering machines) • Creation of special institutions to absorb inputs/shield the individual

14. Lofland’s Privacy Model: Symbolic TransformationsSource: Lofland, L. H. (1973). A world of strangers: Order and action in urban public space. New York: Basic Books • Rules for urban behaviour: • Minimize expressivity • Minimize body contact, keep to the right • Sit away from others • Minimize eye contact with strangers • When in doubt, flee • Disattend, pretend not to notice deviants

15. Urbanism • Jane Jacobs described “eyes on the street” as a crime prevention strategy • Security came from shopkeepers, pedestrians, and residents of a street-oriented community

16. Marshall McLuhan’s Explanation for the Kitty Genovese Incident • Kitty Genovese was murdered while 38 witnesses failed to intervene • McLuhan’s explanation was different from the diffusion of responsibility model of social psychology: cultural differences in the perception and use of space Marshall McLuhan Kitty Genovese

17. Marshall McLuhan’s Explanation for the Kitty Genovese Incident • In North America, people go outside for privacy and inside when they seek community—to socialize with others • In Mediterranean cultures, the reverse is true: people go outside when they seek community and go inside when they seek privacy

18. Marshall McLuhan’s Explanation for the Kitty Genovese Incident Sidewalk cafes are an example of people going outdoors to be with people. Mediterranean cultures take possession of the street North Americans don’t view the street as their territory—public places become a “no-man’s land” Paris, France Lucca, Italy

19. Marshall McLuhan McLuhan made a distinction between North American and Mediterrean cultures’ use of space related to privacy and community. This cultural difference could explain the Kitty Genovese incident.

20. Marshall McLuhan’s Explanation for the Kitty Genovese Incident • Kitty Genovese was murdered while 38 witnesses failed to intervene • McLuhan’s explanation was different from the diffusion of responsibility model of social psychology: cultural differences in the perception and use of space Marshall McLuhan Kitty Genovese

21. Marshall McLuhan’s Explanation for the Kitty Genovese Incident • In North America, people go outside for privacy and inside when they seek community—to socialize with others • In Mediterranean cultures, the reverse is true: people go outside when they seek community and go inside when they seek privacy