Urban open spaces play a vital role in supporting the social, cultural and economic life of cities while enhancing the health and wellbeing of its inhabitants. Attractive open spaces bring people to the streets and life to the city. Unfortunately, with the rapid urbanization and the introduction of automobiles, a lot of cities have adopted global paradigms that are insensitive to their climatic conditions, creating unsustainable and inhospitable environments for its inhabitants. Within hot-dry regions, precisely the case of Kuwait, the radical transformation from traditional compact urban fabric to fragmented urban sprawl, has formed a negative impact on the social coherence and public life of the city.
This literature review highlights the fundamental determinants to the provision of active and vibrant open-spaces in hot-dry regions, to reclaim public life. The study of traditional urban settlements highlighted the basic understanding of climate-sensitive open spaces and social engagement. Urban morphology, spatial configuration, social and mixed uses play a vital role in the movement patterns and vitality of urban spaces.
This research attempts to merge these findings to create a comprehensive study on vibrant open spaces within hot-arid climates. Case studies are selected within the global-north and the Middle-East to draw wider perspective while seeking climate-responsive and innovative approaches.
The result of this research is a practical design toolkit which assists urban designers and planners in the provision of liveable open-spaces in hot-dry regions. The toolkit includes physical design principles supporting the provision of climatically tolerable open spaces, along with management guidelines to encourage and maintain regular use of open public spaces and pedestrian routes. The toolkit is then applied to configure/reconfigure a site in the centre of Kuwait City to test and evaluate its practicality. The result demonstrates a new approach to the sustainable provision of open public spaces while highlighting its limitation. This research aims to pave the way for healthier and more sustainable living for people and cities within hot-arid climates.
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