The Role of Intangible Features in Developing Open Spaces

Abstract

this paper focuses on the role of intangible
elements of the public spaces in the residential areas such as
a neighbourhood. The main emphasis is the significance of
the factor of social satisfactions on developing public spaces.
The research to date has tended to focus on examining the
physical quality of public space, particularly tangible
features, but fewer have dealt with the intangible features
that related to the residents’ social life and community
interaction. Consequently, in this research, the analysis
includes some important intangible elements such as a sense
of community, social satisfaction and safety and security in
the public spaces and the local initiatives. The research
includes two case studies in Misurata, Libya. Both cases are
neighbourhoods type with similar in size, population,
number of houses and distance from the city centre.
However, one case is a Governmental Neighbourhood GNs
while the other one is a Traditional Neighbourhood TNs.
This inquiry is a qualitative research, however, it adopted
mixed methods approach, and i.e. both questionnaires and
in-depth interviews were utilized for data collection. The
results of this study show that there are a several crucial
findings related to the importance of these intangible
elements, these findings suggest some practical guidelines to
be considered in new development projects.