Izirein, Ohi "Ideologies, Urban Reconstruction and Public Space: Towards an Integrated Model for Urban Design"

This thesis is about urban spaces that foster and permit public interaction and methods for achieving them. It sets off with the premise that most spaces in North America cities are ill-defined for public use. It blames this problem primarily on the lack of relationship between built form and surrounding spaces and then seeks to explore ways of correcting the deficiencies in the urban spatial structure.

In pursuit of this objective, two models for urban design - the Modernist and Rationalist approach - are examined from the viewpoint of how each model conceptualizes public space. An examination of each theoretical position reveals that these models for urban design are antithetical. Thus, this thesis contends that the rigid application of either model would invariably lead to the achievement of certain desirable objectives at the expense of others. This inherent tendency for polarity is resolved by constructing an integrated model based on a combination of positive aspects of both models. Since both theoretical models are based on European experience, some modifications have been suggested to make the integrated model more suitable for application in the North American context.

The suggested integrated model relies on both physical and non-physical strategies. This thesis concentrates only on the physical strategies and thus it recommends four design principles for achieving vital public spaces. In the process of generating these physical strategies, the thesis draws on both historical precedents as well as examples of vital North American public spaces.

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This document was last modified on January 9, 2001.