Great Places, The Handbook for Planning and Design of Successful Public Spaces
Handbook: Ordered by over 1,000 professionals!
"Great Places, The Handbook for Planning and Design of Successful Public Spaces" offers concrete guidelines for user-friendly public spaces at various scales (block, neighborhood, and city) as well as for parks, squares, and routes. Because the book places the user at the center, it is a unique standard work in urban design literature.
"Great Places" is a standard reference for:
Urban designers and planners
Landscape architects
Educational institutions and programs
Municipalities and provinces
Other sectors involved in public space, such as health, safety, transportation, sports, and recreation.
The people being at the center
The guidelines in this handbook are based on viewing planning and design through the 'lens of the user', the human being. To truly place people at the heart of a plan, the authors state that a location must meet four basic conditions, which they call the SASA principles: it must be Safe, Attractive, comfortable to Stay, and Accessible.
In addition to these principles, a successful design requires a deep understanding of user needs. Who are the (future) users, and what do they want to experience in this place? By addressing these questions, the hundreds of practical guidelines in this book help you answer the 'how' of urban design.
By applying these principles, investments in public space can be utilized more efficiently. Increased attention to actual use-across different target groups and over time-can prevent unnecessary and costly redesigns or extra maintenance costs in the future.
