How can the design of a district make a positive contribution to the social climate?

Machiel van Dorst researched various housing environments, varying from the former artists’ village of Ruigoord near Amsterdam, to kampongs in Indonesia and a post war high-rise district in Delft. He combines the insights of the environmental psychology with that of urban housing to determine design recommendations for sustainable and livable neighbourhoods.

The most important point his research draws attention to was the (possibility of the) residents’ control over social interaction in the district and the relationship of these control possibilities with the design of the district. A good housing environment must, according to Van Dorst, not only offer possibilities to make human contact, but must also certainly allow one to find seclusion.

It is also important that residents and visitors see a certain district as a more or less separate territory and that residents can themselves make personal additions to their environment. Van Dorst stated that "space for everyone" and easy access to a outdoor space are not naturally positive concepts. They could even contribute to the anonymous character of some outdoor spaces.

The dissertation offers numerous concrete recommendations. Examples vary from marking the access to a district (to mark out their "territory" in a friendly way) to an argument for creating raised ground floors for houses facing directly onto roads (to reduce an excessive amount of looking in from the street while preserving the view seen from within the housing).

The organisation of the housing environment can contribute to social interaction in the district by offering both opportunities for making social contact and finding seclusion. To this end, it is important that residents can identify with their own neighbourhood and that they get opportunities to change their environment. In this way, the quality of life in the district and the involvement of the residents in their living environment can be increased.

Technical University Delft, the Netherlands
Mr. M. van Dorst, tel. +31 15 2788564

23/01/2006

M. van Dorst

research

Urban Policy > Social inclusion & integration > Community development

Citizens' participation