Arefi, Mahyar, Meyers, William R.
APA
Arefi, M., & Meyers, W. R. (2003). What is public about public space: The case of Visakhapatnam, India. Cities, 20(5), 331-339.
Keywords
Public Space Definitions
Abstract
What constructs are used to characterize public space? This paper analyzes residents’ percep- tions of public space, using data from Visakhapatnam (usually referred to as “Vizag”), India— a city of 1.3 million people on the Bay of Bengal. Extensive interviews, 37 in number, were conducted, using composite group sampling. The sample was drawn from all socioeconomic levels of employees, managers, and associates, at a large industrial plant. The interview sched- ules contained open-ended questions eliciting residents’ perceptions of public space, and their demographics. Qualitative analyses and quantitative tabulations were carried out. Concep- tualizing sense of place in terms of the distinguishing features of the urban environment, a comparison was made between the perception of public space in Vizag and in Western developed countries. The research indicates that lower socioeconomic status people have as complex a conception of public space as do those of high socioeconomic status, provided that the interview schedule is designed to elicit these data. Residents differentiated areas by socio- economic status, and by land use, i.e., industrial, commercial, and residential. Preeminent con- cerns—with pollution, crowding, health, and religion—represent much of what is psychologi- cally salient about public space in Vizag. These findings are in contrast with the salient characteristics of public space in Western cities, as found by prior research. We believe that these findings have policy implications for urban planners and leaders.
Main finding
Social and cultural differences manifest themselves in the comprehension of public space. What then is “public” about public space in Vizag? It is characterized most saliently in terms of health, serenity, uncrowdedness, cleanliness and lack of pollution, and for our respondents it is space that has these characteristics. These are the terms by which our respondents assess the availability to them of public space, and these are the terms by which they express their willingness to go there, or their wish to avoid the area.
Description of method used in the article
This paper analyzes residents’ perceptions of public space, using data from Visakhapatnam (usually referred to as “Vizag”), India—a city of 1.3 million people on the Bay of Bengal. Extensive interviews, 37 in number, were conducted, using composite group sampling. The sample was drawn from all socioeconomic levels of employees, managers, and associates.
Verdict
Of practical use