Abstract:
Rejection of architectural projects, urban designs and resettlements
area major concern in Sri Lankan and worldwide architectural field.
Throughout a vast architectural discourse, there are clear
identifications that address the human experience in space as a
way to success.
Experiencing the space is a vital need of human beings. It satisfies
the objectives of a human’s inherent emotional needs. Human
behaviours and their expectation differ from place to place. To
achieve a particular status of human behaviour within a place, the
place should support that behavioural change.
The main objective is to study the phenomenon of spatial patterns
and human behaviours in urban public spaces in Sri Lankan context.
The study further focuses on waiting behavioural responsiveness
towards geometric properties of public spaces using spatial
theories of Jay Appleton, Norberg-Schulz and Christopher
Alexander.
A well adopted, architectural and landscape context, Kandy city
was selected for this study. Five different geometrical properties
and four types of human behaviour patterns were selected for the
study.
To study this complex landscape mosaic in Kandy, a mix method
combined with observation checklist and questionnaire-based
interviews were incorporated.
The primary research findings proved two out of four behavioural
actions have a relationship with spatial patterns. The secondary
research findings proved that three out of five geometric properties
have a significant relationship with the waiting behaviour.
The research ascertained that existing spatial patterns and its
geometric shape diversifies human behaviour. The major
components of these behaviour–spatial pattern relationships are
extracted and studied with the purpose of contributing to the
current practice of user analysis method and design process.
Citation:
Jayasundara,, N., & Botheju, P., (2016). Spatial patterns and human behaviours: a study of urban public spaces in Kandy. In J. Wijesundara, & R. Dayaratne,(Eds.). Proceedings of the International Conference on Cities, People and Places ICCPP 2016. (pp. 262-276). Department of Architecture, University of Moratuwa.