%D 2024
%A Viktorija Gavėnauskaitė
%X Europapark, a mixed-use neighborhood in South-West Groningen, was initially intended as an office
location but has since developed into a vibrant community now encompassing 1100 homes. Current
expansion projects, including a newly built social housing complex, aim to enhance the neighborhood's
diversity.
This research investigates the importance and benefits of fostering a sense of community and the
concept of a healthy city through spatial design, particularly focusing on tactical urbanism. This low-cost,
adaptable approach to public space design seeks to improve neighborhood health and well-being by
promoting community cohesion and mental health. The project adopts a research by design methodology,
emphasizing iterative design and resident feedback to create attractive, functional public spaces that
enhance the overall quality of life in Europapark.
This research report is comprised of the following elements:
- A theoretical framework, which discusses the main theories to be applied to the study: tactical
urbanism approaches to public space design, their relation to the healthy city principles.
- A conceptual model, which showcases the theories in synthesis together, as well as the simplified
research process leading to results.
- Methodology, describing the research methods utilized.
- Results, comprised of the outcomes of on-site location search through contextual observation by
the researcher, seven case studies discussing applicable and relevant tactical urbanism designs
implemented in the past, and finally, the design suggestions with visual sketches.
- A conclusions and recommendations section, discussing research outcomes, limitations, and
suggestions for future studies.
The resulting product of this research is a short referential guide for the application of three tactical
urbanism techniques to one public space location in Europapark: an urban garden, a public beach
initiative and a street art competition. These examples of tactical urbanism used for the end design are
justified based on the relevant research findings, neighborhood demographics, and adapted to fit the
iterative research by design cycle.
%L theses_frw4784
%T Places to Connect: Exploring the Impact of Public Space on Neighborhood Social Cohesion and the Healthy City