Planned Events in Urban Public Spaces
Urban public space plays a key role in the urban fabric. The nature of public open space in each city depends on a number of factors such as the city’s history, geography, political issues and so on. Planned events in these spaces change the regular use of the urban space and have the potential make the city more dynamic and responsive, and to enhance cultural and economic value. Given this important role, the intervention of events in urban space deserves careful consideration in an urban design sense - something that is often neglected or given low priority in current event design processes. This study aims both to shed light on the importance of looking at planned events from the urban design perspective, and to offer a means to achieve better design of such temporary events. The key aspect has been to develop a tool that non-design professionals could use to improve the design quality and planning for temporary events in public spaces.
This research consists of four components. The first study constructed an analysis of the body of knowledge on design-based criteria, whilst the second and the third studies explored the process of designing planned events. The second study analysed the content of event planning guides and protocols, and the third study involved interviewing experts who are involved in the process of planned event design. The fourth study applied design-based criteria to a case study and investigated effective and useful contemporary ways of representation through the development of a VR interactive tool. Finally, the effectiveness of the tool that was developed was examined using a user-testing and accompanying semistructured interview method.
The results suggest a focussed set of design-based criteria that could be used to design and evaluate events from the urban design perspective. The review of event planning guides and protocols reveals that most urban design criteria are neglected or poorly considered in the planned temporary event design process. In addition, event designers and event organisers were interviewed, and the outcomes also showed that the consideration of urban design criteria is limited in the process of event design. Consequently, a VR-enabled assessment tool has been developed to aid in the design and evaluation of event layouts, allowing semiautomated evaluation against design-based criteria using customised virtual reality environment. Event designers agreed that the tool could be helpful in the event design process. Key participants were enthusiastic about taking the development assessment tool through to application in practice.
Ultimately, this PhD research is focussed on the needs of nonexperts in urban design who create and manage temporary events in urban spaces. It enables the consideration and practical application of a set of design-based criteria in the event design process. The outcome indicates that using a VR-enhanced process that employs design-based criteria in the event design process can improve the design and delivery of planned events in urban spaces. Further refinement of the tool is possible to broaden and deepen the capabilities of the tool in other cases, but the research outcomes underscore the value and the potential of applying design-based criteria to the spatial design of public events.
