Quantity or Quality Evaluation of Open Space in the Urban Ghetto of Downtown, Vancouver

Abstract:

The revitalization of urban ghettos, the most unique part of the downtown area, has already become the most difficult issue for almost all the international metropolises because it is often occupied by poor, homeless people, where crime and drug use remains at a relatively high level. The common approach in renewal projects focus on increasing the quantity of the open space, instead of ensuring quality aspects, since more open space could attract more visitors, thereby transforming the unsafe atmosphere of the area. Therefore, this research chose the Gastown and Chinatown areas in the downtown east side of Vancouver, Canada, which is a typical urban ghetto with high density and crime rates, in addition to their multiple cultural and ethnic makeup and further examined the relationships between the quality/quantity of the open space and overall living conditions and illustrated that quality plays a rather more significant role than quantity in the urban renewal process. The result would make urban designers, architects rethink the role of open space created buildings in the urban built environment by stating that enhancing the quality of existing open space would be a more practical and economic way than increasing its quantity.

• Periodical: Applied Mechanics and Materials (Volumes 357-360)
• Pages: 1599-1602
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMM.357-360.1599
• Online since: August 2013
• Authors: Hao Rui Wu, Chao Ping Hou
• Keywords: Open Space, Quality, Quantity Analysis, Urban Ghetto, Urban Redevelopment

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DOI: 10.1080/01944360208976274