Improvement Strategies for Enhancing User Satisfaction with Spatial Publicness in Privately Owned Public Open Space in Post COVID-19: A Case from Italy

In the past five decades, privately owned public open spaces (POPOS) have become increasingly prevalent and significant in urban areas. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has led to significant changes in the performance and utilization of these spaces as the internal functions of adjacent buildings wer...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Jingwen Shan, Gangwei Cai, Alin Lin, Binyan Xu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2023-07-01
Series:Buildings
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2075-5309/13/7/1773
_version_ 1797589969540218880
author Jingwen Shan
Gangwei Cai
Alin Lin
Binyan Xu
author_facet Jingwen Shan
Gangwei Cai
Alin Lin
Binyan Xu
author_sort Jingwen Shan
collection DOAJ
description In the past five decades, privately owned public open spaces (POPOS) have become increasingly prevalent and significant in urban areas. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has led to significant changes in the performance and utilization of these spaces as the internal functions of adjacent buildings were shut down. This offers an opportunity to address the research gap in the theory of publicness—one of the most crucial attributes in these places due to their ownership and management—by assessing user satisfaction with spatial publicness in POPOS independently of adjacent commercial and corporate functions. This study aims to identify key environmental factors that significantly affect user satisfaction during a pandemic and develop adaptive strategies to enhance user satisfaction and resilience in such contexts. Based on a comprehensive literature review of previous assessment criteria for spatial publicness, the study proposes 30 vital indicators. Importance-performance analysis (IPA) is employed to analyze changes in user satisfaction regarding these vital indicators. Data from 386 users of Plaza Gae Aulenti in Milan, Italy were collected via an online questionnaire. The findings reveal that optimizing physical facilities and visual permeability are crucial environmental factors for promoting a higher degree of publicness during pandemics, as evidenced by a comparison of pre-COVID-19 and post-COVID-19 feedback. This study addresses the research gap by assessing the spatial publicness of POPOS independently of adjacent commercial and corporate functions. These findings have practical implications for the design and regulation of future projects in the post-COVID-19 era.
first_indexed 2024-03-11T01:13:42Z
format Article
id doaj.art-7e35fb116b55486daa70907995b6f192
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 2075-5309
language English
last_indexed 2024-03-11T01:13:42Z
publishDate 2023-07-01
publisher MDPI AG
record_format Article
series Buildings
spelling doaj.art-7e35fb116b55486daa70907995b6f1922023-11-18T18:38:42ZengMDPI AGBuildings2075-53092023-07-01137177310.3390/buildings13071773Improvement Strategies for Enhancing User Satisfaction with Spatial Publicness in Privately Owned Public Open Space in Post COVID-19: A Case from ItalyJingwen Shan0Gangwei Cai1Alin Lin2Binyan Xu3School of Architecture and Engineering, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Hangzhou 310018, ChinaDepartment of Urban Planning, College of Architecture and Urban Planning, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, ChinaSchool of Architecture and Engineering, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Hangzhou 310018, ChinaSchool of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Zhejiang University of Science and Technology, Hangzhou 310023, ChinaIn the past five decades, privately owned public open spaces (POPOS) have become increasingly prevalent and significant in urban areas. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has led to significant changes in the performance and utilization of these spaces as the internal functions of adjacent buildings were shut down. This offers an opportunity to address the research gap in the theory of publicness—one of the most crucial attributes in these places due to their ownership and management—by assessing user satisfaction with spatial publicness in POPOS independently of adjacent commercial and corporate functions. This study aims to identify key environmental factors that significantly affect user satisfaction during a pandemic and develop adaptive strategies to enhance user satisfaction and resilience in such contexts. Based on a comprehensive literature review of previous assessment criteria for spatial publicness, the study proposes 30 vital indicators. Importance-performance analysis (IPA) is employed to analyze changes in user satisfaction regarding these vital indicators. Data from 386 users of Plaza Gae Aulenti in Milan, Italy were collected via an online questionnaire. The findings reveal that optimizing physical facilities and visual permeability are crucial environmental factors for promoting a higher degree of publicness during pandemics, as evidenced by a comparison of pre-COVID-19 and post-COVID-19 feedback. This study addresses the research gap by assessing the spatial publicness of POPOS independently of adjacent commercial and corporate functions. These findings have practical implications for the design and regulation of future projects in the post-COVID-19 era.https://www.mdpi.com/2075-5309/13/7/1773publicnesspublic/private spaceuser satisfactionassessmentCOVID-19
spellingShingle Jingwen Shan
Gangwei Cai
Alin Lin
Binyan Xu
Improvement Strategies for Enhancing User Satisfaction with Spatial Publicness in Privately Owned Public Open Space in Post COVID-19: A Case from Italy
Buildings
publicness
public/private space
user satisfaction
assessment
COVID-19
title Improvement Strategies for Enhancing User Satisfaction with Spatial Publicness in Privately Owned Public Open Space in Post COVID-19: A Case from Italy
title_full Improvement Strategies for Enhancing User Satisfaction with Spatial Publicness in Privately Owned Public Open Space in Post COVID-19: A Case from Italy
title_fullStr Improvement Strategies for Enhancing User Satisfaction with Spatial Publicness in Privately Owned Public Open Space in Post COVID-19: A Case from Italy
title_full_unstemmed Improvement Strategies for Enhancing User Satisfaction with Spatial Publicness in Privately Owned Public Open Space in Post COVID-19: A Case from Italy
title_short Improvement Strategies for Enhancing User Satisfaction with Spatial Publicness in Privately Owned Public Open Space in Post COVID-19: A Case from Italy
title_sort improvement strategies for enhancing user satisfaction with spatial publicness in privately owned public open space in post covid 19 a case from italy
topic publicness
public/private space
user satisfaction
assessment
COVID-19
url https://www.mdpi.com/2075-5309/13/7/1773
work_keys_str_mv AT jingwenshan improvementstrategiesforenhancingusersatisfactionwithspatialpublicnessinprivatelyownedpublicopenspaceinpostcovid19acasefromitaly
AT gangweicai improvementstrategiesforenhancingusersatisfactionwithspatialpublicnessinprivatelyownedpublicopenspaceinpostcovid19acasefromitaly
AT alinlin improvementstrategiesforenhancingusersatisfactionwithspatialpublicnessinprivatelyownedpublicopenspaceinpostcovid19acasefromitaly
AT binyanxu improvementstrategiesforenhancingusersatisfactionwithspatialpublicnessinprivatelyownedpublicopenspaceinpostcovid19acasefromitaly