Spatial and Physical Qualities of Public Recreational Parks in Addis Ababa: The Case of Selected Inner City Recreational Parks
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Date
2023-05-01
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Public spaces are an important part of cities as they contribute to improvements in quality of life and urban development. Additionally, urban residents' "quality of life" is the result of their interactions with the physical and urban environment. Many studies indicate that public recreational parks are fundamental physical component of a city to attain livability, environmental quality, social integrity and sustainability. They also show that they are a driving force to improve quality of life. The Addis Ababa city administration launched projects on public space in response to the inadequate physical and spatial quality to rehabilitate and newly develop the substandard recreational parks. However, the lack of standard criteria for the design and quality assessment of public space, especially public recreational parks, made it difficult to maintain the physical and spatial quality of the parks. Research on the human aspects of uses and related activity in recreational parks is also disregarded. There is also an inefficient and inconsistent evaluation on the recreational park spatial and physical changes by the responsible organization. The general objective of this study is to assess the success of public recreational parks' physical and spatial quality in the inner city of Addis Ababa. It focuses on operating three public recreation parks in Addis Ababa, Ambassador Park, Lideta Park, and Sheger Park. In the study, the case study method was employed using observational studies and closed-ended questionnaires. The selected case study areas were analyzed according to Site Specific Assessment frameworks, use and user, accessibility, amenities & furniture, comfort & safety, and a green environment, using quality indicator scores ranging from one to five. The study's findings indicated that the recreational spaces in the case study locations, Lideta Park and Sheger Park, are inadequate, below site-specific standards, and have poor spatial and physical quality. The parks have fewer users with low social interaction, and the users were unsatisfied. Ambassador Park gets a medium score despite, inclusion, sustainability, and energy efficiency issues. The park has better physical and spatial quality where users have a better experience of public space and quality of life. Users prefer to enjoy and stay longer and engage in social interaction. Therefore, using research-based planning approaches, general recreational park standards must be developed and implemented to improve the quality of existing recreational parks and guide newly designed public recreational spaces.
Key Words: Public Space, Public Recreational Parks, Spatial and Physical Quality Dimension i