How Do City Squares Satisfy the Requirements of Modern Urbanism - Essay Example

Readers will discover that places designed without adequate room for safe walking and biking tend to promote a sedentary way of life for the citizens, whether behind a vehicle’s steering wheel on packed highways or a computer screen. In addition to that, it will come to light that a lively city is one that negates the idea of citizens withdrawing into gated communities. Lively cities are those that have city squares that serve a democratic function where individuals encounter social diversity.

Furthermore, architectural design and its impact on the psychology of city dwellers will be examined. Most notably, public spaces lacking comfortable seating and properly scaled “talkscapes” are likely to bring about a high human toll, thus greatly impacting how a city functions at eye level. The fact that a good city draws comparison to a good party enlightens all of us. This is because, in both scenarios, the individuals involved stay because they enjoy having a good time. The aim of this paper is to consider the unique feature of urban squares that should be incorporated in today’s contemporary cities.

To do that the paper will look at the broad definition of urban squares in respect of urban spaces. Urban public squares, when looked at within the context of public spaces, are key components of a city. This is because they provide room for social interactions, therefore, supporting the civilization and humanization of people through hearing others, while at the same time one is heard, gathering, lingering and engaging in various activities. Thus, this can have a major impact, especially in the contributions made to the cultural development of communities.

Jan Gehl’s thorough introduction to humanistic codes of urban planning reveals ways of improving the urban fabric of a city to benefit the human population. His book ‘Cities for people’i1, examines fascinating factors that determine how liveable a city is. According to him, if urban places are designed without adequate room for safe biking and walking, it will limit the lively and healthy city life for its citizens.