The Third Space…..
Everyone in life needs The Third Space, which is vital to live healthy and happy life. Community recreation centers are those vital third spaces.? They’re not work, they’re not home, and they’re places where people can learn, destress, and organically connect. Plus, you know… get moderately shredded. The point is: they’re important resources for staying physically active, but their positive impacts on communities go way deeper.
A?public space?by definition is a place that is open and accessible to one and all in the community,?are typically considered public space.?Public spaces – including streets – are, and must be seen as, multi-functional areas for social interaction, economic exchange and cultural expression among a wide diversity of people. It is for urban planning to establish and organize these public spaces, and for urban design to facilitate and encourage their use, in the process enhancing a sense of identity and belonging.? It is important to establish these with management arrangements, as well as viable mechanisms to redirect part of the value gains into the nurturing of better quality public space.
Public space is an open-air living room for city dwellers. Ensuring good quality, multifunctional and well connected public space which reflects class, gender, age and ethnic differences in how people use these spaces is crucial. Some groups, such as women, children, people with disabilities, undocumented migrants or the poor, may be excluded from public spaces if they are unsafe.
Historically, every city or for that matter even villages used to have public places, where community or group of people used to spend their time for the purpose of recreation, problem solving, development of area and many more such purposes over a cup of tea or on local activities like playing cards, chaupad etc. It used to create a connect and bonding amongst habitants. Still in certain areas, it does exist. The very popular Chai Patti of Bikaner runs through overnight to discuss issues from Local to Global. Concept of having Chaupal(Community meeting point), Chauraha (Cross Roads) or Chabutra (Family/Community Open Place) outside houses was prevalent to dwell upon issues of common interest from very serious to full of joy. In urban settings, they acted even as centre of economic activities. All these settings enabled cohesive and inclusive society with deep sense of care for each and every habitant or neighbourhood. The best part of such public places was their informal setting and desire to foster brotherhood or community feeling. Friendships are literally a determinant of health, and community centers make it easier to build them. You need unplanned social interactions to build friendships, and there’s nowhere better to do that than at a community center. Parks and recreation facilities host holiday celebrations, provide volunteer opportunities, and provide that casual space you need to create organic connections.?
In the current design of habitation, all above are getting obsolete or replaced by much formal settings like Clubs, Lounges and Play rings on one side and parks and community centres on other side. Having their formal character, even icebreaking doesn’t take place as precursor to networking or fellowship. Interestingly, in urban settings, not knowing neighbour is considered better on the name of privacy. This cultural shift during last two to three decades have isolated individuals from even themselves. The growing disease of loneliness is an indicator to get awakened before menace of mental health disease burden overshoots prevalence of any other disease. I remember, in 1984 during World Psychiatry Conference at Jaipur,? one of the leading Psychiatrist from USA mentioned in an interview to me that Mental Health Diseases are directly Proportionate to Development. It struck me every moment, whenever we talk about development. Community friendly Open public Spaces are one good remedy to the growing problem. At present, it is getting out of control. It is evident and obvious with increasing dependence or addiction on false supports like Alcohol, Tobacco, Drugs etc.. Limited small family size and decreasing open public spaces to vent out informally also contribute to this suffocating situation. In other words, society is growing faster with much Don’ts instead of Do’s. Once at Jaipur, during youth assembly at SMS Stadium Jai Gurudev said “The treaty of prohibition is at the root of frustration”. It sounds valid in the current context when too much of illogical restrictions are there and community connects are missing.
Good public spaces can play a decisive role to contribute towards value added to a city’s cultural, historical and architectural endowment, thus enhancing urban attractiveness and promoting tourism. Essentially, such spaces provide room for social and cultural interaction, which foster a sense of belonging. Well conceived and designed public places act towards improving public health: as good network of public spaces can help to improve our physical and mental health by encouraging us to walk and play, making walking more attractive, reducing stress and providing a calming environment. One of the fundamental functions of public space is that it allows us to move around from our homes to work, schools and other amenities – on foot, by bicycle, by car, motorbike or public transport. Green and open public space brings many important environmental benefits such as, the cooling of air and the absorption of atmospheric pollutants. Another important facet is promotion of an? inclusive society – which is achieved through creation and/or improvement of spaces to be friendly to women, children, youth and the elderly besides having mandatory provisions for specially abled. In the current context, with increased inclination towards Pets, design of public spaces should be done to make those Pet Friendly. Irony is that in most of public spaces and parks, entry of Pets is forbidden but stray animals can move freely.? Though Pets are controlled, registered having vaccinated against stray animals without any such coverage posing threat to community.
The area is built for a range of various types of recreation and entertainment. There is no objection to?Limitations imposed in the space to prevent certain actions from occurring—public behavior that is considered obnoxious or out of character (i.e., drug and alcohol consumption, urinating, indecent exposure etc.but keeping dual standards like one prevalent for Pet Animals distances Pet Lovers from such public spaces.
Whilst it is generally considered that everyone has a right to access and use public space, as opposed to private space which may have restrictions. On the same lines,? there has been some vested interest in how public spaces are managed to exclude certain groups - specifically homeless?people and young?people. Measures are taken to make the public space less attractive to them, including the removal or design of benches to restrict their use for sleeping and resting, restricting access to certain times, locking indoor/enclosed areas. Police forces are sometimes involved in moving 'unwanted' members of the public from public spaces. In fact, by not being provided suitable access, disabled people are implicitly excluded from some spaces.
Sustainable Development Goal Target 11.7 is to Provide access to safe and inclusive green and public spaces it aims at providing universal access to safe, inclusive and accessible, green and public spaces, in particular for women and children, older persons and persons with disabilities. This has to be achieved by year 2030.
Hence to achieve this target and provide happy and? healthy life, One of the primary goals of space design should be to create an environment that promotes positive emotional responses in its occupants. Studies have shown that people have a natural inclination towards certain types of spaces, such as those with natural lighting, open layouts, and comfortable seating.?Another important consideration in space design is the concept of flow, or the ease with which people can move through a space. This involves designing spaces that are intuitive and free from obstructions, allowing users to navigate them without feeling frustrated or disoriented.
One crucial aspect of space design is the creation of a welcoming and inclusive environment that satisfies people's social and emotional needs outside of their home and work. This is often referred to as the THIRD SPACE concept, which describes public locales of social interaction that provide psychological comfort and emotional support.
With growing pace of urbanisation and sinking society, revival can be done with appropriate and Community friendly Open Public Spaces. Township acts need to be implemented in letter and spirit to keep public spaces uncompromised.
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