Field, light and food: adapting the town square as a leisure gathering space at night

A square is an important built open space in cities and towns. In many urban areas throughout the world squares act as essential form of public space, making them a venue where socializing, meeting and event activities take place. Over the years, more squares are emerging as public spaces in Malaysi...

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Main Authors: Zakariya, Khalilah, Harun, Nor Zalina, Mansor, Mazlina
Format: Article
Language:English
English
Published: Malaysian Institute of Planners 2017
Subjects:
Online Access:http://irep.iium.edu.my/57049/
http://irep.iium.edu.my/57049/
http://irep.iium.edu.my/57049/1/2017%20PLANNING%20MALAYSIA%20-%20NIGHT%20SQUARE%20Zakariya%20Harun%20Mansor.pdf
http://irep.iium.edu.my/57049/7/57049_Field%2C%20light%20and%20food%20Adapting%20of%20the%20town%20square_Scopus.pdf
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recordtype eprints
spelling iium-570492018-03-21T01:21:47Z http://irep.iium.edu.my/57049/ Field, light and food: adapting the town square as a leisure gathering space at night Zakariya, Khalilah Harun, Nor Zalina Mansor, Mazlina NA Architecture NA9000 Aesthetics of cities. City planning and beautifying NA9053.R4 City planning A square is an important built open space in cities and towns. In many urban areas throughout the world squares act as essential form of public space, making them a venue where socializing, meeting and event activities take place. Over the years, more squares are emerging as public spaces in Malaysian cities and towns as an alternative to parks. While most people often visit parks in the morning and evening, they still need a public space where they can conduct their leisure activities after working hours and at night. This is particularly relevant for towns and cities located in tropical and humid countries like Malaysia. The rising need to be outdoors in a cooler environment in the evening and at night, as a respite from the daytime heat and work, has attracted people back to the town squares. The sense of openness that a square offers is different from that of a park at night. The attractiveness of a square as a night space relies on how its users relate to the square’s physical, social and environmental attributes. Through examining a town square in Malaysia that has transformed into an active public space at night, this article aims to explore the attributes that enabled the square to be adapted into a night space. The findings revealed that there is a strong relationship between the opportunities for various activities and the provision of relevant infrastructure that support the square to serve as a public space for people at night. This is an important tangent in shifting how urban public space in Malaysia might be designed and planned in the future so as to cater for the changing needs of urban dwellers. Malaysian Institute of Planners 2017-05 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://irep.iium.edu.my/57049/1/2017%20PLANNING%20MALAYSIA%20-%20NIGHT%20SQUARE%20Zakariya%20Harun%20Mansor.pdf application/pdf en http://irep.iium.edu.my/57049/7/57049_Field%2C%20light%20and%20food%20Adapting%20of%20the%20town%20square_Scopus.pdf Zakariya, Khalilah and Harun, Nor Zalina and Mansor, Mazlina (2017) Field, light and food: adapting the town square as a leisure gathering space at night. Planning Malaysia, 15 (1). pp. 31-44. ISSN 1675-6215 E-ISSN 0128-0945 http://www.planningmalaysia.org/index.php/pmj/article/view/220/200
repository_type Digital Repository
institution_category Local University
institution International Islamic University Malaysia
building IIUM Repository
collection Online Access
language English
English
topic NA Architecture
NA9000 Aesthetics of cities. City planning and beautifying
NA9053.R4 City planning
spellingShingle NA Architecture
NA9000 Aesthetics of cities. City planning and beautifying
NA9053.R4 City planning
Zakariya, Khalilah
Harun, Nor Zalina
Mansor, Mazlina
Field, light and food: adapting the town square as a leisure gathering space at night
description A square is an important built open space in cities and towns. In many urban areas throughout the world squares act as essential form of public space, making them a venue where socializing, meeting and event activities take place. Over the years, more squares are emerging as public spaces in Malaysian cities and towns as an alternative to parks. While most people often visit parks in the morning and evening, they still need a public space where they can conduct their leisure activities after working hours and at night. This is particularly relevant for towns and cities located in tropical and humid countries like Malaysia. The rising need to be outdoors in a cooler environment in the evening and at night, as a respite from the daytime heat and work, has attracted people back to the town squares. The sense of openness that a square offers is different from that of a park at night. The attractiveness of a square as a night space relies on how its users relate to the square’s physical, social and environmental attributes. Through examining a town square in Malaysia that has transformed into an active public space at night, this article aims to explore the attributes that enabled the square to be adapted into a night space. The findings revealed that there is a strong relationship between the opportunities for various activities and the provision of relevant infrastructure that support the square to serve as a public space for people at night. This is an important tangent in shifting how urban public space in Malaysia might be designed and planned in the future so as to cater for the changing needs of urban dwellers.
format Article
author Zakariya, Khalilah
Harun, Nor Zalina
Mansor, Mazlina
author_facet Zakariya, Khalilah
Harun, Nor Zalina
Mansor, Mazlina
author_sort Zakariya, Khalilah
title Field, light and food: adapting the town square as a leisure gathering space at night
title_short Field, light and food: adapting the town square as a leisure gathering space at night
title_full Field, light and food: adapting the town square as a leisure gathering space at night
title_fullStr Field, light and food: adapting the town square as a leisure gathering space at night
title_full_unstemmed Field, light and food: adapting the town square as a leisure gathering space at night
title_sort field, light and food: adapting the town square as a leisure gathering space at night
publisher Malaysian Institute of Planners
publishDate 2017
url http://irep.iium.edu.my/57049/
http://irep.iium.edu.my/57049/
http://irep.iium.edu.my/57049/1/2017%20PLANNING%20MALAYSIA%20-%20NIGHT%20SQUARE%20Zakariya%20Harun%20Mansor.pdf
http://irep.iium.edu.my/57049/7/57049_Field%2C%20light%20and%20food%20Adapting%20of%20the%20town%20square_Scopus.pdf
first_indexed 2023-09-18T21:20:35Z
last_indexed 2023-09-18T21:20:35Z
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