Law Kai Xiang (SDE), S Lawanya (FoE), Soh Xian Hui (SDE), Tan Zheng Kang (FoE), Yeoh Wan Qing (FASS), Zhu Victor (FoS)
Academic Advisor: Prof. Adekunle Adeyeye
Industry Advisor: Dr. Trivic Zdravko (SDE, NUS)
Public spaces provide the platform for social activities and are crucial for social interaction in a community. Our project aims to explore ways to maximize the utilization of public spaces in Ridge View Residential College (RVRC). Currently, public open spaces around Old Kent Ridge Blocks are largely underutilized. The few built facilities present, such as the BBQ Pit and the Amphitheater, are inadequate in attracting student use. We conducted a literature review to identify the factors influencing human interactions as well as possible features that could be adopted to construct attractive and socially conducive public spaces. Our project incorporates participatory design by the residents at RVRC as our methodological framework to accurately reflect the needs and preferences of the users while simultaneously instilling a greater sense of ownership for the communal spaces. The college population was first surveyed to identify the spaces of greatest interest and to gather information on factors influencing the use of public spaces. This will be followed by a focus group discussion to streamline data into concrete co-created designs and finalize implementation details for the construction of a feasible prototype. We will conclude our project with the submission of a set of recommendations to the RVRC Management for adoption consideration.
Keywords: Built Environment and Green Infrastructure, Participatory design, Space utility, Green spaces