Temporary urbanism as an approach for public spaces revitalization

Abstract

Public spaces are the core of cities, especially neighborhoods public spaces. They reflect quality of life, the degree of social interaction, and economic prosperity. Cities encourage many urban development projects that focus on public spaces revival and quality upgrades. However, most of these projects have a fixed and static approach and require an extended time to be carried into reality; starting with; the design process, community consent, regulatory approvals, and securing funds, and so on. Also upon investigating the local context of Saudi Arabia, the public spaces in city of Jeddah are not fully utilized to their full potential and lack social interaction. This indicate that the overall process and situation does not cope with the changing nature of communities, therefore, the "temporary urbanism" approach allows for the dynamic use of public spaces by incorporating the element of time. Temporary urbanism is deemed a contemporary, flexible and viable approach to urban development that helps revitalize public spaces. The research examines "public events" as a tool to enhance the users’ experience, to increase the success and revive public spaces. The main objective is to set a framework for the employment of the occasional events at the level of neighborhood public spaces. The study explores the literature and case studies to develop the framework building process. In addition to investigate and develop the criteria and tools for selecting and managing the events in neighborhoods in the context of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The framework aims to help stakeholders and decision-makers take the necessary actions to revive the cities’ sluggish public spaces. This is aligned with enhancing the quality of life in the city as designated in the Kingdom's 2030 vision locally and achieving the United Nations' sustainable development goals globally.