Spatial patterns and human behaviours: a study of urban public spaces in Kandy.

Abstract

Rejection of architectural projects, urban designs and resettlements area major concern in Sri Lankan and worldwide architectural field. Throughout a vast architectural discourse, there are clear identifications that address the human experience in space as a way to success. Experiencing the space is a vital need of human beings. It satisfies the objectives of a human’s inherent emotional needs. Human behaviours and their expectation differ from place to place. To achieve a particular status of human behaviour within a place, the place should support that behavioural change. The main objective is to study the phenomenon of spatial patterns and human behaviours in urban public spaces in Sri Lankan context. The study further focuses on waiting behavioural responsiveness towards geometric properties of public spaces using spatial theories of Jay Appleton, Norberg-Schulz and Christopher Alexander. A well adopted, architectural and landscape context, Kandy city was selected for this study. Five different geometrical properties and four types of human behaviour patterns were selected for the study. To study this complex landscape mosaic in Kandy, a mix method combined with observation checklist and questionnaire-based interviews were incorporated. The primary research findings proved two out of four behavioural actions have a relationship with spatial patterns. The secondary research findings proved that three out of five geometric properties have a significant relationship with the waiting behaviour. The research ascertained that existing spatial patterns and its geometric shape diversifies human behaviour. The major components of these behaviour–spatial pattern relationships are extracted and studied with the purpose of contributing to the current practice of user analysis method and design process.