Do Sense of Enclosure and Pedestrian Flow Have an Effect on Plaza’s Visitability?

Dina Abdulkarim (California State Polytechnic University, Pomona)

Building on William Whyte’s work on livable places (1980, 1988), the present study uses a four-item scale of livability to test whether two design attributes identified by Whyte: 1) sense of enclosure and 2) access to pedestrian flow—increase plazas’ livability. Enclosure refers to providing a good look at the street while feeling comfortable, protected, and contained within the public space. Access to pedestrian movement allows an interactive relationship between the public space and the street where one flows into the other. Using Photoshop, the study manipulates 3 conditions of enclosure: 1) high, 2) medium, and 3) no enclosure and 2 conditions of access to pedestrian flow: 1) visible and 2) invisible. To study the interaction between the two design attributes (enclosure and flow), the study used color slides of three real plazas each manipulated to present one of the 6 different conditions. Sixty-six participants rated slides of the plazas on the Perceived Livability Scale (PLS). The four items of the scale had high inter-item reliability. Despite their long-standing tradition, Whyte’s recommendations have not been examined through experimental research. This study attempts to do so. The implications of design decisions that balance sense of enclosure with access to the street are discussed. Findings are presentedwithin the context of the larger research project of this study, which attempts to facilitate community interaction through accessible and universal design.