User behaviour experiences of Dhaka’s public open space and design features

Abstract

Public open space is one of the most crucial features for every urban area. It works as a breathing space for the city and use together by urban dwellers for various activity either passive or actively. There is a need to fulfil variety of good criteria and open space design principles in order to ensure such provided space function accordingly and use optimally by dwellers. In Dhaka City, Bangladesh, there are several public open spaces that believed designed with minimum quality, disconnected and not fulfil their function. This research critically investigates influenced of two public open space design in Dhanmondi Lake Park, Dhaka on the pattern of use and user behaviour based on empirical evidence. This research used a qualitative method including direct observation on type of user activities, design inventory, mapping on activity distribution and behaviour matrix of user on site. Relation of user behaviour and detailed design in public open space analysed by using Geographic Information System (GIS) application. The analysis revealed a similar pattern of behaviour that appear to be correlated with particular layouts and details in both parks. Overall, the findings of this research expected beneficial to designers in order to understand the need for proposing better quality and function public open space that can offer various of user experiences.