Places For People:Analysis Of The Quality Of Public Spaces In Gaborone City Centre,Botswana

Great public places are places for people.Public spaces are vital to defining the social,economic,environmental,political and cultural functions of cities.Cities around the world today are faced with defining challenges and trends of climate change and rapid urbanization.As public spaces serve as the backbone of good quality urban public life,and the increase in urban population demands more from public spaces both in quantity and quality.With more than 75%of the world's population projected to be living in cities by the year 2030,the pressure on these critical public amenities will only increase.The majority of this rapid urban population growth is expected to take place in Africa and Asia which studies suggest have been lacking in the planning and design of their cities,particularly the public realm.Gaborone City is perceived to lack a distinctive urban form and character deemed pleasing and conducive to vibrant and high quality urban life due to deficiencies in its public space planning and design.The city has does not have an Urban Design Framework to outline specific data driven strategies,policies and projects for the development of its public spaces.The purpose of this study is to analyze the quality of public spaces in Gaborone City with a special focus on the City Centre as the core and heartbeat of the city.The investigation into public spaces in Gaborone City Centre is especially pertinent now as the City Development Plan(1997-2021)is near the end of its validity period.Using a multi-pronged methodology,the study analyzed the accessibility,connectivity,proximity,comfort,safety and use and user patterns of public spaces in Gaborone City Centre for a period from 01st June 2018 to 25th June 2019 and measured these results against similar studies conducted in 2016 and 2017.Data was collected through key stakeholder interviews,questionnaires survey and field observation and inspections.In addition to these primary data collection methods,maps and remote sensing tools and techniques such as GIS were used to identify,measure and analysis public spaces especially those deemed as potential or incidental public spaces.Focusing in the City Centre this allowed for the application of a theoretical framework and a detailed site assessment to understand the current conditions of public spaces in Gaborone City Centre.The proportion of urban land area dedicated to streets and public spaces is a crucial feature of the spatial plans of cities.Indeed cities that have adequate street and public spaces and greater connectivity are more livable and productive.Although Gaborone City Centre's aggregate total land area dedicated to public spaces was found to be 22.2%,which is 2.2%above the minimum recommended by UN-Habitat and other studies,the City Centre's public space ecosystem lacks diversity in terms of type and typology.Furthermore the City Centre's public spaces fall short of the recommended minimum land area provisions of 30-35%for streets and 9m2 per capita for green open spaces density with 10.20%land area dedicated to streets and 0.41m2 per capita of green space recorded in the City Centre respectively.Most importantly,the assessment of the quality of public spaces resulted in 19%perceived as accessible,38%as partially accessible,43%as least accessible,38%of the public spaces were perceived as safe,17%partially safe,and 45%as unsafe.Lastly 35%of the spaces were perceived as comfortable,42%moderately comfortable and 23%as least comfortable.The study has definitively established the quality of public spaces in Gaborone City Centre and the effect on the vibrancy and quality of public life by use and user patterns.Assessment of the current conditions of public spaces is expected to help formulate relevant and implementable urban design strategies,policies and projects for public spaces in Gaborone City Centre.It is hoped that this paper will give Gaborone City Planners,Urban Designers,Developers and Policy Makers an idea of the value of public spaces and where we are as a city in order to better know where to go from here.