A methodology for a user experience-based design of the public spaces: V&D Haarlem as a case study

Abstract

Urban public spaces are one of the priorities on Sustainable Development Goals established by the United Nations (2015), in the target 11.7, on universal access to safe, inclusive, and accessible green and public spaces. Urban public spaces provide opportunities for people to meet and interact with the community, contribute to the connection between human and nature and have multiple benefits to human and environmental health. With a rising global population and the largest human migration in history, more than half of the world's population currently lives in urban areas. According to the Recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscape, this rapid and uncontrolled urbanization can often lead to the loss of public space. Contributing to the loss of public spaces, the digital and technical developments result in increasing mobility and remote patterns of work and consumption. These changes in user behaviour threaten historic urban areaswith loss of population, vacancy, and eminent building degradation that may result in loss of cultural identity. To adapt historic cities towards a sustainable future, it is necessary to focus on the total experience of its users, including the routing and accessible and attractive public spaces. This research aims at developing a methodology for designing user experience-based public spaces as a process to reactivate vacant heritage. It focuses on the case study of the vacant department store V&D Haarlem, built in 1934, and listed as national heritage in the Netherlands. The methodology includes historical analysis, urban analysis, and field observations of the 12 quality criteria for public urban spaces defined by Jan Gehl. The results provide guidelines for integrating user experience in the redesign of public spaces, preparing cities for a sustainable future while conserving its valuable heritage.