International Journal of Basic Sciences & Applied Research. Vol., 3 (SP), 98-103, 2014
Available online at http://www.isicenter.org
ISSN 2147-3749 ©2014
A Study on Criteria of Vitality and How They Affect Urban Spaces
Masoumeh Kordjazi, Leyla Mirsaeedy*
Department of Architecture, Gonbad-e Kavus Branch, Islamic Azad University, Gonbad-e Kavus, Iran
*Corresponding
Author: Leyla Mirsaeedy
Abstract
Liveliness and vitality are two major qualities to be met in any urban place. As a matter of fact,
vital urban spaces set the stage for social interactions among different individuals, ultimately
generating social capital, if we assume the city as a living being in need of liveliness and
vitality to survive. The role of urban space, i.e. where social interactions among citizens form
and in context of which culture thrives, has been increasingly diminishing in Iran. As a
purposeful being seeking liveliness, happiness and prosperity, humans will not feel satisfied
until those goals are fulfilled. The findings of this study suggest that complexity of the center
for urban gathering, regarded somehow as the cultural icon of small and large cities, demands
an exclusive planning. Every center for urban gathering often houses certain spaces and
investments not to be found elsewhere. For instance, there are social facilities such as
libraries, vast open spaces, fairs, public halls, trade and entertainment centers, restaurants,
etc. Such space needs to be designed in a way to strengthen the sense of staying around,
since a greater design entails a wider variety of activities to choose from. In this paper, the
contributing factors to vitality and dynamics of a space were examined as well as how to
employ these factors in architectural design. Accordingly, this study intends to propose,
through a qualitative-descriptive library research, several solutions to designing urban
gathering centers from the perspective of vitality as a key urban element.
Keywords: Vitality, Urban space, Vitality criteria, Center for urban gathering.
Introduction
The designers and environmental researchers in 1960s were highly motivated to collaborate with other researchers and
designers so as to construct a suitable habitat where people could live. Insufficient consideration of people’s physiological,
psychological and safety needs in designing and building spaces was a significantly grave warning to all designers whose
experience had proved that construction of a sophisticated environment harmonious with human requirements in large societies
ought to be synchronized with technical knowledge to help tackle inefficiencies. Contributed and developed equally by architects,
environmental psychology deals with the study of human behavior in relation to habitats. According to Karrick, environmental
psychology refers to the psychological study of human behavior in connection with everyday life in physical environment (Matlabi,
2001). Regarding the research conducted in the United States and Europe, the vitality of every downtown or city was also influential
in productive economic development. Early on, the term “vitality” was used exclusively in the popular literature, referring to liveliness
and vividness in both body and soul. The first scientific approach to vitality took place in social sciences and humanities termed as
“livability”. Following the modern era of urbanization, livability was introduced into this scientific field as a concept entailing urban
vibrant and dynamic spirit. Nowadays, vitality is not merely a fancy goal in architecture and urban spaces, but experts are seeking to
establish its promotional principles in architecture and urban spaces. By a glance at modern recreational and trade centers, it can be
easily found out how such places reverberate with boredom and languor. In fact, today’s trade centers have been constructed by
several dull, monotonous, spiritless blocks similar to buildings spread out everywhere in Iran regardless of public needs. Prevention
from such problems as well as provision of desirable conditions for users in these centers requires diversity and vitality, which
ultimately lead to liveliness and livability in the society.
Literature review
In Dehkhoda Farsi dictionary, the term “vitality” has been defined as being joyful. In the Dictionary of Urbanism, Robert Cowan
defines livability as favorable to people, providing standard quality of life. John Ross (Chairman of the British Commission for
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Intl. J. Basic. Sci. Appl. Res. Vol., 3 (SP), 98-103, 2014
Architecture and Built Environment in the UK) believes that “quality of life” must be used instead of “livability” when referring to
vitality. In fact, he defines vitality as a living quality perceived and experienced by people in urban areas. In the fifth century BC,
Socrates stated that the main purpose of constructing a city is to provide citizens with vitality and prosperity. Such statement
demonstrates the firm, long-standing relationship between the two concepts of “city” and “liveliness". From this viewpoint, every city
is essentially a means or medium of achieving happiness and vitality. One constructive component, therefore, is the overall quality of
environment. Jane Jacobs argued that healthy, lively cities are organic, spontaneous and fortunate. They are founded upon
economic and human diversity, architecture, dense populations and mixed land uses (Jacobs, 2009). He deemed dynamism and
vitality of a city relied on sophisticated, dense and highly crowded city centers, implying the positive socioeconomic and
psychoemotional effects (Habibi & Salimi, 1997). Thus, density, mixture of land uses and diversity of buildings along with people’s
active involvement provide an ideal city center imagined by Jacobs. Moreover, Rob Carrier believed that a contributing factor to
vitality of urban spaces was nearby building entrances, which was better to be opening toward streets, so urban spaces would not
be deprived of their vital activity. Furthermore, there ought to be certain 24/7 functions developed around urban spaces. He believed
that activities such as travelling, shopping, conversing, working and socializing could not be completely separated from one another.
In addition to considering the walkway throughout city, he believed in a hierarchy of function distribution all over the city, which
comes together in spite of various scales, intensities and weaknesses. Such pattern can constitute urban space vitality (Habibi &
Salimi, 1997). In his book titled “Creating a Vibrant City Center”, Paumier (2007) introduces the factors contributing to a successful
and vibrant public place as: 1) Location – the place of a successful public space should embrace a large crowd of individuals. It
should also be so close to retailer centers that people on foot would be attracted. 2) Size of the place – a successful public space
should be large enough to accommodate public entertainment and events, but not too vast to wipe out the spatial orientation. 3)
Planning of place - creating a lively space favorable to people would be possible when the surrounding area is full of retail stores,
restaurants and cafes. In his opinion, creation of trade activities particularly food services would be a road toward achieving
successful urban spaces. 4) Design of place: A place should be designed in a way to expand the capacity of the environment for
absorbing desirable activities. In this regard, he mentions several instances including proper furniture, variety of functions,
convenience, adaptability and high quality yet simple (Soltanzadeh, 1991). Vitality can be defined in both micro and macro levels. In
the former, vitality denotes diversity of activities in public realm and adaptation with urban spaces under the framework of behavioral
bases. According to Jan Gehl, an environment is vital when it houses voluntary and social activities within a broad range of times.
Therefore, certain parameters for identification of vital environments include density of pedestrians, population, diversity and nature
of current behavioral bases as well as seasonal activities, variety of users (i.e. male, female, young, children, the disabled, etc)
diversity of form and color across the landscape and so on (Golkar, 2007). In a research concerning urban vitality, Koroush Golkar
deemed the concept as equivalent to "livability" or "liveliness", defining it as a constituent of urban design quality. In fact, vitality is a
key component in overall quality of any environment. In other words, "vitality" along with sixteen additional qualities imply legibility,
visual character, good timing, sensory richness, belonging color, usefulness, permeability and mobility, mixed use and form,
universality, public realm, climatic comfort, safety and security, flexibility, harmony with nature, energy efficiency and clean
environment together constitute a phenomenon called the quality of urban design (Khastou & Saeedi Rezvani, 2010) Bahraini
considers several factors contributing to vitality including sense of living and excitement, presence of vital centers, high density near
the centers and main roads, street-side activities, continuous or non-continuous activities, fun and exciting spaces (Bahraini, 2003).
Vitality and viability
Vitality and dynamism of urban spaces in contrast to its boredom reflects the number and specifically the type of activities and
events occurring in the space. Hence, we must first examine the vitality of activities. In an article, Pakzad (2007) (Pakzad, 2007)
stated that all human actions are performed in order to meet a certain necessity. Moreover, Jan Gehl, a famous Danish urban
engineer, categorizes activities into three classes in terms of mandatory or optional: essential activities (mandatory) such as going to
school or work, waiting at the bus stop, shopping, choice activities (leisure) such as going to the park and generally recreation and
social activities like watching other people, talking and attracting attention. For vitality, there are various concepts developed in the
West, including vitality, viability, livability and liveliness to mention a few. Except for "vitality", however, the rest of the terms are
rather closely tied to the concept of livability and living together. In Robert Cowan’s the Dictionary of Urbanism, vitality and livability
have been synonymously defined as characteristic of small and large-scale city centers; an urban vitality reflects how crowded it can
be in different times of the day and different parts, while livability is a measure to assess the city’s capacity to attract investment for
survival, improvement and adaptation to changing needs. (Cowan, 2007).
Aesthetics in urban landscape
Environment and landscape are defined together as a comprehensive concept involving both intact nature and built city. The
landscape of an urban area comprises the entire information found in the space perceived and processed by the senses. Hence,
landscape as disseminator entails a variety of information that can be divided into two categories of physical and perceptual (Colon,
2008).
Beauty is a rather unrecognized need. According to Maslow, the need for beauty is felt by some people who get sick at the
sight of ugliness and recover once they are in a beautiful environment. This feeling is normally seen almost in all healthy children. In
definition of this need, there are three concepts of value, pleasure and wonderment. Jack Nasr points out five characteristics of
lovely environments. From his perspective, unfavorable environments bear the opposite characteristics (Motevali, 2010).
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Intl. J. Basic. Sci. Appl. Res. Vol., 3 (SP), 98-103, 2014
Cleanliness and good
maintanance
Historical originality
Characteristics
of lovely
environemtns
Discipline
Natural colors
Open, well-defined
spaces
Figure 1. Characteristics of lovely environments as viewed by Jack Nasr (Motevali, 2010).
Urban
landscape
Physical
factors
Rooftop
landscape
City wall
landscape
Perceptual
factors
Earth
landscape
Figure 2. Elements contributing to urban landscape.
Vitality and its reflection in design
According to Jacobs, the essence of living in a city lies in lively diversity, which should be accessible to everyone at any time,
providing a broad range of possible choices. One of the factors contributing to vitality is diversification of spatial arrangements and
order, so as to feel different along the way preparing various facilities at any moment for citizens. Therefore, such space needs to be
designed in a way to avoid monotonous arrangement and overly disciplined based on pure geometry, since it merely dictates certain
behaviors exclusive to citizens. Employment of various understandable details for citizens can save the environment from a boring
and monotonous state. Such variety can be sought in material type, colors, diversity in store front windows and entrances, neon
signs, exterior lighting, applied furniture including benches, water fountains, phone booths and rhythms of the bodily elements. In this
particular regard, it is essential to point out the diversity must be restricted enough not to cause confusion. Otherwise, it not only
helps boosting the vitality of urban spaces, but leaves citizens nervous and lost due to the tremendous pressure imposed by
information load found in the environment. Occasional construction of porches or sometimes roofing a section of the sidewalk can
create short pausing points where some behavioral bases can develop. There are two key qualities contributing to vitality: diversity
and permeability of spaces. The more diversified sidewalk events, the more activity attractions can take place at different times.
Meanwhile, there ought to be integrated, noiseless bodies built in order to direct public attention constantly toward collective life.
However, this is not meant to smooth out the path from beginning to end. As a matter of fact, citizens cross this sidewalk on foot and
recognize deeper details. Thus, the entire pedestrian bodies require a variety of details, materials and diversity of social classes,
especially if it evokes some citizen collective memories. Implementation of service-delivery and leisure time functions also leads to
continuity and multiplicity of citizen involvement across sidewalks. Furthermore, stores are among the most important places where
people communicate for the purpose of buying and selling. In modern developments of shopping malls and sidewalks, there is a
competition over vitality (Qamaruz-Zaman et al., 2014). In other words, the accessibility of public paths on a daily basis, walking on
foot, shopping, watching front windows, restaurants and cafes are among the most crucial activities taken place in urban areas,
guaranteeing more friendly environments. Such spots seem quite lively and vitally an atmosphere that culminates in the evening until
late at night (Jalaladdini & Derya, 2013).
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Hossein
Soltanzadeh
Koroush
Golkar
Hossein
Bahraini
Jahanshah
Pakzad
Charles
Laundry
Jane
Jacobs
Kevin Lynch
Rob Carrier
Paumier
Jan Gehl
Bentley
Attraction
Security
Mental peace
Active body
Sense of human
scale
Street visibility
and accessibility
*
*
*
*
*
Sensual richness
Permeability
*
Physical form
*
High-quality life
Diversity
Table 1. Principles of a vital urban space.
Flexibility
Experts
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General criteria for vitality in urban spaces
Vitality or livability is a fundamental element of any place meeting the urban qualities. In fact, vital urban environments set the
stage for social interactions among different individuals, generating more investment and economic development. In addition,
previous studies have demonstrated how vitality of a city center can be effective on development of a productive economy.
Regarding the overall evaluation of concepts concerning vitality from different perspectives so far, the criteria and factors
contributing to urban space vitality can be summarized in tables below:
Table 2. Criteria of a successfully vital urban space.
Comfort
Connection with streets
Appropriate size
Road and recreational facilities
for sitting Compfortable places
Setting programs
Great quality and simplicity
Flexible uses
Designing
Conclusion
The results of this paper indicate that monotony and boredom can, to a great extent, be removed from urban space appearance
and be replaced with vitality and dynamics through practicing the concept and solutions of vitality. The examination of vitality as a
concept along with approaches adopted by different experts in this regard led to formulation of several strategies aimed at fulfilling
design principles from the perspective of vitality. The summary of results has been illustrated in the following.
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Strategies and solutions in designing vital urban spaces
Table 3. Strategies and solutions in designing vital urban spaces (Pakzad, 2006; Paumier, 2010).
Objective
Vitality
Strategy
Visibility and accessibility to streets 





Creating a sense of human scale 
and desirability

Mental peace and quietness
Security





Solution
Designing multi-purpose entrances
‫ا‬construction of elevated buildings
Creation of transparent views
Designing visible entrances
Making spaces visible from street
Constructing sidewalks
Creating vegetation and designing landscape
Striking a balance between human dimensions and building
elevations
Creating green, diverse spaces
Creating w pause space wherever functions shift
Appropriate flooring and furniture in each space
Appropriating lighting in site and external spaces
Designing water fountains
Performanc  Appropriate distribution of active and clear spots
e
throughout the space
 Utilization of attractive facilities and land uses for a
variety of groups and individuals along the path
 implementation of activities concerning the daily lives
of citizens in some areas
Physics







Performanc 
e
Activity
Diversity


Physics





Use




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Avoid creating dark, private corners
Lighting proportionate to motion
Appropriate space lighting
Establishing a clear distinction between public and
private spaces
Street view
Creating active living walls
Creating 24/7 functions without time restrictions
Balanced distribution of various functions in terms of
time and viewers in a way to create a variety of
continuous events throughout day and night
Removing any dead or inactive walls
Employment of different forms in site and building
design
Using various details comprehensible to pedestrians
in bodies
Using various materials appropriate to body floor and
context
Using various forms in furniture
Using various proper lightings
Focusing on various details comprehensible to
viewers
Using various forms at various wall rhythms
Harmonizing path lighting with body lightness
Diversifying uses in a way to attract a variety of social
groups
Avoid establishing body uses that create dead or
inactive spots.
Intl. J. Basic. Sci. Appl. Res. Vol., 3 (SP), 98-103, 2014
Activity

Permeability










Creating a good pause space between multipurpose
hangouts
 Creating appropriate spaces for a variety of ages and
classes
 Remove any monotonous urban furniture
arrangement along the path
 Creating a special space for sitting and watching
 Continuity of body functions into the sidewalk
Elevation (Raised elevation can reduce flexibility, maximum 4 floors is the
appropriate elevation)
Number of appropriate access points
Good space depths (not too excessive, limited to 9≤X≤12)
Remove any absolute physical boundaries
Eliminate any space exclusivity
Reduce individual view restrictions
Provide possibility of mutual visual communication between path and
body
Give the body forecourt a role along the path
Maintain and strengthen prominently memorable points
Provide accessibility of diffident points to the sidewalk
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