Introduction
In the present day, it is vital to address the challenges to human wellness through a variety of means. It is well-established that nations all around the globe are struggling with specific issues, such as poverty, inequality, corruption, and lack of accommodations for disabled people. In this context, the United Nations General Assembly prepared a manifest of seventeen sustainable development goals (SDG) (Imamura, 2022). The goals that directly concern people are no poverty, zero hunger, good health and well-being, quality education, and reduced inequalities (gender inequality in particular) (Imamura, 2022). Some goals are focused on environmental issues: climate action, clear water and sanitation, life below water, life on land, and sustainable cities and communities (Imamura, 2022). The rest concerns the well-being of society, such as affordable and clean energy, decent work and economic growth, industry innovation and infrastructure, responsible consumption and production, justice, peace, strong institutions, and partnership for the goals (Imamura, 2022). In other words, SDG’s primary purpose is to systematically address social-economical issues, including acknowledging their existence and actively countering them. Public space design can play an important role in pre-emptively designing space with SDG in mind. When creating a new public environment, it is necessary to construct spaces that encourage introspection, community action, and personal engagement. Consequently, this work will focus on describing the construction of a creative public space capable of fulfilling a number of different social goals and improving the condition of the local community and the world at large. The paper will discuss a construction of a multi-purpose gathering space for people, a hub for conversation, work, leisure, and other causes.
Promoting Discussion and Engaging Communities
Taking inspiration from locations such as the City Hall Plaza in Nagaoka, Japan, the goal of the work is to design a city hall building capable of serving large numbers of people. The theoretical building, which will be called “The Hub” for the purposes of this paper, has the goal of bringing people together, creating communities, and giving existing ones a chance to engage in a group activity. Furthermore, it is also a place where public discussion and debate can occur, intending to reach a shared understanding and find solutions to critical issues.
The building’s design is directly aimed at encouraging local communities and various groups to have nuanced discussions. It is becoming increasingly important for people to move toward realizing the SDG. Global change planning is impossible without the ability to discuss and organize consistently. The building will give local charities and groups a preference when renting space and actively seek to bring public awareness to the existence of these groups. The affordability of the provided accommodation should be among the first priorities. Partnering with nature conservation workers, recycling experts, donation groups, disaster relief organizations, and many other groups, the Hub will make it its goal to aid the population progressively.
An Inclusive, Multi-Purpose Location
“The Hub” will be divided into separate spaces, each equipped to house different amounts of people and further furnished with the facilities necessary to engage in many activities, including sports events, music performances, public service announcements, game shows, meetings, and public debates. Critical principles of public space design are made key to the construction effort, focusing on creating a purposeful and clearly delineated building that encourages social interaction (Carmona, 2018). Any person or a group of individuals will have the ability to rent out the space for their use and be accommodated. In addition, some areas will be accessible for free in order to help local groups have an affordable gathering place. To promote inclusivity, another feature of “The Hub” is to exclusively partner with charities, awareness groups, and other organizations that work for the benefit of the public.
A particular example of the Hub’s possible functionality that would not only motivate discussion and engagement but also provide education is a library. Education is one of the crucial aspects of sustainability because it encourages innovation (Zheng, 2022). Consequently, the library will provide the space for learning and immediately sharing the ideas of sustainability. Various influential people, such as lectors or entrepreneurs, might be able to visit and share their vision with anybody willing to listen. Specific attention will be paid to hosting local community recycling events, promoting awareness of nature preservation, and engaging in other activities that help the environment. Overall, a frequent public activity will result in a strong sense of partnership in the neighborhood.
Accessibility and Design Choices
In order to further encourage participation from all sides of the local community, ease of access, and equal opportunity, it is necessary to ensure proper space accessibility. First, ramps for wheelchairs and elevations with a required incline level will be included. All elevation points will be carefully considered and equipped with the tools necessary to help disabled people use them. It should allow those with specific mobility devices to travel within the gathering space freely and promote ideas of accessibility. Similarly, railings, signs, and other potential décor options will also be used to support those with additional needs. All texts and announcements will have a braille version so that people who have trouble seeing them can still access them. Information will also be available in different languages, depending on the populations living in the area, and include text-to-speech options. The design of the Hub itself will follow accessibility principles as well, concerning the effects color selection has on mood, wellbeing, and visibility. A good choice of wall color and tiling has the capacity to control the mood of guests and encourage cooperation.
Sustainable Design
In addition to the Hub’s accessibility, its location will take significant consideration to promote sustainability concerns within its perimeters. Construction materials will be chosen explicitly from recycled and recyclable options and include materials that minimally pollute the environment. Furthermore, both lighting and electricity use will be managed to reduce the environmental footprint of the building. The construction of the Hub will emphasize natural light as opposed to artificial lighting, using windows and ceiling design that let light flow freely within a space. Spaces where light use is necessary will be equipped with energy-conserving lightbulbs and diode-based light sources, which consume less electricity. Both of these actions will work to reduce the gross energy consumption of the building and limit potential pollution. It will be attempted as a way to bring positive change in the surrounding area, leading by example and actively nullifying the effect of the building’s environmental footprint.
The Third Pillar
From a conceptual perspective, the Hub ultimately aims to support the inclusion of all three pillars of modern society. Imamura (2022b) defines the pillars as market, state, and community. The imbalance between these societal building blocks might be the most significant source of inequality and disparity, which SDG attempts to address. Specifically, the exclusion and ignorance toward the third societal pillar – the community – tend to be the most dangerous and detrimental. Previously, the market used to be very social in terms of human relations, norms, and values. However, the development of technologies eventually depersonalized the market, emphasizing its relationships with the state (Imamura, 2022b). This tendency contributed to the societal separation, the emergence of populism, and a poor balance between the pillars.
Moreover, the exclusion of societal perspectives from the building blocks results in various environmental and health problems. For instance, the climate issues caused by the abrupt growth of production during the 20th century are still being addressed nowadays, with little to no success (Imamura, 2022c). Thus, the importance of projects, such as the Hub, in the context of societal imbalance and environmental crisis only strengthens. If the Hub’s creation and functioning, involving the fostering of discussion and partnership, receives support from both the state and the market, it will resemble the three-pillar society, the society of the sustainable future.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the program of designing a creative community public space will work toward realizing the many existing goals of sustainable development by allowing people to organize and engage in thought-provoking discussions more easily. The existence of a central hub for meeting others, raising awareness, and eliciting support will help people become more socially aware and improve their capacity to help themselves and others. In addition, the building will also be supported by sustainability concerns in its foundation principles, including design and construction. The utilization of recycled materials, lighting choices, and accessibility points will be made to guarantee that the building presents minimal environmental harm instead of provoking ecological conservation groups. The voices of the local and international communities will be amplified through access to a welcoming public space, and those that want to be more connected with their peers will have a place to go. The project’s realization can be achieved through the support of all societal dimensions, such as the market, state, and community, which makes the Hub the ultimate product of SDG.
References
Carmona, M. (2018). Principles for public space design, planning to do better.URBAN DESIGN International, 24(1), 47-59. Web.
Zheng, E. (2022). Brief report of the day (BRD) (3rd lecture).
Imamura, H. (2022a). COVID-19 and DX challenges to sustainable global innovation [Lecture].
Imamura, H. (2022b). Peace, justice, and strong institutions.[Lecture].
Imamura, H. (2022c). Life below water.[Lecture].