It is a by-product of first-hand observation of city spaces, of New York public spaces. It was done in 1970 by the group The Street Life Project formed by William H. Whyte.
It has been very interesting to see how direct observation, that is mainly for "living", is here a great research tool.
1. Make Maps of the spaces to analyze
2. Count the people in the space: Activity, time of the day, Weather,...
3. The patterns concluded:
Diversity of Activity: lovers, "just standing there", talking, seating, eating,... The number one of the activity is : "people looking at other people", which being a NYC lover like me seems very reasonable.
Sociability: proportions in numbers in groups: 2,3,... They've noticed that a busy place can be the best place to be alone.
Linking physical feature to social patterns:
Defining the architectural design settings that permits different kind of social activity: playing in the pond, seating in the stairs,... and block the traffic but in a friendly kind of congestion...
Defining the social uses in different small spaces: the intersection bulbs, middle of the sidewalk...
Some of the inminent finding is that some of the well design details thought for serving a specific purpose are used in an unexpected way whenever they come to life.
This video is a good reason for revising public designs after some years, and learn about the analysis of those unexpected uses to conclude social patterns. It a fresh piece of research to understand what the way people occupy space, and get a sense of the importance of not just the shape or size of urban open spaces, but also how it functions and where it is.
more info:
www.pps.org/info/amenities_bb/Water_Features
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