The quiet city - planning and designing public urban spaces that meet people's needs

摘要

Quiet is a quality for the city. There is no absolutely defined idea what a quiet place is and, consequently, no exclusive list of quantitative criteria that defines such a place. Instead, characteristics and amenities of a place correlate with people's lifestyles and their motives to use exterior spaces. Requirements for a 《quiet》 place depend on the socio-spatial context and the citizens' needs for meeting, relaxing, saying hello, and feeling good. The Federal Office for the Environment has examined through case studies which places, in a city context, are perceived as a place for recreation, leisure and rest and what are paramount criteria for that quality. The studies show that differentiated, user-focused amenities and qualities of public spaces are significant for an attractive quiet strategy. This requires a forward-looking planning that aims to design appropriate areas and bring them together. Synergy effects between urban planning, open space planning, architecture as well as noise control have to be cultivated when it comes to the planning of quiet areas. In this way, the studies indicate, individual areas of high amenity values grow together into a coherent and nearby public space which represents a real counterpoint to noisy urban areas.