RECLAIMING PUBLIC SPACE - THE ECOLOGY OF NEIGHBORHOOD OPEN SPACES IN THE TOWN OF ABU-NUSEIR, JORDAN

Neighborhood space in many contemporary residential communities, parti cularly in Third World countries, often has the appearance of no man's land. This is because public space in the contemporary city, in all i ts tidiness, is thought of as a secondary space, owned neither by the city nor by the individual. It does not invite one to be or remain the re. This paper investigates the characteristics of neighborhood space in Abu-Nuseir, a recently built residential community in Jordan. The i nvestigation draws on previous research findings and general observati ons, as well as two sources of information, namely interviews with a s ample of residents living in four residential blocks in Abu-Nuseir, an d observations of people activities in open spaces and the design char acteristics of the neighborhood open spaces. It explains that public s pace in Abu-Nuseir is designed only as a secondary space, not appropri ate to acquire personal meaning. It examines the premises required for reclaiming public space, and it focuses on the question of how neighb orhood space can become a meaningful territory that will serve inhabit ants. This paper explains a number of ingredients that are responsible for making open spaces appropriate for users, and that are useful for evaluating existing neighborhood open spaces in Abu-Nuseir. The consi deration of such ingredients can also be useful for designing open spa ces in residential areas in general. This includes use and user divers ity, accessibility, participation/modification, real and symbolic cont rol, ground floor-open space relationship, ecological quality, and con flict. The paper concludes that designing neighborhood open spaces is about giving people genuine involvement and real participation in shap ing and developing their communities and neighborhoods. The profession al should no longer be the sole repository of wisdom.