The role of open spaces in the university campus in the Egyptian context

Rached, Ihab and Elsharkawy, Heba 2012. The role of open spaces in the university campus in the Egyptian context. Presented at: Designing Place - International Urban Design Conference, Nottingham, UK, 2-3 April 2012.

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Abstract

During the last few decades, higher education has seen an evident increase in the call for establishing more higher education institutions (HEIs), particularly in developing countries. This has happened due to the appalling population growth and the limited capacities of existing educational institutions, along with the rising awareness and support offered to the youth to achieve higher degrees. Thus, with this double impact pressure, the private sector has allocated a relatively large budget to establish the required higher education institution sites, buildings and facilities to cover for the government deficit. Tens of HEIs have been established in the last two decades and some of which have proven successful, not only on the level of education but also on the level of design and planning. In the process of planning these HE developments, physical requirements have always been the main driver of design. Assuming that the physical environment has only direct effects on behaviour, ignoring the active role of human choice and expectations, and neglecting active processes of creating and modifying environments have often been major weaknesses and limitations in its design and planning. For this reason, a lot of research work has been done concerning the effect of the immediate environment on users’ behaviour (and vice versa), which has been termed environmental psychology. This field defines the term environment broadly, encompassing natural environments, social settings, built environments, learning environments, and informational environments. This research examines the effect of outdoor spaces associated with the learning environments and social settings in HEIs on students’ behaviour and wellbeing. It aims to discuss and analyse the role of outdoor spaces in universities in enhancing the overall experience of students. It highlights the magnitude of designing the open spaces as part of the broader aim of educational institutions in providing the facilities required by students. This includes designing cultural hubs, entertainment facilities and tranquil amenities to target most -if not all- students’ needs. The case study discussed and highlighted is a university established in a new urban community in 6th of October City near Cairo. This particular case study has been selected as the design has sought to incorporate users’ needs and behaviour in the preliminary design stages and until the complete implementation. The research methodology has also engaged the students’ opinions and attitudes in the critical assessment of the designed open spaces within the case study.

Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)
Date Type:	Completion
Status:	Unpublished
Schools:	Architecture
Subjects:	D History General and Old World > DT Africa G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GB Physical geography L Education > LC Special aspects of education
Related URLs:	Organisation
Last Modified:	12 Oct 2016 02:44
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/44757

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