Influence of spatial planning on socio–cultural inclusion in urban parks of Abu Dhabi

Today, cities have developed strategies to ensure social interaction in urban spaces along with extensive research on general requirements of the same. However, a research gap exists in the needs, wants and expectations of multiple users within a society. Also, urban planners often seem to overlook the influence of spatial layout on socio-cultural perspectives of people in multi-cultural countries. As cities grow rapidly with influx of migrants to a country like the United Arab Emirates, more and more cultures come together developing a need to address the issues of social inclusion and interaction. The research thus focuses on the concept of culturally diverse social inclusion, and the influence of spatial layouts within urban open spaces. Through literature review, factors like access, actor and interest were found to highly influence the democratic nature and publicness of public spaces. Case studies of the Vale and Prospect Park indicate that very small interventions like cutting the bushes or removing a fence from entry points of a park improved the accessibility and visibility of a park and impacted the perspective of certain cultural groups. Even small factors like maintenance were seen to influence how people felt their cultural group was being treated. But it was also seen that certain events like birthdays bought people together irrespective of their backgrounds. With inferences from the literature review and case studies, parameters found were used to analyze two selected urban parks in Abu Dhabi: Reem Central Park and Khalidiya Park. The context for both these parks varied, as the former lay between a primarily residential area and the main city where the visitors were mostly the residents, except during the weekends, where visitors from outside the residential area were also seen. However, these outsiders viewed the park as a destination with various activities rather than just a neighborhood park. The latter lay in the heart of the city, where people from various backgrounds use it as a simple garden space with less activities to a maximum potential. To understand the level of inclusion within the parks, methods like photography were used in understanding spatial activities from different focal lengths, along with map layering, drawing and sketching to understand spatial layout in relation with social inclusion. It was found that in Reem Central Park, although catering to western tastes and cultures and the upper middle class, the level of interaction between users is very limited even though the activities present there are rich in variety. On the other hand in Khalidiya Park, the lack of variety in activities causes less westerners to be present, but the levels of inclusion are very high. In the former case, numerous voids are created between softscapes and hardscapes which affect the cohesive nature of the people along with affecting their conductivity. In the latter case, this does not seem to be the case as minimal voids make the park much more conducive in nature when it comes to inclusivity. To ensure a socio-cultural future in multi-cultural cities like Abu Dhabi, certain policies and guidelines are formulated through this research that includes: concept of inclusive clusters, shared space and social infrastructure, use of information boards, creation of translucent and permeable spaces, introduction of landmarks and nodes and articulating spaces. The research also shows the use of hypothetical maps of peoples aspirations, based on the understanding of peoples cultural backgrounds and park practices, to understand how people would ideally use these spaces, and concludes by recommending an extensive spatial approach in building spaces which will contribute to better living conditions for the migrants in the city.