Public Space in Kuwait

From User Behaviour to Policy-making

This project developed a method to explore the relationship between the built environment and the use of public space in Kuwait’s residential neighbourhoods.

Kuwait’s urbanisation patterns are leading to higher levels of motorisation with negative impacts on individual health and the environment. As a consequence, re-evaluating urban development mechanisms becomes extremely vital. This project addresses the need for significant change in planning urban public space that would influence healthier individual behaviour and environmentally-friendly mobility patterns.

Building upon the Resource Urbanisms project, this exploration is the result of early investigations on the relationship between the built environment and the use of public space. With the World Health Organization appealing for an increase in physical activity of individuals, this project explored the impact neighbourhood layout and urban design elements have on outdoor activities and individual behaviour. It examined the variables that generate liveable and successful public space and proposed methods to integrate these results into evidence-based policymaking, for more sustainable urban development in Kuwait. Two neighbourhoods in Kuwait were explored to define the tools that would promote the necessary change.

The end goal was to encourage sociability and walkability that would improve the experiential quality of public space in existing neighbourhoods, and to recommend evidence-based policies for new neighbourhoods being designed and developed for the future. A new approach to urban design policies will help diversify a post–oil economy, create healthier opportunities for urban living and encourage environmentally sustainable public space.