Some notes on William Whyte's The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces

William Whyte was an American urbanist, organisational analyst, journalist and people-watcher.  The theories set out in The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces are based on mass observation of people's behaviour in public spaces in the United States and elsewhere in the 1970s.

As he admits himself, his findings are hardly revelatory but he does highlight a number of issues which are apparently overlooked in many designs for urban plazas, squares and parks and he makes a number of straightforward recommendations for making such spaces more 'user friendly' and therefore successful:

1. Circulating and gathering - somewhat against common sense, people seem to prefer to stop, talk and sit either on or as close as possible to active circulation routes.

2. Seating - people want places to sit, so provide as much seating as possible; walls, edges of planters or water features, steps and other changes in level can all be designed to be multi-functional without much effort (in fact, Whyte's view is that it is generally more difficult to make them 'unsittable'!); chairs (with backs) are better than benches; choice is important so make seating movable if possible. Specifics - length/quantity: min. 300mm length for every 2.75m² of plaza area; width: (single-sided) min. 400mm, (double-sided) min. 760mm; height: 300-900mm

3. Sun, wind, trees, and water - provide choice of sunny or shady areas (weather permitting); try to 'borrow' light (using reflective surfaces) if the space is north facing or overshadowed; wind and drafts are usually unwelcome, so small parks enclosed on 3 sides work well; tall buildings can often cause drafts and turbulence; trees - at least 6, of good size, for a space of 450m² or 1 per 7.5m of pavement (sidewalk), ideally close to seating - to moderate climate, provide sense of enclosure, shade (in appealing patterns), etc. Water - should be accessible and not just for looking at; moving water can help to create a quiet and restful feel by masking the worst aspects of street noise.

4.  Food - food outlets (even if only 'snack shacks') will draw people to a space, as will retail units; by compressing food outlets and any related seating into a small area, people are encouraged (forced) into unplanned meetings and conversations.

4. Connectivity to the street - it has to be easy to both see and get into the space, with a subtle transition from street to plaza/park; a slight rise in level can be inviting, but no more than a metre, and never (or rarely) sunken.

5. 'Undesirables' - Whyte suggests that the measures taken to control and keep out 'undesirables' are more detrimental than the people themselves: "Places designed with distrust get what they were looking for". Public spaces should be must be accessible to the public - if they are well designed they will be used and 'owned' by people and will become self-managing.

6. Indoor spaces - connectivity to the street and reason to use the space (food and/or retail) are even more important than for outside spaces; doors need to be open!

7. Catalysts - an external stimulus - the 'spark' - that gets people talking to each other - the street performer, 'character', physical object (e.g. sculpture), sight /view, etc.

It's worth noting that the spaces discussed in the book are in business districts in larger cities with high numbers of passersby. Whilst many of the principles will apply in any space, Whyte himself acknowledges that spaces only work with people, and sometimes people make the most unlikely spaces successful.