Case Study 02: Phoenix Urban Walking Tour

KN Simon

Case Study 02: Phoenix Urban Walking Tour

Lyn H. Loflan identified six uses or functions of public spaces. For each of her functions, provide and explain one specific example from the tour that would meet that function (6 examples total, see p. 238 and 192 in the older edition for a list of the functions). Be sure to identify which characteristic you are referring to for each of your examples, and explain why your example fits or does not fit that particular characteristic. 

An environment of learning. The city streets provide an environment for people to interact and accept others in the society. In the streets, one interacts with people from different social backgrounds, such as high-end living status, different religious background, different ethnicity, lifestyle, and other elements. Learning in the streets helps one to accept and respect the diversity that exists in the society.

Case Study 02: Phoenix Urban Walking Tour

A place to enjoy respites and refreshments. The public realms in Phoenix offer different refreshment and enjoyment joints. For instance, there are several restaurants such as Booby Q, Fuego Bistro, Steak 44, Durant’s and other that offers. The joints offer places where the public can get respite from their daily activities.

A communication center. The Phoenix city provides a place where people from different cultures interact. From the interactions, people from different places within the urban area can exchange important information and ideas on development, politics, and economic growth. 

Allows practice of politics. After exchanging information, the public comes to a come agreement on the direction to take in the public realm. Experience the same in the city allows strangers to agree on the way forward about politics. People can do what they need and what is missing. That helps them to shape their political perspective. For instance, a common complaint about poor infrastructure pushes the public to demand change in leadership.

The public realm provides a platform where the public come together to demand social change in the society and thus ensures enactment of social arrangements/social conflict People learn about their rights and call for demonstrations to express their feelings.

Creation of cosmopolitans. People from different background living comfortably with one another. The city life impacts the society with a civilization where people respect and tolerate one another. People from different countries of origin, different races, and different color live in harmony in Phoenix city.

Compare and contrast Civic Space Park to the park area within City Scape. Specifically, decide which park space most closely meets William Whyte’s ideas for a good public space and explain why. You should have at least two examples from each park that you use as part of your explanation.

Civic Space Park is an area of the city that is set aside for public refreshment while a park area is an environment conservation area set aside for wildlife and preservation of the ecosystem. Phoenix Civic Park is an example of a public civic park in the Phoenix town. The civic space park offers the public with a vibrant amenity where the public can get relief from extreme weather conditions such as extreme temperatures. The civic space park provides a space for interaction between people and refreshment when within the city. The civic space park meets Whyte’s ideas for a good public space. Space is strategically located within populous towns. Therefore, people from different occupations are attracted to take a respite in the civic space park due to its proximity. Moreover, the civic space park provides a platform for interaction between people from different cultures where they share information and ideas regarding different aspects of life. The interactions help to create tolerance and respect for the diversity that exist in the society. On the other hand, park areas are located far away from the city center such as the South Mountain Park and the Phoenix Parks. People with a view of gaining refreshment and entertainment mostly visit the parks. Moreover, people do not visit them with the intention of interaction but with the aim of meeting their refreshment needs. The difference in use and location of the parks spell out their differences. 

Some criticize the direction of development over the past few decades in Downtown as a type of “Disneyfication” of urban space. Do you see evidence of this on your tour? What feels authentic and what does not?

Disinfection is also taking place in the downtown Phoenix town. The space of most of the downtown urban is being transformed into industrial and production parks hence expanding the business district further. New apartments are being built, grand hotels, union stations, and other infrastructures are taking more space of the city. Walkable paths have now become congested, and the population has been pushed further from the central business district. Real estate business has become a central business in Phoenix making the area boom with infrastructural projects. The population is expanding rapidly, and town planning has failed to cater for social values of the society. The city requires a resilient planning to ensure that the needs of the social values of the society are factored in light of massive economic development.

Over the past decade, the American cities are changing from what they used to be to a new set of culture. This is so with the city of Phoenix in Arizona, which has seen its public spaces diminish because of occupation by the developer or homeless individuals. For instance, walking around the town displays a group of destitute individuals sleeping or idling in parks or on the streets. These situations have not been the case for the history of the city. Thus, there is changing the use of public spaces from what people used to. There are fewer revelers in the town of Phoenix. Thus, the social life has greatly reduced as a result of small urban spaces. 

When the plans for City Scape were being debated, some people thought that refurbishing the Arizona Center (which was showing its age and had a high store vacancy rate) would have been a better, more cost-effective option than building a new shopping area. Write an argument either for or against refurbishment of the Arizona Center as an alternative to building City Scape.

Urban planning is essential to ensure that houses and shopping centers are developed in a way that maximizes public utility. Moreover, in so doing the plan must account for the cost of construction or renovation vis a vis the budget available for the same. These circumstances are the same that the Arizona City Space faced when deciding to refurbish an aging Arizona Center or building a new skyscraper.

Though building a new shopping area in Arizona might seem costly compared to refurbishing existing building, the total cost of the two project would differ by far. For instance, the cost of refurbishing might be negligible but adding that to the cost of the old building would put too much money on a single project. Therefore, it is cost effective for the Arizona administrators to build a new set of shopping areas to save a lot of money that could go to waste. Moreover, there is increasing demand for new shopping spaces current, and the future is bright for the city. As a result, it is prudent to expand the city shopping areas to accommodate increased population.

 The security of the City is of important to safeguard residents, shoppers, as well as businesspersons of any security breaches that may emanate out of congestion. For this reason expanding the town to now public or private space is considered better than refurbishing old buildings to accommodate increasing demand for shopping area. In addition, new shopping areas will necessitate a change to traditional model and thus bring the much anticipate new dynamics in the city. This would also work to reintroduce a set of new social change in the metropolis.

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