ACTIVATING PUBLIC SPACES THROUGH PLACEMAKING: CASE OF CHANDIGARH

In the global trend of urbanization , our communities , people and places has been encroached by communication technologies ,thereby weakening the liveability and quality of urban life. This causes urban environments to expand, creating lifestyle changes and, as a result, the use of public spaces. Friendly quality of streets began to disappear and the essence of community got lost in the hustle of traffic. The implications of rapidly changing economic and social circumstances have become profoundly important in shaping how people use and form their societies. Placemaking is a method to enhance the comfort, safety, attraction, and vitality of public spaces in order to encourage people to engage in social activities. This concept is used to improve public spaces and to transform a space into a place. This research paper investigates the inactive public spaces and why these spaces fail in making into a great place. The research has been done to find out the simple solutions for activating public spaces so that they can foster social life and also how can space be transformed into a place. Surveys have been done on various public spaces in Chandigarh Sec 22 and 35 to find out where they lack, the negative and positive points. The design solutions discussed can be used as guidelines for future public spaces encouraging more and more use of that place and encourage social interaction.