Morphological and functional attributes of preferred urban public spaces in Alicante province

Abstract

Understanding the role of urban public spaces in today’s historic Spanish Mediterranean cities is a key issue for researchers and urban professionals. Increasingly, social media showcases users’ preferences, a trend that can provide an indication as to why some urban public spaces are preferred over others. This research focuses on the study of morphological and functional attributes of preferred urban public spaces in historic cities of the Province of Alicante (Spain). Two main objectives are pursued: to describe urban morphological features of preferred plazas within the city; and, to identify functional patterns taking into account building uses and activities found in these public spaces. Eight plazas, selected from a previous study using Foursquare social media data, were used as a case study. The research methodology involved the spatial definition of the plaza followed by an analysis of each plaza’s morphological and functional attributes. The results demonstrate that the preferred urban spaces have in common more functional than morphological characteristics: good accessibility; ground floor activities; and presence of landmark buildings.