Planned development of recreational open spaces in peri urban residential neighbourhoods: a case study of Bhopal

Abstract

Open Spaces in a city hold tremendous importance as it provides supply area to the urban built environment. These open areas vary in shapes and sizes and more so in their character in terms of the functions they perform. Recreational open spaces are one such type of open areas in the city which serves the recreational needs of the human beings. Apart from fulfilling the recreational needs of the community for physical and mental well-being it also has environmental and social benefits linked to it. The neighborhoods in the newly developing areas of the cities especially in Indian context have been a subject of development without proper provision of open spaces. These peri- urban residential areas have a large quantum of gated neighborhoods with restricted access to open spaces. Moreover, the functionality of the existing open spaces is a question in itself. The study conducted, aims at exploring the various dimensions of recreation these existing open spaces cover and try to find out their usability. For the better understanding of the dimensions of recreational spaces, various works of literature were reviewed to provide a framework for the provision of open spaces around the globe. The various types of open spaces that are provided serving different people differently were studied. These standards of provision were compared to the national standard of provision of recreational open spaces according to the number of people served by an open area. Further, an Open space user survey was conducted age group wise to better understand the pattern of usage of the open spaces and the deficits in their provision. The open space user survey conducted as a part of the study, identified four different age groups to be perceived and countered differently depending upon the varied demands. The usability of the existing open spaces was extracted for these different age groups separately. The desired kind of recreational open spaces along with the distance that people can travel to access the open spaces was obtained. These responses helped in inferring the current scenario of perception of open spaces by the people of peri-urban residential neighborhoods and provided gaps to be filled for the same. The findings will help in analyzing the development trend and find loopholes that exist on the supply side. Moreover, the study would help in proposing newer, more usable and functional type of recreational spaces that will promote participation in recreational pursuits throughout people of all ages in the peri- urban community.