2004 - Issue 3

Is there a successful recipe for creating urban open space?  This book is a primer on creating spaces that encourage public use. 

When positive distractions are introduced into the work environments at long-term care facilities, workers perceive that their physical work environments have been improved.

Participants in a recent study indicated a higher preference for water jets and combinations of several moving water features in water features at urban plazas.

The material that we cover in this issue is an eclectic mix, as usual. Each issue of RDC profiles a different assortment of topics, because each issue presents the most interesting information released since the last issue of RDC went to press. We feel that it is important to include valuable information in each issue that you can use immediately.

The Environmental Design Research Association and the journal Children, Youth, and Environments invite the submission of papers.

Greenway planning often has to encompass a myriad of goals and users. One significant goal, particularly in urban areas, is how to plan greenways that people enjoy and use. Two recent studies, covered in an issue of Landscape and Urban Planning devoted to greenways, address this topic by investigating people’s opinions about river corridor greenways.

Studies consistently show strong commonalities in people’s visual preferences and, often, what professional designers like most, the public likes least. In planning a new place, interior, or building, it makes sense to plan the appearance. It also makes sense to evaluate the appearance of existing places to find out how people react to them.

Researchers have determined that colors of maximum saturation and brightness attract the most attention when paired with any background color. This work follows their research on color preference, which found that colors with maximum saturation and brightness were also most preferred. The article contains a chart of attention-getting and favored color combinations.

The focus at NeoCon 2004 was the future. There was even more interest in sustainable design than in past years. The companies presenting products at this year’s show also seemed to have turned a mental corner and have begun to put the negative financial experiences of the last few years behind them.

Adolescents (11- to 19-year-olds) have definite opinions about the design of waiting and examination rooms in physicians’ offices and provided many suggestions on how to design those offices so they are more appropriate for their age group.