Internal Public Spaces' Physical , Social Dimensions, and Relationship with Visitors for the Creation of Sense of Place A Case Study of Three Shopping Centers in Surabaya, Indonesia

Abstract

Public spaces can sometimes be considered as nodes and are often regarded as the images that create a sense of place in a city. Public spaces here refer to city parks and streets with their many elements. On a smaller scale, a shopping center as a commercial building also serves as public space for its locality. True to its name, public spaces, especially the plaza in an atrium, corridor and other areas, are becoming the center for public activities. Plazas in shopping centers are turning into well-sought public areas due to the initiative of the shopping centers’ managements as well as public demands.The research is aimed at finding out about the role of a public area’s layout in creating a sense of place, which specifically can be described in three points. The first is to find the physical factors that develop sense of place. The second is to analyze the social factors in a sense of place. And the third is to examine the relationship between people and their environment. Shopping centers are used as the case study to identify the relationships between a public space’s interior design that shapes its atmosphere as a mental image which creates a sense of place in a particular scale. The case study for this research was Pasar Atum, Ciputra World and Tunjungan Plaza, all of which represent successful shopping centers from various eras in Surabaya. The research subjects were 15 people in each shopping center. The research method used was a mixed method which combined the qualitative method with in depth interview.