Understanding Open Space Index

Objective

To map the open spaces (parks, lakes) in the vicinity of 5-10 km radius of a commercial area, residential as well as institutional area of the city

Outcome

Students will be able to draw connections between the area of open spaces that is different in different areas and hence the quality of living. A certain familiarity of the city is must to carry such google map based activity.

Requirements

Laptop, google map application

Prerequisites

Fundamental background on open space and open space index and certain familiarity with your own city

Procedure

This activity has no set deliverables or indexes to derive at. This activity is merely an exploratory activity to build a connection with the open spaces and quality of living in the cities. 

Step 1: Select a few different areas (residential, commercial and institutional) of Around 5-10 km radius, in a city. Make sure you know and have visited these areas before.

Step 2: Explore these areas in google map application. 

Step 3: Mark the open spaces in these selected areas, note down the area of open spaces. Draw a matrix of these open spaces in that selected radius. What is the percentage of open vs built ratio? Try to build a connection between different types of areas and different areas of open spaces in each. Are there any inferences or patterns to be found in positioning of the open spaces? Is it linked with better quality of living and air?

Step 4: Different cities can be explored through google maps and learnings can be shared. 

References

None