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Shared space is an unconventional concept that is not based on formal rules and standards, as it encourages road users to share the same road space with little physical or visual separation. Consequently, this concept creates intriguing research questions that have not been fully answered yet, i.e., a) can a shared space road section produce more pedestrian crossings? b) what is the relationship between pedestrian crossings and traffic speeds? and c) what are the differences with a conventional road when motorizing traffic dominates in shared space? This study examines traffic conditions in shared space by answering these research questions. More specifically, it uses Amalias Street in Nafplio Greece as a case study. This road is divided into two main sections, namely: the conventional road section and the shared space road section, allowing meaningful comparisons. The collected data are further analyzed by developing multiple linear regression models that predict pedestrian crossings and mean car speeds in both sections. This study discusses model outputs with the literature to export valid conclusions. The results show that pedestrian crossings were increased in shared space when vehicle headways were high. Shared space results in a significant drop in car speeds that is confirmed by previous studies; surprisingly, the variance of car speeds was also reduced, leading to a more homogenous driving behavior. Pedestrian crossing rate significantly influences car speeds in shared space, while this relationship was not significant in the conventional road section. Shared space seems to calm traffic speed and allow coexistence even when motorizing traffic dominates.

The public interest suggests a singular approach to a social good, but lessons from history illustrate the nuances of sharing open space, transportation networks, and policy mandates. Serving the public exists across a spectrum of possibilities. In this essay, we consider how the emerging field of public interest technology could learn from previous assumptions about who counts as the public and how benefits or harms can be overly concentrated in certain populations. We situate public interest technology as a growing capability of government public service, an institutionalized professional practice like public interest law, as well as a site of critical inquiry. Our definition of the public interest is motivated by a theory of change that recognizes the strength of inclusion. Punctuated with historic and contemporary examples, this essay argues that by acknowledging conflicts of interest and embracing the marginal, public interest technology could build ethical infrastructures to serve all. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Motorists preferred when the traditional division between protected and unprotected road users was recreated. • Vehicles' mean maximum speed decreased when the traditional division was recreated within the shared space. • Distribution of vehicles decreased when the traditional division was recreated within the shared space. • Vehicles' mean maximum speed decreased with high pedestrian density. Shared spaces are intended to constitute an attractive urban space for everyone by blending protected and unprotected road users. However, our previous study showed that pedestrians prefer the traditional division between protected and unprotected road users, at the same time as elderly pedestrians focused less on traffic when the division was recreated by large flowerpots. This follow-up study aimed to examine the effects of external factors, such as alternative design and pedestrian density, on motorists' subjective experiences, and the speed and placement of their vehicles within a shared space. To investigate this, Q-methodology was used to examine 32 motorists' subjective experiences, and video recordings were analysed to measure the speed and placement of 150 vehicles on Fisherman's Square in Västervik, Sweden, both without (75 vehicles) and with (75 vehicles) large flowerpots deployed. The motorists preferred when the large flowerpots were deployed to recreate the traditional division. The results also showed that both the large flowerpots and high pedestrian density decreased vehicles' mean maximum speed. The deployment of large flowerpots also decreased the distribution of vehicles over the square. Recreating some type of division between protected and unprotected road users appears to be preferred. Further studies are required to ascertain whether this solution works for all road user groups, including cyclists and e-scooter riders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban public recreation space (UPRS) is an integral part of the urban public space system. With the rise of urban tourism, these areas have evolved into important spaces for leisure and entertainment, serving both residents and tourists. However, the extent to which these spaces are shared by the two groups remains unclear. This study quantified the level of UPRS equally shared by residents and tourists in Wuhan, China, using geotagged check-in data from 74 UPRS. We evaluated and compared the resident–tourist sharing degree across various types of UPRS and explored its influencing factors using multiple linear regression (MLR). The results indicated the following: (1) The sharing degree was at a moderate level and it varied significantly across different types of UPRS. (2) Characteristic streets had the highest sharing degree, followed by cultural spaces, urban parks, and tourist scenic spots. (3) The number of nearby tourist attractions, road density, and number of transport stops positively affected sharing degree. These findings suggest that the combination layout of UPRS with other tourist attractions and enhanced accessibility can effectively improve the shared usage of UPRS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article embarks on a detailed examination of the square Dolní Náměstí in the town of Odolená Voda, concentrating on the implications of implementing shared spaces from perspectives of safety and traffic management. In the study advanced surveillance technologies were employed to systematically document the movements of a variety of road users, serving to pinpoint potential conflict zones. This designation underscores the necessity to reassess urban design and traffic control strategies to meet modern safety standards. Efforts were directed towards aligning urban infrastructure with pedestrian movement patterns, aiming to diminish safety risks and augment accessibility. The study hypothesizes that certain strategic alterations in urban design, such as the realignment of pedestrian pathways and the imposition of vehicle speed controls, could considerably improve the quality of shared spaces. Central to this research is the ambition to forge a new methodological framework for assessing the capacity of shared spaces mathematically. This initiative seeks to fill a significant research gap by quantitatively evaluating the capacity of shared spaces to fulfil a varied set of urban mobility requirements. This framework aims to establish a foundation for the systematic appraisal and enhancement of shared spaces. Recommendations for urban planners and traffic engineers are presented, promoting a design strategy that merges pedestrian preferences with traffic management objectives to cultivate safer, more efficient, and universally accessible urban areas. These recommendations endeavor to steer the evolution of shared spaces towards a harmonious balance of user needs. This work aims to make a substantive contribution to urban planning, traffic management, and pedestrian safety domains, paving the way for future exploratory studies and practical deployments in shared space advancements. It emphasizes the critical need to integrate both vehicular and pedestrian considerations into urban design processes, striving to create urban spaces conducive to sustainable mobility and improved urban living standards.

Workers' villages are social housing districts built during the early period of New China for accommodating state-owned factory employees and their families. By borrowing the Soviet collective housing model, workers' villages triggered significant socialist transformations architecturally and socially – shaping a new collective lifestyle. This article discusses the formation approach and manifestation of collective life in workers' villages focusing on one case: Tiexi Workers' Village in Shenyang City during the 1950s–1970s period. The evidence illustrates that through collectivization of living space and coordinating administration structure, a collective life represented by intense organized activities and personal interactions was indeed shaped in this pilot housing project. This paper sheds light on the collectiveness of the spatial pattern on the one hand, and the role it played in moulding everyday life under the socialist political/ideological circumstances of early New China on the other. This article concludes emphasizing the practical significance of this collective living model, which is more than just a historical proof of the past socio-spatiality but is also an important heritage beneficial to contemporary housing and communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Housing Environment / Środowisko Mieszkaniowe is the property of Chair of Housing Environment, Faculty of Architecture, Cracow University of Technology and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Rozwój Regionalny & Polityka Regionalna is the property of Uniwersytetu im. Adama Mickiewicza (IH UAM) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This study intended to identify the perception of quality of life (QoL) among architects, how architecture can impact QoL, and which barriers architects perceive to impact QoL. Numerous studies have emphasized the significance of the built environment in determining QoL, especially in institutional buildings. However, there has been less focus on how architects perceive QoL and how the concept is applied in their planning and design for residential buildings. The contribution of this study is to provide an increasingly important awareness of how to improve the architects' considerations to build for QoL. The study is based on qualitative data from in-depth interviews with ten architects and one workshop with seven architects. The participants were selected by quota sampling and were all partners or owners of Danish architectural firms that provide housing services and are representative of the Danish architectural industry. The results reveal that the perceptions of QoL among architects are linked to three primary dimensions: health, a sense of harmony, and the experience of enchantment. The participants perceived that architectural design could impact QoL in three primary dimensions: the environment, the experience of enchantment, and health. The most frequent perceived barriers are linked to the economy and resources, building codes and regulations, and knowledge and communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the conclusion of the Troubles in 1998, Belfast's tourism industry has boomed. Yet, tourists still visit Belfast to learn about the conflict and tour guides must present a narrative of the conflict that is both educational for tourists and respectful of locals' differing experiences. Conceptualized through the concept of the local gaze, this article uncovers how tour guides construct a narrative about the conflict in the shared city center. Data were collected during 3 months of ethnographic fieldwork, participant observation of guided tours and semi-structured interviews with tour guides. The findings show how the legacy of the conflict is incorporated into guided tours. Guides act with awareness of a local gaze during the tour. They are sensitive to the possibility of offending a local passerby when talking about the Troubles and are careful to neutralize their tour narrative. However, opinions about how the Troubles should be presented are not fixed and tour guides push the boundaries of what is considered acceptable. More broadly, the findings show that tourism can provide a platform for discussions about how the past can or should be remembered in post-conflict societies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores citizens’ interest in space sharing in private housing. It is based on a large-scale random sample citizen survey (N = 1448) conducted in Finland focusing on multiple aspects of low-carbon housing. Both quantitative preference-related results and qualitatively analysed open question responses show that the concept of shared space use is relatively low in popularity. However, there are differences depending on the space to be shared. Approximately half of the respondents are willing to use shared space for exercise, children playing and repairing activities, whereas a small fraction would use it for cooking, working and studying, or guest accommodation. Respondents’ backgrounds only slightly impact the willingness to share spaces. However, people in urban areas are more willing to share spaces. Larger floor area per inhabitant is negatively associated with the willingness to share spaces. This implies that sufficiency in housing is linked with space-sharing interests. This paper concludes that space-sharing is relatively unattractive under present conditions. Improving functionality and social trust by attractive design, clearer user rules and spreading good examples could be approaches to enhance the situation. Practice relevance Space-sharing as an operationalisation of housing sufficiency could be an attractive avenue for increasing the utilisation rate and efficiency of space use among households. Based on the results from a survey of Finnish citizens, space-sharing received somewhat mixed responses, although 75% of respondents indicated at least some willingness for sharing activities. Respondents with high climate-change awareness and those living in urban areas are associated positively with an interest in space-sharing. Future development needs to increase the attractiveness of sharing spaces include paying attention to the design of shared spaces, formulating clear user rules, creating functional booking and fee systems, and building awareness towards responsible user practices.

There has been a growing interest in Australia for public schools to share their facilities (space) with local communities, driven by the understanding that these substantial public investments have the potential to yield additional social, environmental, and economic benefits to their immediate neighbourhoods. Yet, there is limited critical research on this topic, particularly from an urban planning perspective. This article reflects on schools within the broader spatial environment to understand how outdoor recreational and green spaces of schools can be enhanced to optimize their role within the city and to advance “schools beyond schools.” This study deviates from prior research by examining the conceptual progress in urban planning that envisions educational institutions not merely as pedagogical entities but as pivotal urban nodes capable of enhancing the socio-spatial dynamics of shared spaces. Through a systematic review, this article exposes the concept of “shared space” in reference to educational spaces (school grounds). It draws on the Share Our Space program of the New South Wales Department of Education to provide an in-depth understanding of the “shared space” framework, analysing both the inherent advantages and potential challenges in the future evolution of this model. The findings revealed a prevalence of academic studies on shared use or joint use agreements as the primary approach for granting community access to school facilities. In these agreements, the main challenges to sharing school spaces with communities or partner organizations were managerial and legal considerations. The research emphasized the need for a collective reimagining of school facilities and a comprehensive re-evaluation of shared school space within the broader urban context, which is particularly vital in the pursuit of resilient urban futures. This will require addressing gaps in collaboration between education and planning disciplines, the participation of the communities they serve, and developing a frame of reference to guide the dialogue. Local planning authorities are crucial in facilitating and implementing such a multi-disciplinary approach to reposition school spaces as the focal point of sustainable city and community development.

• Investigating cyclist discomfort in shared spaces. • Varied discomfort in passing and meeting events among demographics. • Cycling experience enhances comfort for older adults. • Younger adults with e-scooter experience have lower cycling comfort. Shared spaces for active mobility prioritize the safety and comfort of vulnerable road users by segregating them from motorized vehicles. However, the diverse speed regimes of pedestrians and cyclists can lead to encounters that may affect their comfort. In addition, the very perception of comfort may vary across individuals depending on their demographics, and therefore the determinants of comfort and their effects may not be fixed across all individuals. Despite these complexities, there is limited research in understanding the heterogeneous interactions between cyclists and other road users in shared spaces. To bridge this gap, we conducted an intercept survey complemented by an experimental section involving 594 cyclists in Sweden. This study focuses on gaining insights into cyclists' experiences, particularly their comfort levels during 'passing' and 'meeting' events with other road users in shared spaces. We then used the collected data to develop a random effect latent class ordered probit model to scrutinize the determinants of cycling comfort in passing and meeting scenarios. The latent class specification is employed to account for unobserved heterogeneity in the data. Findings reveal that female cyclists generally perceive less comfort compared to their male counterparts in both scenarios. Passing events have a more negative impact on older adults, leading to less comfort compared to younger cyclists. We also found that previous cycling experience increases comfort in shared facilities, particularly for older adults. These results highlight the intricate nature of perceived comfort in interactions, particularly concerning demographic characteristics, contributing to the promotion of user diversity in shared spaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article embarks on a detailed examination of the square Dolní Náměstí in the town of Odolená Voda, concentrating on the implications of implementing shared spaces from perspectives of safety and traffic management. In the study advanced surveillance technologies were employed to systematically document the movements of a variety of road users, serving to pinpoint potential conflict zones. This designation underscores the necessity to reassess urban design and traffic control strategies to meet modern safety standards. Efforts were directed towards aligning urban infrastructure with pedestrian movement patterns, aiming to diminish safety risks and augment accessibility. The study hypothesizes that certain strategic alterations in urban design, such as the realignment of pedestrian pathways and the imposition of vehicle speed controls, could considerably improve the quality of shared spaces. Central to this research is the ambition to forge a new methodological framework for assessing the capacity of shared spaces mathematically. This initiative seeks to fill a significant research gap by quantitatively evaluating the capacity of shared spaces to fulfil a varied set of urban mobility requirements. This framework aims to establish a foundation for the systematic appraisal and enhancement of shared spaces. Recommendations for urban planners and traffic engineers are presented, promoting a design strategy that merges pedestrian preferences with traffic management objectives to cultivate safer, more efficient, and universally accessible urban areas. These recommendations endeavor to steer the evolution of shared spaces towards a harmonious balance of user needs. This work aims to make a substantive contribution to urban planning, traffic management, and pedestrian safety domains, paving the way for future exploratory studies and practical deployments in shared space advancements. It emphasizes the critical need to integrate both vehicular and pedestrian considerations into urban design processes, striving to create urban spaces conducive to sustainable mobility and improved urban living standards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of METU Journal of the Faculty of Architecture / Mimarlık Fakültesi Dergisi is the property of METU Journal of the Faculty of Architecture and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

One significant and simultaneously interesting problem in urban mobility has to do with the study of shared spaces where various categories of users coexist and act together. This paper aims to examine the behavior and preferences of pedestrians and cyclists, who both coexist in a shared space infrastructure along the seafront (which has a length of around 4.0 km) of the city of Thessaloniki, Greece. Furthermore, the problems caused by the coexistence, such as at the locations where there are pedestrian crossings on the bicycle lane, are recorded and evaluated. Traffic calming measures aimed at improving the existing situation in terms of safety and comfort for both pedestrians and cyclists are also explored. Data were collected through a web-based questionnaire survey, which was distributed via email to students and employees of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. A total of 1194 questionnaires were collected in the framework of the survey during the year 2021, including responses from both pedestrians and cyclists. The questionnaires were analyzed through the use of descriptive and inferential statistics; the latter method suggested several significant differences in how each group of users (pedestrians or cyclists) perceived their behavior compared with the other. Latent variable and path models were estimated to investigate the behavior and attitude of users towards the crossings, examined as a function of their perception towards the other group; perception about the benefits of the infrastructure; preference for additional interventions; and overall opinion about the quality of the shared space area. The results suggest that forms of aggressive behavior, preference towards using the crossings, and the perceived safety are affected by the aforementioned factors. The results of this study can inform decision takers and decision makers in the area of land use regarding policy recommendations for facilitating interactions between pedestrians and cyclists in shared spaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Robert Bellah’s article “Community Properly Understood…” is critical of the conventional conception of community as a product of consensus established by shared values and goals among people of common social reality. The need for such a critical approach is arguably encouraged by the rather imprecise deployment of the notion of community in the vast communitarian literature, a deployment which truly raises issues of concern over what the term ‘community’ really means. Bellah’s article is one of the numerous responses to this quest. This paper challenges Bellah’s view on community and offers some arguments to demonstrate why his conception of community may not be adequate. While the uniqueness of his argument is not in doubt, the paper argues that Bellah commits a straw man fallacy by conflating a normative question, “what ought we to do to achieve a working and progressive community?” with the descriptive question, “what is community?” The paper argues that an adequate conception of community must be such that its conception is acceptable to both the liberals and the communitarians. To achieve this, the paper introduces the notion of shared spaces to the conceptualization of the concept of community, and thereby arrives at the definition of community in terms with which both sides of the debate can relate. The paper concludes that with an appropriate concept of community, it would be obvious, contrary to the popular opinion, that liberals and communitarians are both committed to the survival of the community, and that they only differ in their respective approaches to achieving this common goal.

The intention-behavior relationship is examined in a keep-left experiment involving interactions of pedestrians and cyclists on a shared footpath in Singapore as a case study. Data collection entailed before-and-after on-site perception surveys and naturalistic observations from field-recorded video footages. The perception surveys involved 120 pedestrians and 119 cyclists in the before period, and 59 pedestrians and 60 cyclists in the after period. Movement profiles were captured for 303 pedestrians, 148 cyclists, and 90 pedestrian-cyclist interactions for the before period, and 262, 174, and 76, respectively for the after period. The findings suggest that the "keep left" markings on the footpath are generally effective in improving users' behavioral intention in keeping left. However, whereas cyclists did change their behavior, pedestrians did not do so which is rationalized as being due to their previously formed habit. The findings reveal a weak intention-behavior relationship for pedestrians' habitual behavior. As consistent with the unchanged pedestrians' behavior, no distinct changes in the pedestrian-cyclist interaction patterns were observed after the "keep left" treatment. There was no significant change in the perceived conflict level and the safety level as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this qualitative case study, we investigated how active learning strategies discussed and practiced in the face-to-face classroom context were transferred to an online modality by four faculty fellows of Indiana University's Mosaic Faculty Fellows Program. This program is intended to support faculty members' perception of how classroom space influences approaches to active learning. In 2020, all faculty members had to transition their courses online, and the semistructured interview findings of this study showed that faculty members used three online space types to support the continued use of active learning approaches when transitioning to online: (1) core space to replicate existing practices (e.g., video conference and text), (2) shared space to supplement existing practices, and (3) augmented space to transform existing practices (e.g., activities that merge the physical world and online space). We concluded that preparing faculty members to effectively use active learning approaches in in-person classrooms can also guide active learning approaches in online teaching environments. The study also discussed the need for professional development programs that address support for active learning in different modalities by considering augmented space and its impact on student engagement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multi-view clustering aims to assign appropriate labels for multiple views data in an unsupervised manner, which explores the underlying clustering structures shared by multi-view data. Currently, multi-view data is commonly collected from various feature spaces with different properties or distributions. Existing methods mainly utilize the original features to reconstruct the low-dimensional representation of all views, which fail to take the latent relationship and complementarity from multiple views in a unified space into consideration. Therefore, it is urgent to explore a unified space from multi-view ensemble to address the distribution differences between views. In light of this, we learn an interpretable shared space via rank constraint for multi-view clustering (SSRC), which directly reconstructs multi-view data into shared space to explore the underlying complementarity and low-dimensional representation from multiple views. Specifically, SSRC embeds the low-dimensional representation into a reproducing kernel Hilbert space to learn the similarity matrix, which ensures the high correlation between the shared similarity matrix and low-dimensional representation. Furthermore, the rank constraint is imposed on the Laplacian matrix so that the connected component of the similarity matrix is equal to the number of clusters. It can directly obtain the final clustering results in a unified framework through regularization constraints. Then, an ADMM based optimization scheme is devised to seek the optimal solution efficiently. Experiments on 6 benchmark multi-view datasets corroborate that our approach outperforms the state-of-the-art methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Germany, approximately 2.7 million crashes occurred in 2019. Especially vulnerable road users (VRU) have a high risk of being seriously injured or killed in traffic. Within the safe system approach, changes to the traffic infrastructure have been implemented to increase VRU safety. The creation of so-called shared spaces, in which all road users are encouraged to negotiate priority, is part of these efforts. Even though the concept has been known and applied for more than 40 years, comparatively little is known about interactions between different road users and methods to quantify interactions in shared spaces. The aim of this study is to investigate similarities and differences in quantifying the level of severity of encounters between pedestrians and motorised vehicles applying the Swedish traffic conflicts technique (STCT) and the pedestrian-vehicle conflicts analysis (PVCA). The STCT integrates the factors conflicting speed (CS) and time-to-accident (TA) to arrive at a severity level. In contrast, with four factors, the PVCA integrates more elements: time-to-collision (TTC, corresponding to TA), severity of evasive action, complexity of evasive action, and distance-to-collision (DTC). Trajectory and video data of a shared space were recorded using the Application Platform for Intelligent Mobile Units (AIM) in Ulm, Germany. 1364 interactions were randomly selected. Due to different exclusion criteria, such as interaction partners not being a car or pedestrian, missing values, and detection errors, 69 encounters were available for analyses. Using the PVCA, nine encounters were classified as critical and 60 as non-critical interactions. In contrast, computing the values based on the STCT, only three of the 69 encounters were categorised as critical. The results of a Spearman rank correlation did not show a significant correlation between the severity categories of the PVCA and severity levels of the STCT (r = 0.03, p = 0.78). An additional analysis of the encounters ranked as critical by the PVCA but as non-critical by the STCT showed that all six encounters had a large temporal distance (> 2 s) combined with very small spatial distance (< 5 m for vehicles and < 2.5 m for pedestrians). While the PVCA and STCT yielded similar results in most encounters, this could not be confirmed for all. Results indicate that spatial distance may contribute to the severity of encounters between pedestrians and vehicles in a shared space.

In this qualitative case study, we investigated how active learning strategies discussed and practiced in the face-to-face classroom context were transferred to an online modality by four faculty fellows of Indiana University’s Mosaic Faculty Fellows Program. This program is intended to support faculty members’ perception of how classroom space influences approaches to active learning. In 2020, all faculty members had to transition their courses online, and the semi-structured interview findings of this study showed that faculty members used three online space types to support the continued use of active learning approaches when transitioning to online: (1) core space to replicate existing practices (e.g., video conference and text), (2) shared space to supplement existing practices, and (3) augmented space to transform existing practices (e.g., activities that merge the physical world and online space). We concluded that preparing faculty members to effectively use active learning approaches in in-person classrooms can also guide active learning approaches in online teaching environments. The study also discussed the need for professional development programs that address support for active learning in different modalities by considering augmented space and its impact on student engagement.

• UK survey and observation study of interactions with autonomous vehicles (AVs). • Pedestrians not perceived to be less vulnerable around AVs than around normal cars. • Pedestrians did not take undue risks around AVs at an undesignated crossing point. • Pedestrians, joggers, and cyclists yielded to AVs during passing in a shared space. • Positive (short-term) outlook for road safety but some concerns for mobility. Researchers have predicted that "vulnerable road users" (VRUs) such as pedestrians will feel less vulnerable and thus take more risks around autonomous vehicles (AVs) than around human-operated vehicles (HOVs). However, data on the behaviours pedestrians are likely to display during passing as well as crossing interactions with AVs – particularly from naturalistic studies – are currently lacking. Such data could help inform AV system designers and authorities, as well as researchers. So, a novel study was conducted in London, UK. Perceived vulnerability was gauged via a survey on hypothetical pedestrian-vehicle interactions (N = 267). Behaviours were observed during real crossing and passing interactions with AV shuttle pods in a shared space (N = 330). While pedestrians were the main focus, joggers and cyclists were also frequenting the observation site and were included in the analysis of passing interactions. The survey results showed that pedestrians were not perceived to be less vulnerable around AVs. Diminishing initial boldness in the crossing interactions, and high yielding in the passing interactions, supported this, demonstrating that VRUs were not taking undue risks; rather, they appeared to be experiencing some uncertainty and discomfort. Further results showed other VRU behaviours (gap acceptance, inattention, hesitation, changes in speed, explicit communication, a side preference) may be relevant in AV interactions, but not necessarily to the same degree as when around HOVs or not in line with UK road rules. Positive conclusions were drawn for AV programming, and for safety, at least in the short term, but concerns regarding mobility need addressing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The reproduction of space along the border in post-conflict divided cities is an important issue in relation to urban resilience. Nicosia, widely known as the last divided capital city in Europe, is the capital city of Turkish Cypriots in the north and Greek Cypriots in the south. The Buffer Zone was formalized in 1974 as an emergency measure against inter-communal clashes. Further, the walled city of Nicosia was bisected, and thus urban and social unity became a relic of the past. In addition, the city center became the edge of the two bisected halves. The Nicosia Master Plan (NMP) was initiated by professionals on both sides. Moreover, it was in the first planning attempt that Nicosia was considered as a whole. The NMP was the first self-reliant quest that was developed for the purpose of finding a solution that could operate without having to wait for a political consensus. The Ledra Palace crossing opened in 2003 as the first opening on the border that ran across the United Nations (UN)-controlled Buffer Zone in Nicosia. Such a crossing possessed a symbolic meaning; the two communities feel as if they are socially united, and it encouraged NGOs and artists to step forward and allow the border to be perceived not as a boundary but as a shared space. The Buffer Fringe Festival is one of the recent cultural organizations that was held along the divide of Nicosia and it is also the festival scrutinized in this paper. This festival was designed to explore the boundary as a phenomenon experienced in daily life; furthermore, discussions were had regarding how the Buffer Fringe actors and artists perceived the festival as a peace-making tool. Together with visual and verbal records, the analysis conducted in this paper is based on qualitative data within a theoretical framework concerning body–space connections. In this paper, the aim is to emphasize how festivals can function beyond the limits of borders, provide an arena for connecting people, and exemplifies how one can interpret the spatial transformation of a space within the context of post-conflict divided cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Robert Bellah's article "Community Properly Understood..." is critical of the conventional conception of community as a product of consensus established by shared values and goals among people of common social reality. The need for such a critical approach is arguably encouraged by the rather imprecise deployment of the notion of community in the vast communitarian literature, a deployment which truly raises issues of concern over what the term 'community' really means. Bellah's article is one of the numerous responses to this quest. This paper challenges Bellah's view on community and offers some arguments to demonstrate why his conception of community may not be adequate. While the uniqueness of his argument is not in doubt, the paper argues that Bellah commits a straw man fallacy by conflating a normative question, "what ought we to do to achieve a working and progressive community?" with the descriptive question, "what is community?" The paper argues that an adequate conception of community must be such that its conception is acceptable to both the liberals and the communitarians. To achieve this, the paper introduces the notion of shared spaces to the conceptualization of the concept of community, and thereby arrives at the definition of community in terms with which both sides of the debate can relate. The paper concludes that with an appropriate concept of community, it would be obvious, contrary to the popular opinion, that liberals and communitarians are both committed to the survival of the community, and that they only differ in their respective approaches to achieving this common goal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urbanization is bringing together various modes of transport, and with that, there are challenges to maintaining the safety of all road users, especially vulnerable road users (VRUs). There is a need for street designs that encourages cooperation between road users. Shared space is a street design approach that softens the demarcation of vehicles and pedestrian traffic by reducing traffic rules, traffic signals, road marking, and regulations. Understanding the interactions and trajectory formations of various VRUs will facilitate the design of safer shared spaces. In line with this goal, this paper aims to develop a methodology for generating VRUs trajectories that accounts for behaviors and social interactions. We develop a receding horizon optimization-based pedestrian trajectory planning algorithm capable of modeling pedestrian trajectories in a variety of shared space scenarios. Focusing on three scenarios-group interactions, unidirectional interaction, and fixed obstacle interaction-case studies are performed to demonstrate the strengths of the resulting generative model. Additionally, generated trajectories are validated using two benchmark datasets – DUT and TrajNet++. The three case studies are shown to yield low or near-zero Mean Euclidean Distance and Final Displacement Error values supporting the performance validity of the models. We also analyze gait parameters (step length and step frequency) to further demonstrate the model’s capability at generating realistic pedestrian trajectories.

• Young and middle-aged pedestrians were not affected by the shared space design. • Elderly pedestrians glanced more often at traffic-relevant objects without flowerpots deployed. • Not all participants knew how to act in shared space without flowerpots deployed. • All participants knew how to act in shared space with flowerpots deployed. Shared spaces , in the context of road transport, often refer to areas shared by unprotected and protected road users and intended to facilitate a living city space for every-one. A basic idea behind shared spaces is to create traffic safety by inducing some uncertainty. This study investigates how young, middle-aged, and elderly pedestrians experience shared space, as well as whether and, if so, how two shared space designs (without and with large flowerpots) affect this experience. Thirty-seven participants, divided into three age groups, participated in the study, conducted in Fisherman's Square, Västervik, Sweden. An adjacent non-signal-regulated pedestrian crossing was used as a control. Two studies – visual scanning and Q studies – were combined. In the visual scanning study, eye-tracking examined how the two designs affected the participants' visual scanning behaviour (i.e., what participants looked at) as pedestrians. In the Q-study, Q-methodology was used to examine how the two designs affected the participants' experiences as pedestrians. The visual scanning study showed that different age groups were affected in different ways by designs without and with large flowerpots in the shared space. While the middle-aged participants always glanced more often at traffic-relevant objects, and young participants always glanced equally often at traffic-relevant and non-traffic-relevant objects, the elderly participants changed their visual scanning behaviour depending on the design. Without large flowerpots deployed, the elderly participants glanced more often at traffic-relevant than non-traffic-relevant objects. No such difference was obtained when large flowerpots were deployed. The Q-study showed that participants, regardless of age, experienced no great uncertainty in this shared space. The perceived uncertainty, which nevertheless existed, was reduced with large flowerpots deployed to recreate the traditional division with clear zones where pedestrians could stay in relatively car-free areas while motor vehicles had clear paths to travel along. The results suggest that shared space, without large flowerpots, succeeded in inducing some uncertainty, especially among middle-aged and elderly pedestrians. However, deploying large flowerpots seemed to decrease this uncertainty, especially among elderly pedestrians. The major concern prompted by these results is how this decreased uncertainty affects traffic safety. Shared space also needs to be studied from the car driver's perspective to understand the interaction between different road user groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction In the past few decades, the social conditions of cities have changed the children’s urban life and imposed a huge impact on their freedom of movement and independence in the public realm. Moreover, many parents are caught in “social traps,” and are consequently more likely to restrict their children’s independent, active movement in the public realm. While Children’s Independent Mobility (CIM) originally focused on their independent travel to and from school, the concept has further expanded to embrace their independent, active mobility and play around their neighborhoods without adult supervision or accompaniment. Thus, this paper attempts to study the shared spaces in residential complexes, providing a child’s first independent outdoor experience, and identify the qualities that can contribute to and improve (CIM) in such areas. Theoretical Framework As an essential quality of a child-friendly environment, CIM is an indicator of children’s acceptance in the society, which provides them with the opportunity to be present in the public, play in the neighborhood without adult supervision or accompaniment, and interact with others and develop their social circles. It provides a wider variety of opportunities for socialization and hangouts among children and contributes to their sense of identity. Therefore, CIM is considered as an important quality that aids children’s physical, social, and cognitive development. The main factors that influence CIM include interpersonal characteristics, a sense of community and social environment, and the quality of the built environment. With regard to children’s interpersonal characteristics, one has to take into consideration the importance of age and sex in their mobility and play patterns in the public realm. Children aged 8 to 12 years are more likely to receive permission from their parents to go out and play than younger children. There are also clear differences in the ways that boys and girls use and experience urban neighborhoods and spaces; generally, boys enjoy greater freedom of mobility and are more visible in neighborhoods and playgrounds. The social environment of a neighborhood is influenced by the level of social cohesion, the existence of shared values and norms, a family’s mental image of their place of residence, their concerns about the presence of strangers, the likelihood of crime and delinquency, and child abuse in the area. In turn, it exhibits impacts on the level of independence that children might experience in their use of public spaces in the neighborhood. The Physical characteristics affect CIM on two scales: the neighborhood where the residential complex is located and its shared spaces. At the larger scale of the neighborhood, the compact city form, which provides children with short distances between various destinations, increases their chances of active, independent mobility. Furthermore, such areas improve children’s sense of security in public spaces as they enjoy higher population density. In the shared spaces of residential complexes, the characteristics that are closely associated with CIM include density, pedestrian-friendliness, cleanliness, access to green spaces, and proximity to nature. One has to take into consideration that other environmental characteristics, including the climate conditions, air quality, and temperature affect the time for which children would like to stay and play in public areas. Methodology The research employed the grounded theory methodology to construct a theory from the collected data. Due to the necessity of obtaining insights from various groups of stakeholders, the data were collected through 107 semi-structured interviews to reach saturation. This included 53 children, 38 parents and caregivers, and 16 professionals. Given the importance of the physical qualities of the environment, direct field observations were also made in 15 selected residential complexes in Tehran. The qualitative data analysis was carried out through the MAXQDA software, where 74 concepts, 25 principal codes, and 9 categories were extracted. The codes and categories were integrated and optimized, and their relationship with the core of the research was specified. Results and Discussions The results of the data analysis demonstrate that the causal and intervening conditions of children’s independent mobility include the inadequacy of the legal framework and the inefficiency in implementation of plans and their monitoring and evaluation systems. Moreover, CIM is affected by the qualities of the social environment where children live, and the social acceptance and awareness of the community can thus play a role in promotion of CIM strategies. The results further reveal that strategies used to improve the social atmosphere within the residential complex in favor of more independent, freer presence of children include improvement of the physical qualities of the environment, involving attempts made to keep children safe and secure from all possible risks and threats, to plan for playful spaces, to facilitate access to nature and green spaces, and to keep the spaces clean and healthy. As a consequence, the children will enjoy higher degrees of mental and physical health. Conclusion Social traps and lack of responsive quality control and evaluation systems for child-friendly residential complexes emphasize the necessity to develop a qualitative framework to promote opportunities for children’s independent mobility and unsupervised play in shared spaces in residential complexes, while meeting parents’ expectations from the quality of the built environment to permit CIM within these spaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under the background of population aging, while the living environment of the elderly is improved, it is necessary to pay attention to their spiritual needs and build an elderly-friendly and livable social environment. In this paper, through field investigation and research on social behavior and space, the social behavior and needs of the elderly in a university in the north were analyzed, and based on the social characteristics and psychological needs of the elderly and students in the university, the construction of a dynamic space with multi-generational shared space as the core was proposed to develop a social platform that integrates virtual and reality, so as to provide reference for the updating of social space in college communities in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Streets with an increasingly important place function play a significant role in the contemporary discourse on sustainable cities. The paper addresses urban streets that, observed from the urban planning perspective, have the potential to be transformed into either commercial or residential shared streets. After defining urban planning parameters identified as characteristic of shared streets, streets were quantified based on an analysis of the existing shared streets in Central Europe. By setting up distinctive scenarios that could help to detect specific types of streets, open spatial datasets were used for the mapping and identification of streets that could be transformed into shared streets. The methodology was tested on the example of the city of Maribor in Slovenia. The results of the research show that the selected urban planning parameters can help to identify streets with transformation potential, whereas the basic parameters, such as the building use and the length and width of the street, help us to better understand the urban fabric in which street spaces acquire new functions. The presented mapping method could serve as a testing tool for experts, planners, decision-makers, and the interested public to identify potential street transformations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the traffic street design field, the shared space concept can help create appealing and attractive streets that solve people's problems, such as overcrowding, traffic jams, and congestion. This paper involves depicting the importance of the shared design based on the social model to reflect the people's movement in the street. The data were collected through monitoring and interviewing people who move down the city of Sulaimani. The approach involves tackling different circumstances in overcrowded areas and a free flow of pedestrians in the city. The information collected is essential in making planning recommendations to improve the experience and the social wellbeing of the street pedestrians. Then in the conclusion reviews the influences in this research and shows clearly the influences and recommendations for the shared spaces to draw more a flexibility street for pedestrians. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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In collaborative reasoning about what causes the seasons, phases of the moon, and tides, participants (three to four per group) introduce ideas by gesturing depictively in personal space. Other group members copy and vary these gestures, imbuing their gesture spaces with similar conceptual properties. This leads at times to gestures being produced in shared space as members elaborate and contest a developing group model. Gestures in the shared space mostly coincide with conversational turns; more rarely, participants gesture collaboratively as they enact a joint conception. An emergent shared space is sustained by the joint focus and actions of participants and may be repositioned, reoriented, or reshaped to meet changing representational demands as the discourse develops. Shared space is used alongside personal spaces, and further research could shed light on how gesture placement and other markers (such as eye gaze) contribute to the meaning or function of gestures in group activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Shared mobility spaces need to be understood as complex sites of practice. • These spaces often present partial and dysfunctional approaches to sharing space. • In the UK, shared mobility spaces represent limiting approaches for promoting sustainable mobility. • Researchers need to question whether shared spaces promote sustainability. Shared mobility spaces have become increasingly popular internationally as attempts to increase the uptake of active travel modes (walking, cycling and running) have turned pavements, shopping streets and public spaces into multi-mode mobility spaces. From a sustainability perspective, policy makers in the UK have argued that shared spaces afford greater opportunities for cycling off-road in areas with busy traffic, whilst in public spaces they provide greater accessibility and connectivity to a wider range of users. Yet there has been little conceptual critique and empirical research on the impacts of how individuals and groups negotiate what are new forms of public space in the UK. Accordingly, in this paper we use insights from the new mobilities paradigm and social practice theories to analyse data gathered from qualitative research with different travel mode users in the city of Exeter (South-west England) to demonstrate the complexity of shared spaces, the tensions they produce and the challenges they may pose for promoting sustainable mobility. First, we explore the practices that unfold within shared spaces and demonstrate how researchers need to appreciate the social complexity of negotiating new and conflictual sites of practice. Second, we examine how a fragmented approach to the design of shared spaces may compromise the development of sustainable mobility practices through representing a partial and dysfunctional approach towards sharing space in cities. Third, we demonstrate the problematics of deploying shared spaces as short-term and politically expedient devices for delivering individually-focused behavioural goals instead of radical alternatives that embed sustainable mobility infrastructure into urban fabrics. We conclude by suggesting that to realise the benefits of collectively sharing mobility space in the UK requires long-term changes in urban infrastructure that can embed practices and promote a shift away from the political dominance of the private vehicle as the axis around which urban development pivots. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The reproduction of space along the border in post-conflict divided cities is an important issue in relation to urban resilience. Nicosia, widely known as the last divided capital city in Europe, is the capital city of Turkish Cypriots in the north and Greek Cypriots in the south. The Buffer Zone was formalized in 1974 as an emergency measure against inter-communal clashes. Further, the walled city of Nicosia was bisected, and thus urban and social unity became a relic of the past. In addition, the city center became the edge of the two bisected halves. The Nicosia Master Plan (NMP) was initiated by professionals on both sides. Moreover, it was in the first planning attempt that Nicosia was considered as a whole. The NMP was the first self-reliant quest that was developed for the purpose of finding a solution that could operate without having to wait for a political consensus. The Ledra Palace crossing opened in 2003 as the first opening on the border that ran across the United Nations (UN)-controlled Buffer Zone in Nicosia. Such a crossing possessed a symbolic meaning; the two communities feel as if they are socially united, and it encouraged NGOs and artists to step forward and allow the border to be perceived not as a boundary but as a shared space. The Buffer Fringe Festival is one of the recent cultural organizations that was held along the divide of Nicosia and it is also the festival scrutinized in this paper. This festival was designed to explore the boundary as a phenomenon experienced in daily life; furthermore, discussions were had regarding how the Buffer Fringe actors and artists perceived the festival as a peace-making tool. Together with visual and verbal records, the analysis conducted in this paper is based on qualitative data within a theoretical framework concerning body–space connections. In this paper, the aim is to emphasize how festivals can function beyond the limits of borders, provide an arena for connecting people, and exemplifies how one can interpret the spatial transformation of a space within the context of post-conflict divided cities.

Art and design students' occupation and use of physical studio spaces have decreased and altered during the Covid 19 pandemic, and online learning spaces have become increasingly important. This case study explores the value of collective memories of shared space in the creation and inhabitation of online studio, using recalled narrative and thematic analysis to inform refinement of the virtual studio used during a unique year. Interior design practice is rooted in collective human interactions within the built environment. We describe the positive effect familiar layout and language have on interior design students' ability to engage effectively in online studio activities, thus enabling students to feel optimistic about the events they have experienced and highlight the effectiveness of the events. Feedback from students and staff provides insight into the influence of digital proxies for space, and the use of familiar language affects the perception of online studio. We conclude by testing our early findings, describing elements the student body found most supportive and propose how we may further expand this research to provide a basis for designing effective and engaging virtual studio spaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A theoretical framework is developed from various behavioural theories to predict pedestrian-cyclist interactive behaviour in shared space. • Structural equation modelling (SEM) is adopted to validate the framework using 592 perception survey responses. • Pedestrians adjust their behaviour (compensate) for their own risks and act more cautiously but take advantage of cyclists' risks and act less cautiously. • From the safety perspective, overtaking interactions are more critical than on-coming interactions. Commuting on space shared by active mobility users such as pedestrians and cyclists is of great safety concerns due to users' differences in sizes and speeds. This provides the impetus to study the interactive behaviour of pedestrians and cyclists along shared footpaths in Singapore, which is considered as a type of non-motorised shared space. Online survey responses from 292 pedestrians and 300 cyclists were gathered. The data were analysed using structural equation modelling based on a theoretical framework that integrates various behaviour theories. In essence, the findings suggest that pedestrians adjust their behaviour (compensate) for their own perceived risk level and behave more cautiously if the risks are higher. However, as they perceive cyclists' risk level to be relatively higher, pedestrians tend to be less cautious (than the cyclists). On the contrary, cyclists compensate for pedestrians' risk level. Moreover, from safety perspective, overtaking interactions are more critical than on-coming interactions in terms of safety and users' behaviour control. A better understanding of the potential risks and respective right-of-way is important. With better behavioural control, users are more likely to behave positively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to improve the comfort and functions of the old living shared space environment, and enhance the suitability of the shared space ecological environment, in this paper, an old living area shared space planning method based on the improvement of the ecological environment is proposed. The ENVI met model combined with one-dimensional and three-dimensional algorithms was established, and the microclimate environment was simulated through the calculation of the thermal stress relation ship between vegetation and air. In addition, the shared space in the old residential area is planned from four aspects: architectural layout, activity venues, landscape greening and road organization. Ac cording to the simulation results of ENVI-met, the layout of the building and the location of the event venue were planned by "bearing the shade and embracing the sun and side by side staggered layout. In the end, road grades and transportation methods combined with plant morphological characteristics were used to complete road organization and land scape greening planning. The experimental results show that the shared space planned by this method can ensure the best environmental suitability and sunshine effect. After planning, its temperature drops by an average of about 12 °C, which can improve the comfort of the human body in the shared space. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Germany, approximately 2.7 million crashes occurred in 2019. Especially vulnerable road users (VRU) have a high risk of being seriously injured or killed in traffic. Within the safe system approach, changes to the traffic infrastructure have been implemented to increase VRU safety. The creation of so-called shared spaces, in which all road users are encouraged to negotiate priority, is part of these efforts. Even though the concept has been known and applied for more than 40 years, comparatively little is known about interactions between different road users and methods to quantify interactions in shared spaces. The aim of this study is to investigate similarities and differences in quantifying the level of severity of encounters between pedestrians and motorised vehicles applying the Swedish traffic conflicts technique (STCT) and the pedestrian-vehicle conflicts analysis (PVCA). The STCT integrates the factors conflicting speed (CS) and time-to-accident (TA) to arrive at a severity level. In contrast, with four factors, the PVCA integrates more elements: time-to-collision (TTC, corresponding to TA), severity of evasive action, complexity of evasive action, and distance-to-collision (DTC). Trajectory and video data of a shared space were recorded using the Application Platform for Intelligent Mobile Units (AIM) in Ulm, Germany. 1364 interactions were randomly selected. Due to different exclusion criteria, such as interaction partners not being a car or pedestrian, missing values, and detection errors, 69 encounters were available for analyses. Using the PVCA, nine encounters were classified as critical and 60 as non-critical interactions. In contrast, computing the values based on the STCT, only three of the 69 encounters were categorised as critical. The results of a Spearman rank correlation did not show a significant correlation between the severity categories of the PVCA and severity levels of the STCT (r = 0.03, p = 0.78). An additional analysis of the encounters ranked as critical by the PVCA but as non-critical by the STCT showed that all six encounters had a large temporal distance (> 2 s) combined with very small spatial distance (< 5 m for vehicles and < 2.5 m for pedestrians). While the PVCA and STCT yielded similar results in most encounters, this could not be confirmed for all. Results indicate that spatial distance may contribute to the severity of encounters between pedestrians and vehicles in a shared space. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The influence of the types of architectural space on the residents’ consciousness of shared space, targeting mixed-status-family traditional residential buildings in the West Street area of Quanzhou City, Fujian Province, China was studied. The research was conducted through surveying, mapping, and an investigation of the current state of the buildings’ atria by using data statistics and function-fitting analysis. The study included the following four stages: 1. Because of modernization and urbanization, traditional buildings have been transforming from single-family to multi-family, leading to amalgamation. 2. With the emergence of amalgamated buildings, the shared space between households has changed from a street space to an atrium space, which is the most influential and includes three types: porch enclosure, hallway connection, and direct pathway. 3. The shared space consciousness of occupants was simulated by investigating how the overflow (two- and three-dimensional) of the atrium has been used. 4. The influence of space types on the consciousness of shared space is elucidated using data statistics and function-fitting analysis.

Modelling and simulation of mixed-traffic zones is an essential tool for transportation planners to assess safety, efficiency, and human-friendliness of future urban areas. This paper addresses the calibration and transferability of existing shared space models for pedestrians and cars. Specifically, our first contribution is enhancing the Game-Theoretic Social Force Model (GSFM) by a generic methodology for largely automated model calibration. The second contribution is an investigation into the transferability of shared space models. We define criteria for model transferability and present a case study, in which we evaluate transferability of the model we constructed based on the ''German data set'' to a different shared space environment from China. Our results indicate that although the model faces difficulties replicating road users' motion from a new environment, by adding social norms (derived through analysis) of that environment to our model, satisfactory improvement of model accuracy can be obtained with little effort. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In shared space, all road users are encouraged to legally occupy the same road space with little physical or visual separation. Complex social interactions that appear in these spaces create complicated ecosystems, which make the estimation of future impacts difficult using classic modeling techniques. This study introduces a concept Agent-Based Simulation Model to represent this complex ecosystem at a network level. The proposed model is based on the methodological framework of Multi-Agent Transport Simulation (MATSim). Two critical factors are integrated in this iterative simulation process, i.e. traffic complexity level that influences network supply and perceived safety that affects mode and route choices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In its central location at the intersection of the Palestinian cities of Ramallah and Al-Bireh, the popular market of Al-Hisba represents one of the most vital spots in the area. A singular “informal” setting, the market occupies an area of about six dunams in the governorate’s center, consisting of continuous open spaces laid out among several commercial and public buildings. Without formal entrances to define its borders, there is an unmistakable atmosphere that characterizes the market and contributes to its charm, creating an experience of passing through an invisible filter as one goes inside. Beyond this intangible edge, voices of sellers promoting their goods can be heard echoing throughout the space, leading along linear zones into a central plaza, where sellers have organized their stalls underneath a metallic coverage. Over the approximate range of sixty years, those spaces expanded from what had been planned as an indoor market inside a building from the fifties and grew into the extensive, loose market we see today.

Understanding and interpreting landscapes entails the encoding of symbols and deciphering of codes left on the palimpsest. Interpreting the Neolithic and more significantly Neolithic temple sites, is challenging and rife with contested meanings. The overall landscape is used by adherents of the New Religious Movements, on faith-based visits, and as an extension, spiritual fulfilment is sought in the Neolithic temples of Malta. The same landscape is then part of both the inner and outer pilgrimage in the context of not only the modern designer religions, but also of the established religions. This paper presents a case study of the Neolithic temple sites located in the Maltese Islands, which are significantly located at the centre of the Mediterranean Sea. The paper suggests that although these are shared spaces they are also contested space as the interpretation of these sites are firmly biased.

Though the concept of shared spaces had been known in Groupware and Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) for quite a while, it did not become popular until the arrival of the Internet and social software. Implicitly, the concept of shared spaces has penetrated many IT-areas, including the area of Business Process Management. Though shared spaces are used in many systems and tools, like Google Drive and Projectplace, there is a lack of research investigating this usage in a generic way. The article aims to fill this gap by introducing a generic model of a Business Process Support (BPS) system based on shared space that supports the comparison, analysis and design of BPS systems. In addition, the article goes in more details on one design issue – the structuring of shared spaces. This is done by analyzing and comparing two different BPS systems that exploit the concept of shared spaces, though implicitly. These systems use different approaches to shared space structuring. The first one organizes the information by grouping similar types of items without regard to the flow of activities in a business process, while the other organizes the information around groups of activities that are usually completed as a block. Which model to choose in a particular situation depends on the characteristics of the business process and its participants. In order to facilitate this choice, the article offers a number of guidelines derived from the experience of using the two BPS systems in practice. The article also discusses in what circumstances BPS systems with shared spaces are preferable to traditional workflow BPS systems.