Assessment of Users' Satisfaction in Public Spaces: Volume 2

Public spaces are pivotal in fostering health, well-being, and community connections. These spaces provide vital opportunities for physical activity, mental rejuvenation, and social interaction, contributing significantly to overall quality of life. While the pandemic underscored the importance of accessible outdoor areas for coping with stress and maintaining well-being, the focus has shifted to creating sustainable and inclusive environments catering to evolving societal needs and challenges.

Contemporary strategies must encompass inclusivity, resilience, and the seamless integration of smart technologies to create adaptive environments. As public spaces undergo post-pandemic transformations, addressing community-driven urban interventions and participatory designs that foster collaboration and cohabitation is imperative. In addition, environmental and climate-responsive planning has become indispensable for sustainability and ecological protection.

Within this context, understanding and improving users' satisfaction requires evaluating both the objective attributes and subjective experiences of space design and its features. By embracing interdisciplinary approaches, urban public spaces can continue to respond effectively to social, environmental, and health-related dimensions, nurturing citizens’ well-being and a sense of belonging.

Research themes welcomed by this Research Topic include, but are not limited to:

• User experience and well-being in public spaces;

• Urban design strategies for inclusivity and resilience;

• Smart technologies and digital integration in public spaces;

• Community-driven urban interventions and participatory design;

• Environmental and climate-responsive urban planning;

• The role of communal spaces in high-density living environments;

• Vertical urbanism and its impact on social engagement;

• Integrating nature and biophilic elements in shared spaces;

• Post-pandemic shifts in the perception and usage of semi-public or public spaces;

• Strategies for designing inclusive and accessible elevated public spaces;

• Exploring the impact of extreme weather conditions on urban public space usage;

• Comfort and quality of public spaces.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Review
• Systematic Review

Keywords: Urban public spaces, Users' satisfaction, Participatory design, Quality of public spaces, Public spaces for a changing public life, User experience and well-being in public spaces

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.