Multicultural needs and the perception of central public spaces in major Lithuanian cities

Abstract

The paper presents an analysis of the needs and perception of different ethnic groups with regard to public spaces in the central areas of major Lithuanian cities, and an evaluation of the possibilities for implementing solutions to them, in order to highlight the needs within the spatial structures. Three research methods were chosen to determine the importance of the needs of different cultures when creating public spaces. The first is a sociological survey of the opinion of different ethnic groups based on three main models of environmental psychology: the natural, physical and the social and behavioural environments. The second is a stimulatory-comparative sociological survey of the opinion of different ethnic groups, and the third is the expert assessment of the level of attractiveness of existing public spaces in major Lithuanian cities based on Nikos Salingaros’ parameters according to a classification of visual information into morphological/structural and harmony-related evaluation parameters, which were evaluated by respondents and by observations in situ. The main findings of the research showed the importance of the needs of different cultures in public space, and the principle of harmony between human beings and the environment was highlighted in the main morphological and harmony-related features of public spaces, such as spaciousness, small architectural elements, dominant objects/buildings and the abundance of trees/greenery.