Footprint of Life in City Investigation on the Meaning of Social Space in Indian Cities

Today paying attention to the citizens’ interaction and social lives has created some needs in urban design. So that social spaces have become an important subject in our cities. The survey on the characteristics and factors of forming these spaces constitutes a part of theories of urban studies. Considering landscape architecture as domestic/native knowledge and careers/occupations, it appears that these factors in different territories exactly belong to the same culture and people. This text investigates on social spaces of India to reply this question that “in which principles and factors the meaning of social space, Indian cities are common with the current theories or have differences?” In this research having done by observation and library study, lots of discrepancies have been detected in physical conditions and life flow; differences which have made great gap between Indian social spaces and modern types at the first glance. It seems that the meaning and the forming factors of social space in Indian cities differs from descriptions and identified factors in the theoretical foundations. Thus, the equal factors cannot be recommended for social spaces shaping around the world. For finding the answer of this research, field studies have been done in the variety of type, function and physics from religious spaces to business ones and from old to new textures. These spaces are separated into two categories as Indian organic space (mostly old & religious) and the modern planned parts. In modern texture the properties of social spaces were similar to known efficient factors; but a specific definition for social space in India was searched for other parts. Totally, eighteen social spaces in 8 cities were recognized by field study and observation and their specifications were analyzed. Finally after reviewing principles and minimum factors advised for forming such spaces (Security, continuity with city and pedestrian movement), it was found that Indian social spaces influenced by general level of life in this country are matched with primary type of life style (essential activities) known in the world theories. Therefore, the reason of difference seen at first, is the distance between life and physics of Indian and western modern spaces.