Assessing the Sociopetality of urban public spaces with an emphasis on the factor of enclosure ( Case study : Bam Central Square )

Regarding the importance of human and social development issues, many urban design and architecture experts have criticized modern urban planning and architecture and the physical-spatial quality of that system. The enclosure is one of the physical-spatial characteristics of such a system. In the present study, this concept is evaluated in three sub-branches of physical-spatial, activity-functional, and perceptual-semantic with increasing social activity and thus increasing social interactions in the central square of Bam City (Kerman Province, Iran). This descriptive-analytical study is based on the survey method. In the survey stage, a researcher-made questionnaire and field observation were used. The population and statistical sample of the study included 30 local specialists and experts in Bam selected by chain sampling who were familiar with the study area. Data were analyzed using the t-test and strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) approach. The results showed that the view of the public space of the central square of Bam is chaotic and disordered. Overall, this issue is due to the heterogeneous accompaniment of the body (form, shape, and appearance), activity and space (events within the city), and the lack of coordination and appropriateness in the composition of elements (components and elements) of buildings placed next to each other and form an urban view. In the study area, neglecting the enclosure factor, including the walls and facades of buildings (a visual part of the city), was identified as a cause of social exclusion. The strengths and weaknesses of the characteristics of enclosure and the opportunities and threats existing in this space can cause the presence or absence of citizens and social interactions. Hence, the socialization and formation of public life in urban public spaces result from three mechanisms: physical-spatial, activity-functional, and perceptual-semantic, which are subsets of enclosures factors.