Behaviors of seniors and impact of spatial form in small-scale public spaces in Chinese old city zones

Abstract Small-scale public spaces in old city zones are important places for seniors to participate in city life and can often be neglected. Street-corner small-scale public spaces are fairly typical in this case. This study randomly selected 74 street-corner small-scale public spaces in Tianjin, China as sample spaces, and the daily behaviors of seniors were continuously observed and periodically photographed for data collection. The duration of observation for each sample space was no less than 4 h. Based on the extraction of the collected data, the characteristics of seniors' behaviors in terms of the percentage and frequency of occurrence were quantitatively analyzed. Subsequently, combined with the data of the spatial form indexes, using communication as an example, the impact of spatial form on the frequency of occurrence for seniors' behaviors were explored. It was found that the width of the adjacent street, the average height of surrounding buildings, the number of seats, and the average noise level have statistically significant impacts on the frequency of seniors' communication. This study will provide a significant basis with scientific evidence and quantitative method to urban designers and policy makers for the urban age-friendly regeneration of small-scale public spaces in old city zones.