Ground floors are front facade of cities

Cities need to design for people and appropriate scale to accommodate residents, by considering the speed of our movement, how we move, how our senses are geared when walking, and how we see things. We see everything horizontally but we see very little up and a little bit more down. We can see when we communicate with people, if it's intimate relationship, we communicate at a close distance. We lean over for more private conversation and it would be very personal. Commonly, when we have to communicate with public, the social distance becomes further apart. We have a number of distances when communicating which are part of our instincts and upbringing.

Gehl stated that people have the same body anatomy worldwide. If we are waiting for a bus, we will all the time stand with arm's length between them until the bus comes because that's part of the body, that's part of the body regardless of any weather conditions. Cities where people feel really comfortable are cities where they design to accommodate human scale not the cities design to accommodate cars.

When designing a city for social sustainability, integration of human scale in design process is crucial. Because it will dictate how people experience their cities. Most important part of buildings is the ground floor where people experience the city at eye level. Ground floors are crucial for the experience and attractiveness of the urban space, in both residential and commercial areas. Safe, clean, relaxed and easily understood ground space can attract visitors and support social and economic sustainability of the city. Good ground floor are main contributors of the urban economy, and not only because of consumer spending but also balanced labour market with enough people with a higher education demands a functional urban environment for living, shopping and playing. The knowledge and experience economy requires spaces with character, a good atmosphere, a place for people to meet and to interact. The entire urban environment shapes this atmosphere, but ground levels play a key role. The ground floor may be only 10% of a building, but it determines 90% of the building’s contribution towards the experience of the urban environment.

Ground floor restaurant at Barangaroo, Sydney

Source- http://outlaw-urbanist.com/blog/2015/04/09/the-human-scale/

Image Source- http://www.lendlease.com/expertise/what-we-do/urban-regeneration/

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