AD ALTA
JOURNAL OF INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH
EXPLORING UNIVERSITY CAMPUSES AS URBAN DEVELOPMENT BOOSTERS AND DESIGN
FLAGSHIPS IN URBAN LANDSCAPES
a
MIROSLAV ČIBIK,
b
ROBERTA ŠTĚPÁNKOVÁ
Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra, Trieda Andreja Hlinku
609/2, 949 76, Nitra –
email:
Chrenová, Slovakia
a
xcibikm@uniag.sk,
b
roberta.stepankova@uniag.sk
The paper is an outcome of national educational and scientific project of the Ministry
of Education, Science, Research and Sport of the Slovak Republic - KEGA 015SPU-
4/2020 (UNI:ARCH).
Abstract:
University campuses significantly influence functioning and development of
urban landscapes and their quality also affects the quality of surrounding environment.
This paper presents not only the issues and dimensions of university campuses,
analyses of various approaches to their understanding, but also the methodology of
their further study – the methodology of multi-criteria evaluation of the quality of
university campuses and their potential, with respect to their future development. The
study also focuses on the interpretation of the results from measurements of specific
university campuses across Austria as representatives of different perspectives on the
overall form of university complexes. The results reveal a comparison between the
chosen Austrian campuses and the selected campus within the Slovak Republic.
Keywords: green infrastructure, urban development, urban landscapes, sustainability,
multi-criteria evaluation, university campus, public space, design
1 Introduction
At present, the issue of the quality of public spaces is dealt with
by a wide spectrum of the architectural community, which
responds to the suggestions of local governments. In an effort to
improve the current situation and due to the topicality of the
subject, as well as the lack of regulations, unconceptual
approaches, inconsistency and unprofessionalism, various
manuals and initiatives are conceived to eliminate these negative
attributes but also other aspects of "invisibility" of shortcomings
in the design process of both public or semi-public spaces
(Lukačovič et al., 2016). Due to their hierarchization of
individual buildings, university campuses create networks of
spaces with a public or semi-public character, which, along with
their appearance, quality and overall visual identity, significantly
affect the surrounding environment. The publicly accessible area
attains a much higher level of justification in the city if it
complies with the structure of the city in terms of composition
and urban planning and contributes to its (cultural) enrichment
(Melková, 2014). As part of the European concept of university
campuses, university campuses were designed as satellites of
cities close to urban structures in the 1960s and 1980s, and their
immediate surroundings were gradually densified by gradual
urbanization. Today, they form significant, multi-layered
cultivated objects (Čibik et al., 2020) in city centers and
significantly influence their operation, but also spatial, social,
economic, health or visual functions (Čibik and Štěpánková,
2019). The areas are open, interconnected with the surroundings
and not only are they specific and complementary types of
public spaces, but they offer their space at various levels, to
everyone (Sidorova et al., 2017). Defining the nature of a public
space should be a primary consideration for both the designer
and the client. It predetermines the direction and the overall form
of a specific space and thus commits all co-creators to fulfill a
clearly defined goal (Melková, 2014).
The presented research evaluates, assesses, maps and analyzes
the quality and appearance of the current state of selected
university campuses and describes their relationship and
connection to urban structures. Within the analysis stage of the
research we apply several processes that are accompanied by
polyvalence. One of these processes is subjective criticism based
on various evaluation criteria, but other factors also enter into the
evaluation process (Moravčíková, 2013). The focus of the
research is the correct form, processing and conceptual setting of
university campuses. Conceptual thinking is fundamental not
only for development of a plan for a constructed environment,
but even more so to understand future opportunities and threats.
In this respect, perhaps even more than in the past, the creative
process has become a process of exploration, research of new
spatial possibilities, and examination of new methodological
approaches (Rosemann, 2008). The “Research by design”
method, based on such conceptual thinking – thinking by the
means of design, mediates various aspects, the result of which
precedes the design process, i.e. by verifying the methodology in
practice. The subject of previous research has been the
elaboration of a suitable methodology for measuring this quality,
implementing the methodology tools into practice and carrying
out measurements on various types of university campuses. The
methodology tries to grasp all static and relatively constant
elements of quality (Gehl, 2012) of university campuses
(possibility of movement, residence, accessibility, safety,
facilities, human criteria and quality perceived by different
senses). The methodology consists of several attributes within
four areas. Each attribute is accompanied by a detailed
description, the purpose of which is to eliminate various
discrepancies from the results (Kilnarová et al., 2014), as the
evaluation is ba
sed on the subjective perception of space (Čibik
and Štěpánková, 2019). Therefore, the characteristics of
individual criteria within the methodology are simply, clearly
and unambiguously formulated. The paper also focuses on the
interpretation of results from measurements of selected
university campuses within the European cities of Austria
(Vienna, Graz, Linz) and Slovakia (Nitra), through the
methodology of multi-criteria evaluation of university campuses
and their potential. The research took place within the
framework of a bilateral program to support cooperation
between Austria and Slovakia in the field of higher education,
science and research – Action Austria - Slovakia Research
Scholarship 2019-2020 at the Technical University of Vienna.
2 Theoretical departures
The presented article thematically focuses on the issue of
university campuses, as well as the search for their
interconnection with urban structures with the intention of
preserving the idea of a sustainable multifunctional part of the
urbanized space. Blue and green infrastructure (Tóth et al., 2015)
in cities is connected to a network of green objects that fill the
gaps between existing green elements and the wider landscape
that surrounds the city (Benedict and McMahon, 2006).
University campuses with public spaces are places where these
connections appear regularly. This poses as an added value to the
city, in this case regardless of whether the campus is located
within the city or the suburbs (Čibik et al., 2020). For the
purpose of understanding these connections, it is necessary to
describe the individual attributes that form this relationship in
detail. The literature review describes the issue of the terms
campus and university campus as well as the dimensions of
urban spaces. It focuses mainly on approaches to the creation of
university campuses and their typology, classification into
various concepts and also describes the historical development
of university complexes in the context of urban structures.
2.1 Definition of campus and university campus
Campus – a complex consisting of a set of buildings with a
common denominator, such as property ownership (an
administrative block). Recently, the term campus also appears in
connection with the naming of non-school (especially corporate)
areas (Šaling et al., 2008). However, this term still
predominantly refers to a grouping of buildings belonging to a
university, where the common denominator is the university –
the rectorate (main building), faculties, dormitories, lecture halls
and auditoriums, libraries, laboratories and other buildings, such
as administrative buildings. The university campus also consists
of recreational areas, parks, water features, gardens and other
academic and non-academic facilities. The area of such campus
can reach several tens of hectares. It is essential that the campus
consists of a network of spaces that support the student
community (Johnson, 2012) and strengthen the relationships
within it (Winks et al., 2020).
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