The provision of vertical social pockets for better social interaction in high-rise living

Abstract

High-rise living makes it difficult for social communities to form despite the provision of several dedicated social spaces at ground, podium, mid- and roof-levels, partially due to the sheer number of residents per block. The pull of easily-accessed, solitary recreational activities such as surfing the Internet and watching television further exacerbates the problem. Social spaces need to be brought closer to residents to promote social interaction. This paper proposes to improve social interaction by supplementing currently stratified social spaces with vertically-connected social hubs using existing transitional spaces in high-rise living, such as the lift lobby, to create micro-communities comprising the residents of each respective floor in a cost-effective way. Previous research indicated that strong communities look after each other, indicating that the creation of microcommunities will create an effect not unlike the defensible space theory. Therefore, this paper analyses residential high-rise layouts based on chosen case studies in Malaysia, then suggests several possible design outcomes that turn the lift lobby into social spaces at every floor level.