Tall Buildings' Lower Public Spaces: Impact on Health and Behavior.

Tall buildings unquestionably need to improve their impact on the urban habitat. A human-focused approach to measuring the social impact of tall buildings' ground conditions, i.e., public space and interface, has been applied in three CBDs of Asian megacities facing similar problems: Shanghai, Hong Kong and Singapore. Specifically, typical patterns and categories of lower-level public spaces among the three CBDs were abstracted via typological analyses and field studies. Evaluations of social impacts were achieved through statistical surveys, wearable devices and virtual reality environments. The study revealed the quantitative relevance between tall buildings' lower public spaces and their social effects. The findings of this study could support more efficient place-making and promote better social benefits around tall buildings' ground planes. The research also suggests a design code for tall buildings aimed at a more human-oriented urban habitat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]