Revitalizing Urban Voids: An Urban Design Research Project for Blue Area, Islamabad

Abstract

This research explores the potential of urban voids in the heart of commercial activity in Islamabad, Blue Area. The project reimagines voids as vibrant public spaces to enhance quality of urban landscape and public activities. Adopting a mixed-method approach, this research combines qualitative and quantitative tools to document urban voids. The research begins with a comprehensive site study and data collection, with field visits, observations, questionnaires and surveys; followed by analysis using mapping and categorization of voids, based on urban parameters. Key findings of the study highlight challenges including, lack of pedestrian infrastructure, poor maintenance, and absence of green spaces. The research identifies the inherent transformation potential of voids into vibrant public realms and concludes in a series of interventions focused on enhancing accessibility, creating social nodes, integrating green elements, and improving aesthetics and functionality. Proposals are developed through an iterative design process, considering permeability, connectivity, and human-scale design.