The assessment of the quality of campus public spaces as key parts of the learning landscape: experience from a crowdsensing study on the Third Campus of Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland

Abstract

The learning landscape concept reflects shifts in the methods of learning and conducting research in universities. Public spaces within university campuses should constitute an essential component of the learning landscape as arenas of planned and serendipitous encounters, which may foster creativity and trans-disciplinary networking. However, their spatial configurations remain an under-researched topic. This paper assesses the quality of public spaces on campus based on the results of a crowdsensing survey. The Third Campus of Jagiellonian University in Krakow was selected as a case study; this is one of the largest projects of this kind carried out in Poland since the political and economic transformation of 1989. The behaviour of users provides evidence of the generally low quality of the public spaces despite the advantages of the urban layout of the campus. The paper proposes recommendations that may bring the spatial organisation of the campus closer to a fully fledged learning landscape.

The “Modern” Campus: Case Study in (Un)Sustainable Urbanism

“…The problem only deepens when a built campus layout is evaluated, and its open space is found to be dysfunctional and even hostile [141,142]. Up until very recently, the standard method was to use post-occupancy evaluation surveys, which collect arguably subjective user opinions.…”