Identifying the surrounding areas for the social integration of spatial design interventions

The socio-demographic identification of the surrounding areas of urban intervention sites was examined in order to highlight the population of reference for the integration of spatial interventions into the local social urban tissue, in the case of a set of similar urban interventions. As part of the project 'Social Impact of Urban Design for the Sustainable Development of Cities', a number of central and suburban areas of Athens have been selected that include public spaces redeveloped by urban regeneration interventions. For these areas, the issue of social mix has been examined within following view: as the study areas refer to the public space of the city that entails the right of use for anyone, the target concept of social mix is chosen to aim the emergence of urbanity and heterogeneity aspects. Thus, social mix is defined here by the socio-demographic characteristics of population of reference. The question is whether the social composition of these population groups of reference for urban design interventions, characterized either by dispersion in the geographical distribution of social strata and / or of  specific population groups or, on the contrary, by their concentration, contributes or no to improve the quality of live conditions in parts of a large city. The approach includes theoretical discussion as well as descriptive statistical analysis and algorithmic analysis of population census data. This combined analysis aims at developing a method of description and monitoring the changes within city space of redeveloped open public spaces and  the transformations of the socio-demographiic characteristics of the population of reference for the urban interventions, at the site level as well as at the level of the surrounding area of its integration into local social tissue. The examination of the case study of a set of spatial interventions is considered important as in urban policy for the planning and the urban design, the  correlation of the local with the supra-local and the spatial with the social has to be addressed.