Evaluating public squares through interior design principles and elements: A case study in Martyrs' square in Tripoli, Libya

Public spaces are the core elements of shaping the social life in the cities, and design of public spaces is one of the subjects of urban design. As tools of inclusive or exclusive design methods of public space vary. For shaping the built environment, people are decision makers who will use the environment and public spaces. The design decisions are shaped around the people. This research explores the features of public squares using the design principles and elements of interior spaces. Through the literature review, eleven design principles were identified for urban spaces and public squares, while twenty-two principles were identified for interior spaces. The comparison between the two set of principles and elements showed that there are five main factors that are mutual between the two spaces; furniture, accessibility/ space planning, social diversity/ universal design, identity, and architectural elements/ artwork. The terms used for each space can differ between the sets, while describing the same principle. A general analysis for compliance is performed on public squares as public interior spaces. In addition to the mutual principles and elements, some differences were revealed due to the open space nature of public squares. To examine these findings , A case study of Martyrs' square in Tripoli, Libya is conducted in this study . The evaluation shows that further improvement is required for the square regarding the specific features within it in order to enable people to use it for their cultural and social interactions efficiently.