A study on the importance of home and balcony during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Cities are at the center of epidemics and are the most affected areas. Disciplines such as architecture, urban planners, and landscape architecture are expected to develop new approaches to socio-spatial lifestyles to make the pandemic period easier. The COVID-19 pandemic has affected people's lifestyles globally, causing changes in their daily routines and leading to changes in living conditions and places. These changes have revealed the importance of balconies and gardens as living spaces. Balconies and gardens of houses are much more practical and functional spaces in people's physical and social life. The effective use of home balconies and gardens in Kahramanmaras has been a factor in choosing it as a working area. Climate has been influential in the spatial planning of Kahramanmaras city. This research is based on developing suggestions for balcony design by determining the importance, behavior, and wishes given to balconies during the pandemic process. The questionnaire method was adopted in the conduct of the research. Obtained data were evaluated with Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) 28.0 statistical analysis. To contribute to the development of proposals for urban planning, the relationship between demographic characteristics such as education and age and attitudes and desires toward balconies was examined with the Chi-square (X-2) test. As a result of the study, it was determined that the balconies were used effectively during the pandemic process, the open space function of the balconies came to the fore, and plant production contributed esthetically and functionally. It has been determined that plant production contributes esthetically and functionally to balcony design, and growing plants on balconies is effective on people's physical and mental health. As a result of the study, suggestions have been developed for the use of balconies as a component of the green infrastructure system at the city scale and for the adoption of a climate-effective planning approach in traditional houses. On the building scale, it has been suggested to include plant cultivation on the balconies to benefit from the biophilic design and to use light effectively.