Whyte worked with Hunter College students, bright young urban designers and planners at
the New York City Planning Department, and other talented people he drew to the Street Life
Project. This team produced an exceptional study of how people use urban space and a set
of urban design guidelines for New York that have been widely praised and have had a
profound positive impact on New York and many other cities.
Whyte formed hypotheses about how people use urban space. Then, he and his team
observed how people used urban spaces (inductive reasoning). His team also spent a lot of
time simply observing and then developing theory based on what they saw (deductive
reasoning). Whyte tested his hypotheses by filming people using different plazas and parks
in New York City and carefully analyzing the films, having his researchers note down who
sat where during different times of the day and year, and personally watching people interact
with each other and the physical spaces around them, looking always for clues about what
people did and did not like about urban spaces.
Whyte eventually concluded that the amount of sittable space in a park or plaza was much
more important than either the total space or its shape.
Whyte was one of the few male observers to carefully observe and write about how women
used public spaces differently from men. Whyte found that women are more discriminating
than men as to where they will sit and are more sensitive to annoyances. He concluded that
if a plaza has a high proportion of women, it is probably a good and well-managed one.
the New York City Planning Department, and other talented people he drew to the Street Life
Project. This team produced an exceptional study of how people use urban space and a set
of urban design guidelines for New York that have been widely praised and have had a
profound positive impact on New York and many other cities.
Whyte formed hypotheses about how people use urban space. Then, he and his team
observed how people used urban spaces (inductive reasoning). His team also spent a lot of
time simply observing and then developing theory based on what they saw (deductive
reasoning). Whyte tested his hypotheses by filming people using different plazas and parks
in New York City and carefully analyzing the films, having his researchers note down who
sat where during different times of the day and year, and personally watching people interact
with each other and the physical spaces around them, looking always for clues about what
people did and did not like about urban spaces.
Whyte eventually concluded that the amount of sittable space in a park or plaza was much
more important than either the total space or its shape.
Whyte was one of the few male observers to carefully observe and write about how women
used public spaces differently from men. Whyte found that women are more discriminating
than men as to where they will sit and are more sensitive to annoyances. He concluded that
if a plaza has a high proportion of women, it is probably a good and well-managed one.
