A Study on the Possible Composition of Private Parks in Residential Project to Improve the Public Accessibility

A Case Study of Phnom Penh Metropolitan, Cambodia

Abstract

Generally, a park is known as a public space that is built to enhance the quality of life. In some countries, governments are not able to provide sufficient public parks during the rapid urbanization period while private parks are built in the gated community with limited accessibility. In the case of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, the same phenomenon occurred. Many public parks are small and were planned before the present urban context. Currently, in the suburban area, private parks are continuously constructed in some residential projects. However, the accessibility of those private parks is not clearly defined. The objectives of the research are 1) to clarify the situation of private parks at residential projects before and after the enactment of regulations; 2) to clarify the project’s elements that influence the public access to private parks in residential projects. The research is applied mixed method by conducting field observation in Phnom Penh, utilizing the data from the Ministry of Land Use Management, Urban Planning and Construction, and reviewing the literature and regulation documents. There are 2 findings found in this research. First, there is no significant difference toward the park creation in the residential project before and after the enactment of the sub-decree on management of gated community. It is assumed that the park is created to provide a quality living rather than the purpose of commercial, and mainly for residents within projects, so the access to the parks is not completely open for the public. Second, due to the location of the park, security to the park, and the type of building use surrounding the park, public access is limited.