Multi-dimensional human interaction in open spaces for Shah Alam City, Selangor, Malaysia

have been struggling with its consequences. There are various studies on how open spaces provide positive reaction to human. Apparently, in relation to open spaces, Malaysia has received very little attention from researchers. Given this scenario, this study investigates the human interaction experienced in the open spaces and how it relates to the city sustainability. The aim of this research is to evaluate the multidimensional human interaction experienced in the open spaces and develop the ranking of human interaction in relation to the typological of open spaces. The analysis in this study addresses human-human interaction and human-nature interaction in five selected open spaces of Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia namely Section 2 Urban Park, Section 7 Local Park, Section 18 Neighbourhood Park, Section 8 Playing Field, and Section 4 Playground. This research adopted mixed methodology after taking into consideration the nature of the research topic, structure and composition of the population, the type of information sought and the availability of the resource. In this research, a mixed methodology is employed using a combination of questionnaire surveys, semistructured interviews, multiple case studies and behaviour mapping. For the questionnaire survey, the stratified random sampling was used where 861 sample were distributed with a response rate of 95% confidence level. After the sample size had been determined, the samples were then stratified based on the percentage of areas of the study areas. As for the expert interviews, this research applied a semi-structured interview. For the method of data analysis, this research is based on the convergence of data obtained from both quantitative and qualitative sources. For the quantitative data, the statistical test selected for the analyses are descriptive analysis, chi-square analysis, and regression analysis. The findings show that all four research domains namely sociodemographic domain, the human-human interactions in open spaces domain, the human-nature interactions in open spaces domain and perceived benefits domain significantly influence the human interactions in the Shah Alam open spaces area. The findings of this study also show the sub domains that reflect human-human and humannature interaction namely contact with nature domain, aesthetic preference domain, recreation and play domain, social interaction domain, citizen participation domain and sense of community domain. The domain are then link to the hierarchy of open spaces which in tandem with the multi-dimensional human interaction of open spaces