Journals Information
Civil Engineering and Architecture Vol. 13(1), pp. 361 - 372
DOI: 10.13189/cea.2025.130122
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Filling Up on Community: Can Gas Stations Become the New Third Place?
Menna Alaa AboElhassan 1,*, Shaimaa Samir Ashour 2,3
1 Department of Architectural Engineering & Environmental Design, Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport (AASTMT), Cairo, Egypt
2 The Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport (AASTMT), Cairo, Egypt
3 Prince Sultan University, Riyadh, KSA
ABSTRACT
Literature on gas stations is limited, either discussed in urban planning and history or mentioned as non-places lacking social interaction. Limited research explores their potential as public spaces with social behavioral patterns. The paper aims to investigate if the new typology of gas stations in the new suburbs of Cairo, Egypt act as Third Places for its consumers and if they could act as successful public places. To explore this, a correlational study was conducted with 245 responses to a survey designed to examine the social behavioral patterns of gas station users within this new typology. The survey was designed according to the paper's criteria deduced from Jan Gehl, Project of Public Spaces (PPS) and Third Places Theory Criteria. The paper presents pioneering findings in studying the social life of gas stations in Cairo, Egypt's new suburbs. Furthermore, the study explores novel and seldom unexplored subjects of social interaction history at gas stations, a topic previously uncharted. The study found a generational gap in gas station perceptions. Younger demographics, adolescents, and young adults view gas stations as social public spaces, potentially functioning as "Third Places". However, adults perceive them as practical convenience spots. Conversely, older adults disagreed with the notion of gas stations as social hang-out spaces or "Third Places". These findings suggest that gas stations serve largely as a "Third Place" for younger people, with some adult potential but little attraction for older adults.
KEYWORDS
Gas Stations, New Typology, Non-Places, Third Places, Successful Public Places, Social Behavioral Patterns
Cite This Paper in IEEE or APA Citation Styles
(a). IEEE Format:
[1] Menna Alaa AboElhassan , Shaimaa Samir Ashour , "Filling Up on Community: Can Gas Stations Become the New Third Place?," Civil Engineering and Architecture, Vol. 13, No. 1, pp. 361 - 372, 2025. DOI: 10.13189/cea.2025.130122.
(b). APA Format:
Menna Alaa AboElhassan , Shaimaa Samir Ashour (2025). Filling Up on Community: Can Gas Stations Become the New Third Place?. Civil Engineering and Architecture, 13(1), 361 - 372. DOI: 10.13189/cea.2025.130122.