A grounded theory approach to the understanding of creativity in common spaces of universities

ABSTRACT

Building a highly efficient environment for creative thinking has always been the core goal of a university’s environmental research. However, previous studies show that there remains a lack of a subjective understanding of the relationship between physical space and creativity in universities. This study offers insights into the structure and factors that impact creativity in common spaces of universities. Based on grounded theory and following the principle of purposive sample using 20 participants in China, 462 initial codes and 45 axis codes were generated, and 5 categories were revealed: creative behaviour, characteristics in creative thinking, humanistic environment, physical space and individual potential. More specifically, creative behaviour is the core category of the above five factors. Characteristics in creative thinking include an internal impact factor, while humanistic environment and physical space are external impact factors. In addition, individual potential is the principal reason for differences in efficiency. Meanwhile, in universities’ common spaces, the humanistic environment has a greater influence than that of physical space. Closely combining the functions of information acquisition, meditation and academic exchange would help improve creativity efficiency. Lastly, this paper reveals structure theory and 23 keywords for creativity in common spaces of universities.

KEYWORDS:

• Grounded theory
• creativity
• common space
• creative behaviour
• humanistic environment
• physical space

Acknowledgements

The authors are indebted to the interviewees for their participation and patience.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Dr Su Wanqing is an Assistant Professor at Department of Urban Planning, School of Architecture, Harbin Institute of Technology.

Dr Zhao Tianyu is a Professor at Department of Urban Planning, School of Architecture, Harbin Institute of Technology.

Dr Zou Zhichong is an Associate Professor at Department of Urban Planning, School of Architecture, Harbin Institute of Technology.

Dr Kang Jian is a Professor at Institute for Environmental Design and Engineering, University College London (UCL).

Dr Su Jianhua is an Associate Professor at School of Art, Heilongjiang University.

Additional information

Funding

This work was jointly supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China [51508127], Natural Science Foundation of Heilongjiang Province [E2015012], Postdoctoral Foundation of Hei Long Jiang Province [LBH-Z14099], and Innovation foundation of Harbin Institute of Technology [HIT.NSRIF.201657].