The structure of interurban traffic: a weighted network analysis

We study the structure of the network representing the interurban commuting traffic of the Sardinia region, Italy, which amounts to 375 municipalities and 1 600 000 inhabitants. We use a weighted network representation in which vertices correspond to towns and the edges correspond to the actual commuting flows among those towns. We characterize quantitatively both the topological and weighted properties of the resulting network. Interestingly, the statistical properties of the commuting traffic exhibit complex features and nontrivial relations with the underlying topology. We characterize quantitatively the traffic backbone among large cities and we give evidence for a very high heterogeneity of the commuter flows around large cities. We also discuss the interplay between the topological and dynamical properties of the network as well as their relation with sociodemographic variables such as population and monthly income. This analysis may be useful at various stages in environmental planning and provides analytical tools for a wide spectrum of applications ranging from impact evaluation to decision making and planning support

Towards new architectural and urban typologies: Thinking, making and living as a post occupancy evaluation method

Conscious Cities Anthology 2018: Human-Centred Design, Science, and Technology showcases individuals and groups that are contributing towards this new approach to creating a better built environment

Computing the sense of time in urban physical environment

10.1057/palgrave.udi.9000192Urban Design International122-3115-12

Urban nuclei and the geometry of streets : the 'emergent neighborhoods' model

A controversy remains among planners and urban designers about the proper location of the non-residential core (nucleus) of a neighborhood in relation to thoroughfares. One school of thought suggests that the nucleus should be located along the busiest thoroughfares; a second school holds that it must be some distance away from them - which, because of their disruptiveness, should form the edge of the neighborhood; and a third school proposes that it should be somewhere between the two as an 'eccentric nucleus'. The three schools may be overlooking the underlying variables that govern this problem under different conditions, and so we propose a model for establishing the best location and distribution of urban nuclei as these conditions vary. This requires firstly, a redefinition of the 'neighborhood' as distinguished from a 'pedestrian shed'. We argue that a 'neighborhood' can either emerge within a 'sanctuary area' between thoroughfares, or span across both 'sanctuary areas' and thoroughfares, if the latter are properly designed; a 'pedestrian shed', by contrast, can overlap with neighborhoods and with other pedestrian sheds. We propose a '400 meter rule', a surprisingly small maximum spacing of main thoroughfares that empirical observation shows that traditional, pedestrian-governed urban fabric has always tended to obey, for reasons that are likely to have to do with the self-organizing logic of pedestrian movement and social activity. In so doing, we advance a more fine-grained, permeable, potentially lower-carbon model and illustrate its advantages with several historic and modern examples

Teaching a Broad Discipline: The Critical Role of Text Based Learning to Building Disciplinary Literacy in Architectural Education

Architecture is a demanding discipline with multiple, complex concerns and identities shaping the profession. The discipline requires analysis of complex and multifaceted issues and synthesizing broad knowledge through a focused creative process. While twenty-first-century education may leverage many sources to educate students of architecture, texts remain the primary repository par excellence of the rich and diverse body of knowledge and ideas that continue to inspire and ground architects, theorists, historians, planners, and policy makers tied to the discipline. Perusing and engaging with the diverse body of architectural literature is a strong approach to support one’s learning to think, speak, and write in the discipline with a high level of fluency and expertise. Yet reading, the foundational skill that provides access to the literature is often overlooked in the development of curriculum and the pedagogy of architectural education. This chapter explores in detail the challenges that inhibit student reading and reading effectiveness followed by strategies for building student reading skills in architectural education to support increased disciplinary literacy. Central to the strategies discussed is increased integration of text-based learning and explicit foregrounding of reading and study tools to support students’ learning through text. Key learning principles that serve a foundational role in text-based learning are analyzed to underpin the strategies discussed. Finally, two case studies are provided that exemplify the integration of these strategies that support increased disciplinary literacy in architectural education