The Configurational Structures of Social Spaces: Space Syntax and Urban Morphology in the Context of Analytical, Evidence-Based Design

first_pageDownload PDFsettingsOrder Article Reprints Open AccessArticle The Configurational Structures of Social Spaces: Space Syntax and Urban Morphology in the Context of Analytical, Evidence-Based Design by Kayvan KarimiORCID The Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL, London WC1H 0QB, UK Land 2023, 12(11), 2084; https://doi.org/10.3390/land12112084 Received: 3 September 2023 / Revised: 14 November 2023 / Accepted: 16 November 2023 / Published: 20 November 2023 (This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban Morphology: A Perspective from Space) Downloadkeyboard_arrow_down Browse Figures Versions Notes Abstract This article presents an argument for the enhanced utilisation of urban morphology in urban design, drawing inspiration from space syntax theory and methodologies, advocating for the integration of social, economic, and cultural considerations alongside physical structures. This perspective shift entails transitioning from descriptive analysis to quantitative inquiries for the prediction and assessment of urban dynamics. By incorporating spatial analysis and socio-economic factors, urban morphology offers a competent understanding of the complexities inherent to urban environments. This comprehension supports the development of evidence-based designs and predictive models that enable such an approach in urban design. To operationalise this approach, the article introduces a methodology that interlinks urban morphology and design through a cyclic process encompassing analysis, design, evaluation, and further design development. This framework is illustrated through the case study of Jilin City, where an assessment of the public transport system led to a comprehensive urban design strategy. The study demonstrates how urban morphology insights, supported by analytical investigations enabled by space syntax methodology, can actively influence urban design and planning practices. By effectively embedding this morphological approach, urban designers and planners acquire the tools needed to navigate the evolving urban systems while respecting the interplay between physical structures and human existence. The article concludes by highlighting the need for an ongoing evolution of this approach to maintain relevance in shaping future urban settings

Thermal monitoring of natural source zone depletion

2019 Summer.Includes bibliographical references.Natural Source Zone Depletion (NSZD) has emerged as a viable remedial approach for mature releases of petroleum liquids in soils and groundwater. Herein, petroleum liquids in soils and groundwater are referred to as LNAPL. In recent years, gradient, dynamic chamber, and carbon trap methods have been developed to quantify NSZD rates based on measuring the consumption of O2 or the generation of CO2 associated with biodegradation of LNAPL. A promising alternative approach to resolving LNAPL NSZD rates is real-time monitoring of subsurface temperatures. Transformation of temperature data to NSZD rates involves use of background-corrected temperature data, energy balances to resolve NSZD energy, and an estimate of heat produced through NSZD. All current computational methods for quantifying NSZD rates using temperature data have the drawbacks of: 1) incomplete energy balances 2) ignoring the effect of water table fluctuation, and 3) using linear extrapolations of temperature profiles to calculate thermal gradients. A regression algorithm is advanced to overcome the primary drawbacks of current computational methods that convert subsurface temperature data to NSZD rates using background correction. The regression algorithm is demonstrated using 42 million temperature measurements from a fuel terminal. An 8% difference between NSZD rates from the CO2 Trap method and the regression algorithm supported the validity of regression algorithm for estimation of NSZD rates using subsurface temperatures. In addition, seasonal behavior of NSZD rates is captured and correlated water content in shallow soils and depth to the water table. It is concluded that as the water table rises, the apparent NSZD rates increase, while larger water content in shallow soil causes a reduction in the apparent NSZD rates. Imperfection with background-correction approaches can be attributed to many factors, including differing infiltration of precipitation, vegetative cover, soil properties, and net solar radiation, at background versus impacted locations. Differences between the background location and the impacted area cause anomalous background-corrected temperatures leading to over/under estimation of NSZD rates. A new computational model is developed to eliminate the need for background correction of temperature data in calculating NSZD rates. Since the new model uses only the temperature data collected from the temperature sensors attached to a single solid stick, the model is referred to as the "single stick" method. The validity of the single stick model is evaluated using a numerical model and field temperature data. Agreement between the results from a numerical model with imposed heat fluxes, and estimated heat fluxes using temperature data derived from the numerical model, supports the validity of single stick model. In addition, a close match between single stick simulated temperatures using estimated heat fluxes and actual measure temperatures supports the validity of the single stick model. Furthermore, comparison of NSZD rates from the single stick model with the rates from background correction methods at background locations shows that the single stick model is the only algorithm that consistently provides near zero NSZD rates in clean areas. Lastly, per thermodynamic calculations and preliminary lab studies, it is observed that negative NSZD rates may be due to endothermic methanogenic process. Thermal conductivity is one of the key input parameters for all computational methods converting temperature data to NSZD rates. An integrated Internet of Things (IoT) instrument and computational model is developed to measure real-time in-situ thermal conductivity of soils. Favorable agreement between measure ex-situ and in-situ thermal conductivities values supports the validity of the demonstrated in-situ techniques for estimating thermal conductivities. Favorable attributes of the new in-situ methods include lower cost, automated data acquisition and an ability to acquire in-situ estimates of thermal conductivities through time. Overall, this work demonstrated that monitoring subsurface temperature is a viable technique to resolve NSZD rates for LNAPLs. A promising next step for evaluating the validity of thermal NSZD rates is to periodically collect and analyze cryogenic cores from field sites to independently validate NSZD rates. Also, further work is needed to better resolve NSZD thermodynamics

Spatial Patterns in Mass Consumption: The Fast Food Chain Network and its Street Patterns, Clusters and Impact on Street Safety

[EN] Can the fast-food chain network, to some extent, support the socio-spatial structure and safety of the street? Is there an urban spatial pattern within the ‘Chain Network’ and mass consumption? This papers dwells on spatial patterns on mass consumption in the global capitalistic cities of London and Tokyo, through the lens of the fast food chain network. Their symbols (for instance, the Golden Arches of McDonalds) are instantly recognizable both by locals and tourists. McDonalds started off as a hot dog stand in California in the 1940s and rapidly expanded across America in lieu of the mass usage of the automobile and construction of freeways. A foreigner can order easily from a McDonalds menu in Tokyo, without speaking Japanese, because the menu is created in a “global language”. Fast food chain stores, such as McDonalds and Starbucks, seem to be sprouting in every street corner, even as much as 3 of the same shop on the same street. You don’t have to find them, because they will find you. Rather than casting them aside as complex economic or political factors, the first part of the research focuses on its spatial clustering, and to see if there is an intrinsic spatial relationship with high-choice, or highly integrated streets. How far deep does the network go from the highest choice streets? The second part of the research will see if the clusters of fast-food chain, with their “night economy” would lead to safer and more pleasant street and communities. Fast food chains do indeed play a vital spatial role in our physical communities in the 21st century.Lin, G.; Karimi, K. (2018). Spatial Patterns in Mass Consumption: The Fast Food Chain Network and its Street Patterns, Clusters and Impact on Street Safety. En 24th ISUF International Conference. Book of Papers. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 1401-1012. https://doi.org/10.4995/ISUF2017.2017.58441401101

Sketching maps. Comparison between digital diagrammatic sketches of urban connectivity and actual maps of landscape fabric

Digital Participatory Platforms (DPPs) are tools allowing general members of the public to express themselves through design actions. This field is rapidly expanding and has the potential to democratize SS theory, making it visible and relevant to many. Tools that allow participants to develop simple diagrams of urban form can be of help since these types of drawings are easy to make and relate directly to some of the abstractions behind SS theory. However, even if we general members of the public can develop these drawings, the relation between these types of drawings and the reality they may intend to represent has not been mapped sp far. To address this issue we propose an experiment where we compare 200 drawings produced by professionals as part of a participatory process with real scale maps of London parks. We develop an analytic method for the lines of these two datasets using geometric feature extraction and dimensionality reduction representation in a t-SNE scatter graph. Results indicate that, for some types of landscapes, the algorithm effectively matches sketches and map morphologies. In other cases, the geometries of sketches and maps of some landscapes are inherently different since designers tend to develop “cartoons” of their designs, forcing curvature of items or forgetting small details which end up being added into the design in later stages. This would suggest the need to develop sophisticated layers of detail in addition to digital tools if they are to adequately translate between a syntactic approach to design and real-life map results

The impact of a new public transport system on neighbourhoods surrounding stations: The cases of Bermondsey and West Ham with the Jubilee Line extension in London

[EN] The impact of new public transport systems on towns and suburbs has been widely considered to be a significant aspect of urban development. However, spatial configurations which could stimulate transformation around neighbourhood of stations have not been clearly identified. It could be argued that the implementation of transport systems and the creation of new stations would enhance capacity of transport network and accessibility around vicinity of stations. Furthermore, the dynamics of pedestrian flow, generated by new public transport systems, might encourage socio-economic activities around stations. Therefore, the aims of this study are to verify the impact of urban morphology on station neighbourhoods and identify whether stations are embedded in the best location for optimising urban redevelopment. This paper analyses the surroundings of two stations – Bermondsey and West Ham – along the Jubilee Line Extension in London using Space Syntax measures. A spatial analysis with demographic and land use data reveals that the location of stations within urban layout would be the determinant in optimising socio-economic development in the neighbourhoods. It also suggests that Space Syntax could be an effective analytical methodology to understand the relationship between transport system and urban morphologyChen, PN.; Karimi, K. (2018). The impact of a new public transport system on neighbourhoods surrounding stations: The cases of Bermondsey and West Ham with the Jubilee Line extension in London. En 24th ISUF International Conference. Book of Papers. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 1449-1459. https://doi.org/10.4995/ISUF2017.2017.5971OCS1449145

Drawscapes. Study of the effectiveness of online diagrammatic sketching in participatory design

The increased user-friendliness of Space Syntax (SS) packages and their improved compatibility with popular 3D modelling software has pushed the use of Space Syntax Theory (SST) into the professional realm, making it approachable, not just by dedicated researchers, but also to an increasing number of practitioners. We argue that the applicability of SST can even go further if we use sketching as a form of interaction with the software, potentially opening up its use to general members of the public as part of a wider participatory process. We present a study that tries to understand whether the diagrams required for this form of engagement are easy to produce by non-professionals and once they are produced, see whether they have an impact on the planning process. We propose an experiment using an online design tool that allows participants to make drawings of urban proposals by drafting simple diagrams, beginning with connective paths followed by urban blocks using thicker versions of the same pen tool. We develop bespoke analytic methods to extract general patterns emerging from data, identify trends across different user groups, and study user interaction, design quality and user engagement. We take the expansion of UCL East as a case study and test our tool with several participant groups from the general staff and student population as well as external design professionals. Some of these professionals carry out the exercise after reviewing the design from UCL members. We obtained 700 drawings from 400 participants and carry out comparative studies across groups. The study concludes that general members of the public can understand the type of drawing exercise requested and produce designs of an adequate standard. We can also see that planners and architects observe positively the information coming from general members of the public and are willing to incorporate it into their designs

Multilevel Multimodal Network Modelling: The Spatial Impacts of The Public Transport on Urban Systems

Transportation plays an essential role in supporting people and freight movement in cities and regions. The physical infrastructure of the transport network is usually embedded as a part of urban structure to link spaces and cover a significant amount of ground. However, accessibility studies, especially the space syntax theory and measurements, mainly focus on modelling and analysing the street network without concerning the public transport network. Although space syntax methodology has been proved to successfully examine the configurational urban form and the related effects on the pedestrian and vehicular flow within the street network, the effect of rail-based public transport is still missing in most space syntax studies. Therefore, this study applied a synthetic methodology to examine the multilevel multimodal network by combining railways and streets into a united network model. An Integrated Urban Model (IUM) has been developed to uncover the network and land use accessibility in cities and regions. This study further explored the distance cost in Depthmap by adopting time-cost distance for every segment based on the speed of transport modes for multimodal travelling. The results indicated that the multilevel multimodal model could provide a new vision of the network centrality. The study demonstrated that the concept of time-cost distance, along with metric distance and angular cost, could be a new approach for measuring the accessibility of the multilevel network in cities and regions

The Spatio-Functional Role of Navigable Urban Canals in the City: Cases From London and Amsterdam

Cities incorporating navigable canals have played a crucial role in global trade and provided a platform for a range of activities for people from various locations. This research aims to comprehend the role of inner-city canals, formed as branches of shipping canals, in the spatial accessibility and functional structure of two contemporary urban systems: London and Amsterdam. Both cities are major post-industrial hubs in Europe and their spatial development and socioeconomic conditions have been greatly influenced by waterways. While the canal network in Amsterdam was planned alongside street layout planning in the early 17th century, serving commercial purposes, canals were integrated into London’s pre-existing urban form mainly for transportation in the 19th century. The current situation in these cities is impacted by this disparity in three ways: (a) the potential use of canals in the urban transportation system; (b) the spatial accessibility of street networks; and (c) the correlations between street accessibility and land use patterns in canal neighbourhoods. The research employs analytical methods of space syntax, geographic information systems, and statistical techniques to create and apply integrated urban models, incorporating spatial network measures, retail density, and functional diversity for street segments, to compare various urban conditions. The research reveals the crucial finding that the incorporation of canals into the street system leads to a substantial increase in the mean values of street network accessibility in Amsterdam. Additionally, the study highlights the vital contribution of diagonal streets linked with canal networks towards retail density in this city. In contrast, the accessibility measures and spatial patterns of urban functions in London are predominantly influenced by proximity to canals

Urban Art and place. Spatial patterns of urban art and their contribution to urban regeneration

[EN] Cities face several challenges regarding public space and urban regeneration. Some of them are the depersonalization and lack of interest of citizens in their own city, privatization, gentrification, technologization and gender-insecurity. Public spaces lose their character as articulator and generator of human relations, while neighborhoods lose their role as the basic unity of community and urban identity. Nowadays, many bottom-up strategies have arisen as expressions of neighborhood’s inhabitant’s will, producing cultural diversity and civic engagement, with a placemaking effect. Urban art is one of them. Social and economic products of urban art have been studied, but the spatial manifestation and impact have been largely absent from the discourse of urban morphology. Spatial conditions are representational of social practices like art, by structuring patterns of movement, encounter and separation in the city (Cartiere & Zebracki, 2016). This study aims to discover the spatial relation between urban art displays and the network of public spaces, and whether this pattern has a role in neighborhood regeneration. To identify these relations in Shoreditch, London, Space Syntax analysis and spatial clustering were used, combined with a survey of geographically located public urban art (extracted from social networks data). Also, the spatial patterns of land prices and land uses from 1995 to 2016 were examined. Research showed that various types of artwork have a strong relation with certain spatial network characteristics and visibility of locations from each other. Economic and use outcomes were also related to the development of the art pattern through the years.Guerrero Balarezo, ML.; Karimi, K. (2018). Urban Art and place. Spatial patterns of urban art and their contribution to urban regeneration. En 24th ISUF International Conference. Book of Papers. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 587-597. https://doi.org/10.4995/ISUF2017.2017.6069OCS58759