Ergonomics of spatial configurations: a voxel-based modelling framework for accessibility and visibility simulations

How can we assess the ergonomic comfort of a sizeable spatial configuration such as the indoor space of a complex building or an urban landscape when we design, plan, and manage the space? Is there a fundamental difference between indoor [architectural] spatial configurations and outdoor [urban] spatial configurations with respect to ergonomics?...

Extending the Material Biography of Byblos through Understanding Ancient Common Commodity Spaces and Human Artifacts

Environmental Urban Morphology: A Multidisciplinary Methodology for the Analysis of Public Spaces in Dense Urban Fabrics

A city is an organism made of social, economic, cultural, and environmental fabrics, the interactions of which determine the form and functioning of city life. Different disciplines are then involved in analyzing the complex processes of the 21st-century city. The aim of this study was to explore the use of an analytical method that can act as a...

Spacematrix: Space, Density and Urban Form - revised edition

Spacematrix explores the potential of urban density as a tool for urban planning and design.<br/>This revised and extended edition of Meta Berghauser Pont and Per Haupt’s 2010 volume includes an extensive analysis of the relations between density, urban form and performance – a prerequisite for understanding and successfully predicting the...

Speculative Gameboarding for Megaregions: Using Morphological Themes for a Pedagogical Approach to Regional Design in the Greater Bay Area, China

The unprecedented speed and scale of urbanization in China calls for advanced planning and design strategies. This paper aims to explore a new pedagogical approach that cultivates morphological regional design studies to develop spatial strategies that acknowledge the complex and diverse urban landscapes of Chinese megaregions. Accordingly, the...

Review of Chinese megablock urbanism: Case study of rapid urbanization in the greater bay area

In the past century, cities have undergone revolutionary changes from planning paradigms to urban forms. As the fastest urbanizing country in the world, China’s urbanization process has also been accompanied by dramatic changes in urban planning models and has emerged substantial real estate driven compounds in the form of megablock. In December...

Cities and infectious diseases: Assessing the exposure of pedestrians to virus transmission along city streets

As cities resume life in public space, they face the difficult task of retaining outdoor activity while decreasing exposure to airborne viruses, such as the novel coronavirus. Even though the transmission risk is higher in indoor spaces, recent evidence suggests that physical contact outdoors also contributes to an increased virus exposure....

The explanatory power of Space Syntax and Urban Morphology

The spatial flaws of new towns: Morphological comparison between a Chinese new and old town through the application of space syntax, spacematrix and mixed use index

Many new towns are established in China with the intention of providing desirable places to live. Nevertheless, these new towns often lack the flourishing street life, small businesses, and variety of social activities that old towns have to offer. This paper explores the spatial reasons why old towns tend to perform socio-economically better...

The theory of the natural urban transformation process: The relationship between street network configuration, density and degree of function mixture of built environments (poster)

The theory of the natural urban transformation process: The relationship between street network configuration, density and degree of function mixture of built environments (paper)

During the last decade, advances in software, spatial analyses methods, and improved capacity of computers have made it possible to quantitatively analyse morphological features of whole cities. This emerging trend of combining geographic information system (GIS) with traditional urban morphology brings some new insights into the evolving logic...

The spatial flaws of new towns: Morphological comparison between a Chinese new and old town through the application of space syntax, spacematrix and mixed use index

Constructing metropolitan landscapes of actuality and potentiality

The Flat City space syntax model (Read, 2005), has been developed to extend the functionality of the space syntax method into the ‘periphery’ (the metropolitan) of the contemporary metropolitan city, and to provide a method for describing and evaluating the form of contemporary urban landscapes. The Flat City model proposes that the environment...

The form of a metropolitan territory: The case of Amsterdam and its periphery

The Flat City space syntax model (Read, 2005) has been developed to extend the functionality of the space syntax method into the periphery of the contemporary metropolitan city, and to provide a method for describing and evaluating the form of contemporary urban landscapes. The Flat City model proposes that the built environment is structured...