This chapter provides an overview of established research traditions in the analysis of physical elements of the built environment. Herein, we address the morphological, place phenomenological, and urban network traditions. Following this, a synopsis about spatial elements applied to these traditions, including space syntax, is given. Furthermore, in this chapter, we explain the differences between extrinsic and intrinsic properties of space and clarify the typology concepts of the built form. Finally, we introduce the basic spatial elements used in space syntax and the simplest spatial structures that cities can have. Exercises are provided at the end of this chapter.

This contribution demonstrates how space syntax methods on various scale levels can be used to identify and describe the spatial features of a compact city. Firstly, the term urban compactness is discussed. A short discussion of some writings on the compact city are elaborated. As it transpired, urban compactness can best be approached from a spatial topological point of view, since compactness is a topological property. Secondly, urban compactness will be reconsidered in spatial configurative terms through the use of space syntax and urban micro scale tools. Examples from car-, pedestrian-, and public transport-based centres in Oslo and Bergen will be used throughout this contribution. Discussions of the examples in this contribution are discussed with references to other space syntax research results. As the case studies show, enhancing compact neighbourhoods with good walkability potential from a spatial perspective relies on spatial interaccessibility on all scale levels. Accessibility depends on spatial configurative compactness. Seemingly, it depends on the following complex set of sufficient conditions: a spatially integrated street network on all scale levels, short urban blocks and streets with building entrances with windows and doors on the ground floor level.

In this chapter, we discuss and demonstrate how to analyse the urban micro-spatial relationships between private and public spaces. These methods allow one to analyse intervisibility between buildings andstreets, entrance density from buildings towards streets, street constitutedness, and the topological depth between private and public spaces. These urban micro-scale analyses are a quantification of Jane Jacob’s (1960) and Jan Gehl’s (1996) presumptions about the interrelation between streets and building entrances and windows. Exercises are provided at the end of this chapter.

In this chapter, we first explain the concept of an axial line and how the axial map is applied in space syntax. We then discuss the static measure of ‘connectivity’ with its ‘one-step’ to ‘n-step’ logic, including its meaning for axial integration analysis. We further present the segment integration analysis. Using the street segment as the basis for analysis allows one to apply three types of distances and three types of radii in space syntax. We then present the most-often used space syntax measures in more depth, namely angular choice and angular integration with metric radius, and introduce the mathematical formulae on how to normalise both measures. Real-life applications illustrate and underpin the usefulness of these measures and their meaning for urban analysis, such as why and how they allow us to identify urban societal processes and their added value at both a citywide scale and a neighbourhood scale. Finally, we critically reflect on the measures, including their potentials and misfits. Exercises are provided at the end of the chapter.

In this chapter, we discuss the application of space syntax in consultancy for urban planning design and practice. First, we present the scientific challenges to tying general understandings and theories to urban planning and design practice. Some elementary principles for communicating results from research and theories to practitioners are demonstrated. We further explain the principles for successful master planning and the principles for designing vital and safe public realms related to the use of space syntax. This is followed by a discussion on how to avoid common errors when planning for vital neighbourhoods and cities. We present examples from practice where space syntax has played a major role. These include regenerating Trafalgar Square in London, evaluating various proposals for a new road link in the Dutch city of Leiden, developing strategies for the whole province of North Holland, and densification strategies in the Norwegian town of Bergen. In the conclusion, we discuss major pitfalls when applying space syntax to urban design and planning projects in practice. Exercises are provided at the end of the chapter.

This contribution demonstrates how inner ring roads change the location pattern of shops in urban areas with the application of the space syntax method. A market rational behaviour persists, in that shop owners always search for an optimal location to reach as many customers as possible. If the accessibility to this optimal location is affected by changes in a city’s road and street structure, it will affect the location pattern of shops. Initially, case studies of inner ring road projects in Birmingham, Coventry, Wolverhampton, Bristol, Tampere, and Mannheim show how their realisation affect the spatial structure of the street network of these cities and the location pattern of shops. The results of the spatial integration analyses of the street and road network are discussed with reference to changes in land-use before and after the implementation of ring roads, and current space syntax theories. As the results show, how an inner ring road is connected to and the type of the street network it is imposed upon dictates the resulting location pattern of shops. Shops locate and relocate themselves along the most spatially-integrated streets. Evidence on how new road projects influence the location pattern of shops in urban centres are useful for planning sustainable city centres

In previous chapters, we demonstrated various analytic techniques focusing on the spatial aspects of the built environment. In this chapter, we discuss various methods and techniques for collecting qualitative and quantitative data dealing with human behaviour and how to connect such data to the results from various space syntax analyses. This chapter provides a brief introduction to these methods to stimulate ideas for connecting an array of spatial and socio-economic data to space syntax. At the end of this chapter, we provide an exercise, references, and further readings.

This open access textbook is a comprehensive introduction to space syntax method and theory for graduate students and researchers. It provides a step-by-step approach for its application in urban planning and design. This textbook aims to increase the accessibility of the space syntax method for the first time to all graduate students and researchers who are dealing with the built environment, such as those in the field of architecture, urban design and planning, urban sociology, urban geography, archaeology, road engineering, and environmental psychology. Taking a didactical approach, the authors have structured each chapter to explain key concepts and show practical examples followed by underlying theory and provided exercises to facilitate learning in each chapter. The textbook gradually eases the reader into the fundamental concepts and leads them towards complex theories and applications.

In this chapter, we explain how the analytical logic of space syntax is applied for visibility analysis. In the previous chapter, the focus was on presenting all public spaces as axial sightlines. The individual axial line is a one-dimensional (1D) representation of public space and is useful for analysing the interrelationship of public spaces on a citywide scale. At the neighbourhood scale, a two-dimensional (2D) representation of spatial elements can be useful. In particular, the public realm, such as public squares, parks, and wide streets, benefits from a 2D spatial analysis with a visual field using a raster-based as well as an all-line modelling approach. In order to explain visibility analysis in space syntax, we start with the well-known 2D geographical visibility analysis ‘isovist’ as a field of vision. We build upon and explain visibility point-depth analysis and visual graph analysis. Further, we demonstrate how the simple point-depth calculations contribute to a theory on space and urban centrality. In addition, we discuss 3D isovists. Furthermore, we also demonstrate and discuss the use of the all-line analysis. Finally, we expound upon agent-based modelling. Exercises are provided at the end of this chapter.

This contribution investigates the correlation between street noise levels and the spatial configuration of the street network in four different types of neighbourhoods in the Algerian city of Biskra. Space syntax methods are used to analyse spatial relationships, where accessibility, intelligibility, and legibility of urban spaces can be evaluated. The degree of spatial integration is used as an accessibility indicator and is correlated with recorded noise level data at 154 points from the selected neighbourhoods. As the results show, there are strong correlations between spatial integration and recorded sound pressures on streets and roads in colonial and unplanned neighbourhoods. The reason is that these types of neighbourhoods have a street network with high correlations between street connectivity and global spatial integration. There are weak correlations between connectivity and global spatial integration throughout the modern planned neighbourhood, which again affects the correlation between noise and space. The experiment shows that space syntax methods have the potential to predict degrees of accessibility and orientability for people with visual impairments in urban planning.

Bill Hillier’s space syntax method and theory enables us to describe the spatial properties of a sustainable city. Empirical testing of the space syntax method over time has confirmed the capacity and innovativeness of analyzing spatial relationships with the purpose of understanding and explaining the socio-spatial organization of built environments. However, the conceptual framework of space syntax elements is scattered around in various academic writings. This article, therefore, gives a holistic and compact overview of the various concepts that are used in space syntax, from its basic elements to various analytical techniques and theories. To achieve this compact overview, we reviewed all space syntax literature accessible since the 1970s for finding core references to various concepts used in space syntax. Following a short description of its foundation and evolution through the work of Bill Hillier, we explain its basic concepts and measures in the form of an extended glossary. Explanations are enriched with various space syntax analyses and scenario testing on various scales that were applied to the city of Rotterdam in the Netherlands. We conclude with a discussion about the advantages and limitations of space syntax and about how this method adds value to the creation of sustainable cities.

Inthiscontributionanewspacesyntaxanalysesmethodispresentedfor analysing the degree of permeability in the main route network of towns and cities. First, a presentation is given on the methodological development of the various approaches taken until the present day. Then, a description is given on how this new analysis method can be used to conduct a permeability analyses of a main route network using the DepthmapX software. Finally, this method is applied to 25 different cities around the globe. As it turns out, the method presents an objective way in which to identify the foreground network in built environments, and to measure the degree of permeability or connectivity to the background network.

In this chapter, we show what and how space syntax has contributed to theories and general knowledge of the built environment. First, we provide an introduction to two established research traditions, positivism and hermeneutics. The aim is to demonstrate through modal logic what the possibilities and limitations are for gaining general understandings and making theoretical explanations from space syntax research. Modal logic uses expressions to test the explanatory power of statements. Second, we show what space syntax adds to the debate about spatial integration and spatial segregation as seen in relation to market and social rationality. We will focus on the spatial aspects and discuss these in relation to declining versus vital neighbourhoods, crime, anti-social behaviour, cultures, political ideologies, gender, and the use of space. Third, we give some reflections on what space syntax has contributed in regards to a comprehensive architecture theory. Finally, at the end, we add as an epilogue a thought experiment on how space syntax theories can be applied within the compact city debate. Exercises are provided at the end of this chapter.

Energy usage in cities is intertwined with its spatial configuration—the denser and more compact the city, the more concentrated and efficient the energy usage is to be expected. To achieve sustainable communities, cities (and their inhabitants) must reconsider its spatial configurations in the context of rapid urbanisation and growth in light of limited resources and conflicting spatial claims. This article seeks to understand how spatial configurations affect transport energy usage in cities and propose an integrated assessment approach factoring spatial configurational analysis in relation to transport energy usage at the micro- and macroscale. Comparing Bergen, Norway, and Zürich, Switzerland, findings showed that spatial configurations were positively correlated to transport energy usage. Street structures suitable for walking and less suitable for car traffic tended to exhibit lower amounts of energy usage. Following this, nine typologies of transport and land use patterns are described to support planning for more sustainable means of transport.

The planning and building of sustainable cities and communities yields operational theories on urban space. The novelty of this paper is that it discusses and explores the challenges for space syntax theory building within two key research traditions: positivism and hermeneutics. Applying a theory of science perspective, we first discuss the explanatory power of space syntax and its applications. Next, we distinguish between theories that attempt to explain a phenomenon and theories that seek to understand it, based on Von Wright’s modal logics and Bhaskar’s critical realism models. We demonstrate that space syntax research that focuses on spatial configurative changes in built environments, movement and economic activities can explain changes in a built environment in terms of cause and effect (positivism), whereas historical research or research focusing on social rationality, space and crime or cognition seeks to develop an understanding of the inherent cultural meaning of the space under investigation (hermeneutics). Evidently, the effect of human intentions and behaviour on spatial structures depends on the type of rationality underlying these intentions, which is the focus of this study. Positivist explanatory models are appropriate for examining market rationality in cases that entail unambiguous intentionality and that are associated with a high degree of predictability. By contrast, other kinds of reasoning require a hermeneutic understanding.

The municipality of Bergen in Norway aims to densify fifty per cent of new housing within the city’s central parts. The Ministry of Local Government and Modernisation ordered and financed an investigation to be carried out by the Western Norway University of Applied Sciences and the consulting firm Asplan Viak to give research-based input to the densification strategy debate in Bergen. This article demonstrates how the Space Syntax method can be applied to urban densification strategies in urban planning and policy making. The Geographical Information System (GIS) is used to obtain, select, and aggregate operational information. First, the spatial attributes that constitute an area’s attractiveness were registered. Then, this analysis was modelled after the Spacescape® method. Next, the Space Syntax methodology was applied to predict to-movement and through-movement flow potentials. Finally, through weighting the relevant parameters, including impediments such as land ownership, twelve areas were identified as having major potential for transformation based on their overall score. As it turns out, the spatial structure of the street and road network is the underlying driver for how and where to densify. Now, the challenge is how to apply this knowledge into current planning practice.

There is a need for knowledge of how the spatial features of the urban environment can shape the potential for safe streets and a gender inclusive society. This research reveals the relationship between a built environment’s spatial features, the presence of various types of people, and gender-based sexual violence in the public space of four neighborhoods in Rotterdam. Detailed sexual violence data are obtained from the police on a street resolution level for correlation with the spatial data on a micro and macro scale level (the space syntax method) and registrations regarding human behavior on streets at different time periods. Pooled Poisson regression models were created to explain the number of sexual violence reports per street and per block. The result is that there are correlations between the occurrence of sexual crimes, the number of people and women on the streets, local spatial integration, the land use of streets, and temporal aspects. Non-residential streets are safe during the day but become dangerous at night, and mixed land use is safer than mono-functional areas. A high degree of inter-visibility for entrances generates high degree of natural surveillance, resulting in greater safety on streets. A residential street with higher flow of people has fewer incidents than mono-functional commercial blocks. Commercial blocks have higher numbers of incidents at night due to the lack of natural surveillance from windows on the ground floor after shops close.

SPACERGY builds upon the need for planning authorities to develop new models to implement energy transition strategies in the urban environment, departing from the exploitation or reciprocity between space and energy systems. Several policies have been made by each EU nation, but effective and practical tools to guide the urban transformations towards a carbon-neutral future present several challenges. The first challenge is to confront long term changes in envisioning how a specific socio-cultural context can respond to the application of solutions for energy efficiency. Secondly, the engagement of communities in bottom-up approaches mainly includes the sphere of urban planning that underestimates the importance of relating spatial transformations with the energy performances generated in the urban environment. The third challenge regards the tools used for the assessment of the energy performance and the necessity of enlarging the scale in which energy demand is analyzed, from the scale of the building to that of the district. In this context, the project explores the role of mobility, spatial morphologies, infrastructural elements and local community participation in regards to the smart use of local resources. The project addresses a knowledge gap in relation to interactions and synergies between spatial programming, energy and mobility systems planning and stakeholder involvement necessary to improve models of development and governance of urban transformations.

Based on detailed spatial morphology and energy use modeling, SPACERGY develops new toolsets and guidelines necessary to advance the implementation of energy-efficient urban districts. New toolsets are tested in three urban areas under development in the cities of Zurich, Almere, and Bergen, acting as living laboratories for real-time research and action in collaboration with local stakeholders. The results of this research project support planners and decision-makers to facilitate the transition of their communities to more efficient, livable and thus prosperous urban environments.

The aim of this chapter is to explain what Space Syntax is. Firstly, the types of spatial elements used in Space Syntax is discussed, secondly, the various mathematical formulas of various space syntax methods are elaborated, and finally Space Syntax’ contribution to theory building on built environments are discussed.

The first attempt to reinvent the public spaces, #WomenSpatialActivism, reclaims the women's right to the city in India. Women Spatial Activism (WSA) proposes a gender-sensitive approach to urban design in the neighbourhood of Malviya Nagar in Delhi in India, that inspires the reappropriation of the front door by an old woman, the street by a working girl and the public park by mothers. The proposal is to reclaim women's right to the city through the recontextualisation of their public spaces which have been lost or need to be developed in urbanised India. The project has three main components: bottom-up strategic spatial interventions, the creation of a strong coalition of local stakeholders, and the use of digital technology. The hashtag #WomenSpatialActivism or #WSA aims to spread this movement through social media. The Women Spatial Activism project calls for a spatial gender agenda for an inclusive urban future for all.