Understanding and predicting the occurrence of void street interfaces

Journal Article (2022)
Author(s)

L.M. De Carvalho Filho (TU Delft - Architecture and the Built Environment)

P. Sulis (European Commission - Joint Research Centre)

Research Group
Spatial Planning and Strategy
DOI related publication
https://doi.org/10.1177/23998083221093067 Final published version
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Publication Year
2022
Language
English
Research Group
Spatial Planning and Strategy
Issue number
4
Volume number
50
Pages (from-to)
911-926
Page Views
291
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Institutional Repository
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Abstract

Void street interfaces (VSIs) – building plinths with restricted visual interaction, accessibility, and public use – constitute an urban feature often associated with undermining the public domain, limiting free access and preventing interaction between social groups. Moreover, VSIs have been described as products of inequality designed to segregate and hinder integration between public and private urban spaces. This study assesses VSIs across six cities in Brazil, a country notable for its profound inequality and sociospatial fragmentation. The main aims of this research are: (i) to develop and test a predictive model for VSIs using socioeconomic indicators drawn from open-source ground-truth data; (ii) to identify the variance of VSI within selected case studies. In the development phase of the predictive model, data from the city of Recife are used to build the model. The testing phase involves the analysis of VSIs in the cities of Fortaleza, Salvador, Belo Horizonte, Curitiba and Porto Alegre. The model can potentially assist urban planners in better understanding and locating VSIs and mitigating undesirable outcomes.