Cultural heritage attractors: does spatial configuration matter?
Applications of macro-and micro-spatial configurative analysis in the historic urban area of Rome
Sophia Armpara (TU Delft - Environmental Technology and Design)
Akkelies van Nes (Western Norway University of Applied Sciences)
A. Roders (TU Delft - Heritage & Architecture)
More Info
expand_more
Other than for strictly personal use, it is not permitted to download, forward or distribute the text or part of it, without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), unless the work is under an open content license such as Creative Commons.
Abstract
Top world heritage artifacts act as pedestrian flow attractors in historic urban areas. Despite the growing literature on pedestrian movement in cities, evidence of the relationship between cultural attractors and the spatial characteristics of street spaces between these artifacts is scarce. This contribution applies the theory of natural movement and uses diachronic space syntax and micro-spatial
analysis to investigate the reciprocities between street networks and the presence of global heritage attractors in the historic urban area of Rome. The results from the macro-scale spatial analyses show good correlations between the current most popular cultural attractors and the global integration of the street network. The degree of spatial integration of the street network is particularly important at the time of construction of important artifacts, as shown in the diachronic analyses. City growth and urban transformation can affect the central position of these important artifacts. However, in the case of highly attractive artifacts, these
continue to perform as movement attractors. The result of a local neighbourhood investigation shows that micro-spatial parameters, such as the spatial relationships between building entrances and streets, may influence the choice of routes between important artifacts. Thus, the flows of people’s movement can be
influenced by both micro-spatial street characteristics and spatial configuration.