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The Bartlett School of Graduate Studies, Central House, 14 Upper Woburn Place,
London WC1H 0NN, UK.
E-mail: k.karimi@ucl.ac.uk
b
Space Syntax, 21 Brownlow Mews, London, WC1N 2LG, UK.
Abstract Urban design has always been a challenging task and will remain one because of its inherent
complexities and the diversity of the issues that are associated with it. A competent, experienced urban
designer can use intuitive methods to deal with these complexities and still achieve a good design, but when
projects become more complicated and multifaceted the intuition of the designer is not always adequate to
ensure a successful design. This article argues that urban design process can be enhanced effectively by
analytical methods that are applied at the specific stages of a design process. These methods can impact the
inception of the design ideas, evaluate objectively the design outputs at different stages, assist the further
development of the design solutions and reduce the risk of failure during the design process or project
implementation. The article argues that for these methods to engage with the design process they have to be
spatial in nature, as urban design is eventually manifested in a spatial entity. It is further argued that the
analysis of space could bridge between space and the ultimate users of the design or the people if space is
understood through an analysis of its configurational properties. Finally, a configurational approach to
analytical urban design is introduced, which is based on the theoretical foundations, analytical methods and
modelling techniques of space syntax. The application of the methods, their role in urban design process and
their contribution to urban design projects are all discussed through the review of a selected number of real-life
projects.
URBAN DESIGN International (2012) 17, 297318. doi:10.1057/udi.2012.19; published online 26 September 2012
Keywords: urban design process; analytical methods; spatial configuration; space syntax
Introduction
Urban design is normally perceived as a twentiethcentury discipline, but it is evidently much
older, perhaps as old as the earliest form of
architectural design. Full-scale, designed cities
were created more than five millennia ago in
Indus Valley and Mesopotamia (Golany, 1995).
Even in the simplest forms of settlements, some
degrees of urban design can be identified in the
spaces that are shaped consciously or unconsciously to serve the needs of people. The nature
of urban design as an independent discipline,
however, is not easily understood despite such a
precedence and embeddedness in human societies. The close affinity of urban design with architecture and other disciplines that are predominantly
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for design in general or urban design in particular (RIBA, 1980; Luckman, 1984; Rowe, 1987;
Moughtin et al, 1999; Roberts and Greed, 2001;
Lang, 2005; Cama, 2009). In fact, the concept of
process is the core element of all these definitions.
A process, which is normally considered as a
continuous action, operation or series of changes
that take place in a continuous manner, seems to be
very relevant to any design activity (Jones, 1992;
Lawson, 2005).
The second proposition is that the design
process starts with an initiation phase and ends
up with an outcome. The initiation phase of the
design process is normally a project brief, a
request, a demand or even some sort of an
undefined need, put in place by a client, a
community, a group or the designers themselves.
Normally, some sort of an output a plan, an
object or a system could also be identified,
which is normally considered as the result of this
process (Levin, 1984; Moughtin et al, 1999; Lang,
2005). In other words, design is a purposeful
process that starts with some sort of objectives,
well-defined or ill-defined (Rowe, 1987, p. 40),
and ends up with an outcome that responds to
them. This does not mean that the design process
is bound to terminate definitely at a certain time.
In most cases the process is carried forward to
redefine or reshape the objectives and initiation of
another cycle of design, but at each of these cycles
there is normally something that could be called
the design outcome.
The third commonly agreeable proposition here
is that the urban design process involves some
degree of problem solving or solution making
(Jones, 1992; Kroll, 2001; Lawson, 2004, 2005). This
is perhaps the natural consequence of the previous two propositions. If we seek to respond to
some objectives to produce a result through a
series of actions, we have to think of different
ways of achieving the results and responding to
the challenges involved in each approach.
The fourth proposition, which might appear
less apparent than the previous three, is that
design cannot be an entirely logical or discursive
process. Some forms of intuition, creativity or
novelty, which are not entirely governed by
logical, or scientific discourses, can be identified
in some parts or the whole of the design process
(Daley, 1984; Darke, 1984; Hillier et al, 1984).
Considering the vast diversity of the design
activities, which spans from very precise and
technical processes such as industrial design to
highly qualitative and creative activities such as
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DEVELOPMENT
DESIGN SOLUTIONS
DESIGN
WIDER
ISSUES
DESIGN IDEAS
DESIGN
GENERATION
BRIEF / CLIENTS
DESIGN
OUTPUT
CONSULTATION / STAKEHOLDERS
Figure 2: A generic urban design process. Two main stages of design generation and design development create a cycle that is
induced by a design brief, wider urban design issues and stakeholder consultations. The urban design output comes normally after
the design development phase, but the entire process could be reiterated until a satisfactory output is obtained.
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BRIEF / CLIENTS
BASELINE
STUDY
DESIGN SOLUTIONS
DESIGN
OUTPUT
DESIGN
DEVELOPMENT
DESIGN IDEAS
DESIGN
WIDER
ISSUES
GENERATION
BASELINE ANALYSIS
ANALYTICAL EVALUATION
DESIGN
EVALUATION
CONSULTATION / STAKEHOLDERS
Figure 3: Analytical urban design process. An analytical phase, or a baseline analysis, takes place before the design generation phase.
The analytical tools are applied again after the formation of design ideas, or design options, to evaluate them and feed back into the
process.
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Figure 4: Spatial configuration. The patterns of relationship between different components of a French house are translated into a
graph, which could be justified from different places (Hillier et al., 1987). The properties of the graphs represent the topological
relationship between different spaces.
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Figure 5: The most fundamental, yet simple, attributes of the space is used to create space syntax models.
Figure 6: Two methods of spatial modelling: a line-based model of the City of London (a) and a visual field-based model of an office
environment (b). Spatial structures of urban and architectural systems are represented by a colour scheme, using a colour scheme
that ranges from the most connected (dark red) to least connected (dark blue).
Figure 7: A segmental angular analysis of the city of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Analysis of the urban grid at the local level (a) picks up
locally distinct areas, such as the historic centre and unplanned settlement, but in the city-wide analysis (b) a totally different pattern
emerges. The historic core and unplanned settlements are excessively isolated urban areas within a super grid structure that is
dominated by the modern traffic routes.
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Figure 8: Composite urban models. The analysis of spatial structure (left) has been combined with commercial density (middle) to
create a composite model (right), which is sensitive to both factors.
BRIEF / CLIENTS
BASELINE STUDY
DESIGN
COMPLETION
DESIGN IDEAS
DESIGN
SOLUTIONS
DESIGN OPTIONS
SPATIAL
EVALUATION
DESIGN
DEVELOPMENT
SPATIAL
ANALYSIS
DESIGN
OUTPUT
DESIGN
DESIGN
WIDER
ISSUES
GENERATION
COMPOSITE
ANALYTICAL
MODELS
FURTHER
ANALYTICAL
EVALUATIONS
EVALUATION
CONSULTATION / STAKEHOLDERS
Figure 9: Configurational approach to analytical urban design: space syntax methodology. In this approach, the foundation of the
analytical baseline study and analytical design evaluation is spatial configuration analysis. Further composite models of evaluation
could be built on the spatial layer to enhance the responsiveness of the methodology.
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square and the consequent functional sub-division of the public space were identified as major
barriers to the success of the square (Space Syntax
Limited, 2004).
Further observational study of peoples movement and behaviour confirmed that there was
an imbalance in how people moved and used
different parts of the square (Figure 10b). People
generally hesitated to cross the square diagonally and certain type of age groups, such as
teenagers tended to occupy specific parts of the
square. Clearly, the spatial layout of the square
and how the square performed functionally or
socially were interlinked. The findings from
Figure 10: Nottingham Market square. Spatial configuration analysis (a) and the analysis of peoples behaviour (b) were utilised to
generate and develop the urban design. The analysis of intervisibility, using the Visual Graph Analysis method, inspired the main
concept of the design and was used to assess design options. The project has been regarded a successful urban project and has won
multiple awards in the United Kingdom (see Note 5).
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have been informed by space syntax methodology, among which the master plans for Kings
Cross and St Pancras (Hillier et al., 1988; Hillier
et al, 1992), Elephant and Castle in London
(http://www.london-se1.co.uk/news/view/843),
St Botolphs Quarter in Colchester (Colchester
City Council, 2005),6 Beijing CBD in China
and the new city of Masdar in Abu Dhabi, are
prominent.
The engagement of space syntax methodology
in the design of the City of Masdar in Abu-Dhabi
is perhaps a good example of how the methodology can be used in the middle of an urban design
process, when there are concerns about the design
and an analytical study could provide reliable
evidence for designers and decision makers to
enhance the design and rectify possible flaws.
Masdar, which started as an urban design competition, has been widely introduced as a sustainable, zero-carbon development (Heap, 2010a, b;
Droege, 2012). In a review of the masterplan in
2009, space syntax methods were used to make an
assessment of the masterplan and assist the team
with further development of the design. Regardless of the fact that the design process was well
underway at that time, a baseline study based on
spatial analysis was carried out. The spatial
analysis was then linked with a series of urban
layers, such as land use, density and transport
network to create a series of composite models to
further analyse the masterplan and help assess or
modify the design (Figure 11).
The analysis of the initial design proposals
revealed some deficiencies in the spatial layout,
such as: lack of a strong City Centre or a city
spine; unconsolidated wayfinding and pedestrian
navigation patterns caused by a staggered urban
grid, which reduced the correspondence between
the global and local accessibility patterns; isolation of the residential neighbourhoods from each
other and the city centre; over-integration of
linear parks to the extent that they were competing with the urban spine; and a relative mismatch
between the spatial structure and distribution of
land uses and densities. Following an analytical
review of the scheme in 2009, most of the problems identified by the baseline analysis were
remedied by restructuring the spatial layout. The
methodology was then used to test further a series
of options that were created by the design teams,
until an optimum design was achieved. During
the subsequent design development phase, the
same analytical techniques were used to advise
the design team on the implementation stages and
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Figure 11: The City of Masdar, Abu Dhabi. A spatial configuration model was used to help optimise the spatial structure of the city.
Furthermore, the spatial model was linked with land use distribution (a), residential densities (b), employment centres (c) and
transport nodes (d) to create a composite model of urban evaluation, which is sensitive to all these factors. The model is also an
accurate Pedestrian Movement Model, which could be used to forecast pedestrian flows.
phasing of the project. Each phase of implementation was modelled separately, or in the context of
the previous phases, to see how the system
changes when it grows in different phases. The
design team made their final decisions about
permanent and temporary features of the project
based on the analysis of different phases.
Finally, in the design development phase, more
detailed analytical models were produced to look
at the performance of the specific phases, public
spaces and neighbourhoods. The model used in
this phase of analysis was a combination of two
methods: The visual graph analysis (VGA), which
takes into account the possible visibility of anywhere in the system to anywhere else and shows
the intensity of intervisibility in different locations
(Figure 6b); and an agent-based model, in which
the agents chose their path randomly by mimicking humans field of vision and navigational
characteristics through space (Figure 12). This
model simulates the aggregate patterns of behaviour, based on the individual paths (Alasdair
Turner et al, 2002). To enhance the output of the
model, it was weighted by the ratio of likely
volumes of flows at origins and destination
(Ferguson et al, 2012). The use of this model took
the analysis to a micro-scale, where the impact of
issues such as landscape features, urban furniture
312
Pedestrian movement
People per hour
400+
200-400
100-200
50-100
25-50
0-25
Figure 12: One of the implementation phases in the City of Madar. A visibility-based agent simulation of one of implementation
phases gives a detailed picture of pedestrian activity. The colours represent levels of pedestrian flow that correspond to certain urban
characters generated by peoples presence (images are from other cities to help understand the analysis). Designers can visualise the
character of public spaces and evaluate the likely impact of the changes that they make to urban layout.
Framework, and subsequent urban design projects have arguably been influential pieces of
work which informed many strategic and detailed
projects, such as the recently adopted Jeddah
Strategic Plan(Municipality of Jeddah, 2009).
The baseline study was initiated with the
development of a segment-angular analysis of
the entire city of Jeddah. This model was further
linked with the distribution of population density,
land uses, vehicular traffic and socio-economic
conditions (Figure 8) to create composite urban
models. The analysis of the city at the global
level revealed major problems of the urban
structure, among which were: extreme isolation
of the historic core; lack of a proper City Centre;
excessive shift of the centre of urban structure to
the north of the city; imbalanced urban growth
and sprawl; negative impact of the undeveloped
mega-scale sites in the heart of the city on their
surroundings; and spatial segregation of unplanned settlements, which were rapidly turning
into urban slums (Figure 13). These results were
compatible with the other studies that had
been undertaken before the Strategic Planning
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Figure 13: Space syntax models of the city of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. These models have been used as the base layers to inform the
Strategic Planning Framework. The spatial structure of the city as exists now (a), is compared with what it would be like if the old
Local Plan is implemented (b), and what it would become if all strategic transformations proposed by the Strategic Planning
Framework are implemented (c).
Conclusions
Contemporary urban design confronts multiple
challenges, which are only going to be more
complex in future. These challenges and the
necessity to reduce the risks of failure demand
new methods of urban design, capable of informing the design process by evidence, analysis and
rigorous investigation. Without contradicting the
traditional, intuition-based approaches to urban
design, which are still applicable, this article has
argued that urban design as a process can be
informed by analytical methods
Figure 14: A composite model that combines space syntax analysis with land use and population density to measure the extent of the
existing City Centre as it is now (a) and in future (b). The model also measures the impact of each urban development (spatial layout,
land use, density) on the shape of the city centre and issues such as movement and traffic.
Notes
1 Albeit considered as an analytical approach sometimes,
Parametric Design is more about a tool for manipulation and
representation of certain parameters.
2 One of the main software for this kind of analysis is open
source software called Depthmap, which has been developed by the Space Group at Bartlett, UCL (Turner, 2001).
3 In response to the increasing requests of the professional
sector, a consultancy firm, Space Syntax Limited, was set up
by UCL to utilise space syntax methods and modelling
techniques in urban design projects (Hillier 2007).
4 The records of Space Syntax Limited show that more than
1500 projects have been undertaken between 1995 and 2012.
5 Among these awards are: First ever RIBA CABE Public
Space Award, 2008; The Civic Trust Awards in three
categories of Outstanding Contribution to the Public Realm,
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