Space syntax

River valley urban network and morphology: A study on the urban morphology evolution of Lanzhou

The present study investigates the dynamic evolution characteristics of urban spatial morphology by analyzing real road network data from 2000, 2010, and 2020, along with nighttime lighting data employing spatial analysis methods and spatial syntax models. Accordingly, two separate dimensions of urban morphology: internal and external, are covered. First, the integration and synergy of interior morphology features are analyzed using spatial syntactic modeling. Subsequently, the spatial compactness, fractal dimension, and level of center of gravity shift of the city are assessed by combining the nighttime lighting data with the earlier dataset. This analysis facilitated the deep exploration of the spatiotemporal evolution of the city's external morphology. Building upon this foundation, the interaction between the "internal and external" domains was analyzed further. The main findings of the study reveal a synchronous pattern of urban expansion throughout the evolution of urban spatial morphology. Furthermore, the urban form was observed to undergo a progressive transformation, transitioning from a "single core" morphology to a "primary and secondary double core" morphology. Over time, this development progressed and evolved into a "belt-like multi-core" structure. Additionally, the coupling characteristics further validate the relationship between the structure of the road network and the urban morphology in river valley-type cities. In particular, accessibility of dense and horizontally distributed transportation network was found to significantly influence the spatial development of these cities. As observed, the findings provides valuable insights into understanding the characteristics of internal and external associations regarding urban spatial patterns.

The role of strategic visibility in shaping wayfinding behavior in multilevel buildings

In this paper, we explore the mutual effect of prior background expectations and visibility afforded by the 3D configuration of the physical environment on wayfinding efficiency and strategy in multilevel buildings. We perform new analyses on data from 149 participants who performed six unaided and directed wayfinding tasks in virtual buildings with varying degrees of visibility. Our findings reveal that the interaction between visibility and prior background expectations significantly affects wayfinding efficiency and strategy during between-floor wayfinding tasks. We termed this interaction effect strategic visibility, which emphasizes the importance of the strategic allocation of visibility towards actionable building elements in promoting efficient wayfinding and shaping wayfinding strategy. Our study highlights the significance of strategic visibility in promoting inclusive and accessible built environments for neurodiversity. Finally, we provide an open-source dataset that can be used to develop and test new wayfinding theories and models to advance research in the emerging field of human-building interaction.

Structural renovation of blocks in build-up area of Jiangnan cities, taking Suzhou new district as an example

The rationality of block scale and structure is the guarantee of vitality and humanization quality, facing complex and diverse problems, and the structure reconstruction of urban built-up areas is one of the most difficult challenges in the process of promoting the block system. The traditional planning-construction strategy, as practice in recent years has demonstrated, faces challenges in terms of construction costs, demolition costs, property rights, and jurisprudence. Based on the interaction of the block structure and external space, the study presents a "implant-reconstruction" model. It investigates possibilities of implanting elements and graphically depicts the potential impact of implant-reconstruction using Space Syntax. The findings indicate that the external space implantation mode may actively encourage the construction of small-scale blocks and has benefits in terms of texture respect, low impact, and ease of operation. The simulation and pre-judgment dynamically illustrate the viable path and gives a scientific reference for block alteration.

Optimization of spatial distribution of sports parks based on accessibility analysis

In recent years, public sports services have attracted great attention owing to their increasingly important role in public health. However, effective evaluation metrics measuring the efficiency of such services from a spatial perspective (e.g., accessibility and distribution of sports parks) remain absent. Indeed, most designs of sports park distribution in urban areas did not consider practical factors such as local road networks, population distribution, and resident preference, resulting in low utilization rates of these parks. In this study, a spatial accessibility-based method is proposed for evaluation of the distributions of sports parks. As a demonstration, the distribution of sports parks in the central urban area of Changsha, China was investigated using the proposed method by the GIS network analysis. Additionally, optimization strategies for sports park distribution (in terms of spatial distribution and overall accessibility) were developed by using spatial syntax.

ActFloor-GAN: Activity-Guided Adversarial Networks for Human-Centric Floorplan Design

We present a novel two-stage approach for automated floorplan design in residential buildings with a given exterior wall boundary. Our approach has the unique advantage of being human-centric, that is, the generated floorplans can be geometrically plausible, as well as topologically reasonable to enhance resident interaction with the environment. From the input boundary, we first synthesize a human-activity map that reflects both the spatial configuration and human-environment interaction in an architectural space. We propose to produce the human-activity map either automatically by a pre-trained generative adversarial network (GAN) model, or semi-automatically by synthesizing it with user manipulation of the furniture. Second, we feed the human-activity map into our deep framework ActFloor-GAN to guide a pixel-wise prediction of room types. We adopt a re-formulated cycle-consistency constraint in ActFloor-GAN to maximize the overall prediction performance, so that we can produce high-quality room layouts that are readily convertible to vectorized floorplans. Experimental results show several benefits of our approach. First, a quantitative comparison with prior methods shows superior performance of leveraging the human-activity map in predicting piecewise room types. Second, a subjective evaluation by architects shows that our results have compelling quality as professionally-designed floorplans and much better than those generated by existing methods in terms of the room layout topology. Last, our approach allows manipulating the furniture placement, considers the human activities in the environment, and enables the incorporation of user-design preferences.

Perception of Spatial Legibility and Its Association with Human Mobility Patterns: An Empirical Assessment of the Historical Districts in Rasht, Iran

Achieving legibility within the context of historical districts has become a controversial problem due to their widespread growth and unconventional constructions within, which has led to inconsistencies in the urban context system, and a decrease in the level of urban sociability. This paper aims to provide an empirical assessment towards facilitating the perception of spatial legibility and its association with human mobility patterns. To this end, a novel mix method was developed in order to comprehend the association between spatial legibility and human mobility patterns using Space Syntax, cognitive sketch maps, and time-lapse photography. The results revealed that there is a significant association between spatial legibility and human mobility patterns, such that the incorporation of objective and subjective factors affecting legibility, including highly integrated morphological characteristics along with the saliency of landmarks featuring historical values, can lead to increased human mobility patterns in terms of use frequency. Accordingly, this research aids urban planners and designers in recognizing how to deal with historical districts in order to foster the sociability of these areas and create a lively and socially sustainable urban environment.

The Legibility Efficacy of Historical Neighborhoods in Creating a Cognitive Map for Citizens

Nowadays, historical neighborhoods in Iran are in a state of decay due to the lack of spatial legibility with respect to their organic spatial layout. Hence, the level of interaction among people and their perception of the environment has gradually diminished. Historical neighborhoods no longer possess their former prosperity and function, and citizens prefer to inhabit neighborhoods with newer configurations to meet their demands. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of the spatial legibility of historical neighborhoods in creating a suitable cognitive map for citizens. Quantitative and qualitative methods were applied using a questionnaire and simulation test instruments. In addition, in order to analyze the spatial configuration of the target areas, the Space Syntax method was implemented using Depthmap 10. The findings indicated that landmarks and navigation signs were identified as the most important factors affecting legibility from the viewpoint of users. Furthermore, the correlation between integration and connectivity illustrated that the studied areas possessed poor spatial legibility due to the organic texture of their spatial configurations. Accordingly, solutions such as enhancing the interaction between highly integrated streets and identified landmarks were emphasized to ameliorate the legibility of these spaces. The present study contributes to sustainable urban design with respect to the rejuvenation of historical districts by proposing a set of pragmatic alterations of urban spatial configurations. This research may be fruitful for urban designers, planners and managers seeking to revitalize historical neighborhoods.

Quantitative Research on the Form of Traditional Villages Based on the Space Gene—A Case Study of Shibadong Village in Western Hunan, China

Traditional villages are the place where national culture is nurtured and inherited. Due to the acceleration of urbanization, the protective exploitation of traditional villages is an urgency in many regions of the world. Under the perspective of the “Space Gene”, we define the connotation of the traditional village space gene, which refers not only to a space combination model, but also the basic inheritance unit of the sustainable development of traditional villages. We further propose the Quantitative Inheritance System Model of Traditional Village Space Genes, which reveals the logic behind the formation of traditional village material forms and builds a quantitative index system for traditional village forms. We take Shibadong Village as an example to prove the model. The results demonstrate that although the four camps in Shibadong Village belong to the same ethnic group and the same village, there are still apparent differences in morphological features. Through the model, we can turn from the “built form” research from the perspective of material space to the “deep structure” research behind it, which can provide scientific guidance for the planning and designs of traditional villages to inherit the history and culture and to protect the diversity of world culture.

Research on the Cultural Tracing of the Patriarchal Clan System of Traditional Buildings in the Eastern Zhejiang Province, China, Based on Space Syntax: The Case Study of Huzhai in Shaoxing

The patriarchal clan system is an important prerequisite for the formation and development of Chinese traditional culture. The spatial layout and space usage of traditional buildings are intimately related to patriarchal culture. Thus, analyzing the spatial layout and usage is an effective way to trace the culture of traditional buildings. In this study, a typical traditional building named Huzhai in eastern Zhejiang was examined as an example. The spatial layout characteristics of Huzhai and different space usage relations corresponding to different users under the influence of the patriarchal clan system were investigated through “all lines” analysis in space syntax. In this process, traditional ritual activities were considered crucial for tracing the culture of traditional buildings in the eastern Zhejiang province. The results demonstrate that spatial layout and the usage of traditional buildings in the eastern Zhejiang province have led to “class” distinctions under the influence of patriarchal culture. The sacrificial activities of families further emphasize the class distinctions of building space. The differences in building space usage among different classes reflect the unequal distribution of social resources in China’s traditional feudal society. These differences reflect the inequality of space mastership and control among different classes that are a result of the unequal distribution of social resources in China.

Redirected Walking in Static and Dynamic Scenes Using Visibility Polygons

We present a new approach for redirected walking in static and dynamic scenes that uses techniques from robot motion planning to compute the redirection gains that steer the user on collision-free paths in the physical space. Our first contribution is a mathematical framework for redirected walking using concepts from motion planning and configuration spaces. This framework highlights various geometric and perceptual constraints that tend to make collision-free redirected walking difficult. We use our framework to propose an efficient solution to the redirection problem that uses the notion of visibility polygons to compute the free spaces in the physical environment and the virtual environment. The visibility polygon provides a concise representation of the entire space that is visible, and therefore walkable, to the user from their position within an environment. Using this representation of walkable space, we apply redirected walking to steer the user to regions of the visibility polygon in the physical environment that closely match the region that the user occupies in the visibility polygon in the virtual environment. We show that our algorithm is able to steer the user along paths that result in significantly fewer resets than existing state-of-the-art algorithms in both static and dynamic scenes. Our project website is available at https://ganuna.umd.edu/vis.poly/.

Development of a support system for creating disaster prevention maps focusing on road networks and hazardous elements

As a disaster prevention measure based on self-assistance and mutual assistance, disaster prevention maps are being created with citizen participation throughout Japan. The process of creating disaster prevention maps is itself a disaster prevention measure that contributes to raising awareness of disaster prevention by promoting exchange and cooperation within the region. By focusing on relations between road networks and hazardous elements, we developed a system to support disaster prevention map creation that visualizes roads at high risk during a disaster and facilitates the study of evacuation simulations. This system leads to a completed disaster prevention map in three phases. In the first phase, we use a device with GPS logging functions to collect information related to hazardous elements. In the second phase, we use Google Maps ("online map," below) to visualize roads with high evacuation risk. In the final phase, we perform a regional evaluation through simulations of disaster-time evacuations. In experimental verifications, by conducting usability tests after creating a disaster prevention map in the target area, we evaluated the system in terms of simple operability and visibility. We found that by implementing this series of processes, even users lacking specialized knowledge regarding disaster prevention can intuitively discover evacuation routes while considering the relations between visualized road networks and hazardous elements. These results show that compared with disaster prevention maps having simple site notations using existing WebGIS systems, disaster prevention maps created by residents while inspecting the target area raise awareness of risks present in the immediate vicinity even in normal times and are an effective support system for prompt disaster prevention measures and evacuation drills.

Examining the Relationship Between Environmental Factors and Inpatient Hospital Falls: Protocol for a Mixed Methods Study

BACKGROUND

Patient falls are the most common adverse events reported in hospitals. Although it is well understood that the physical hospital environment contributes to nearly 40% of severe or fatal hospital falls, there are significant gaps in the knowledge about the relationship between inpatient unit design and fall rates. The few studies that have examined unit design have been conducted in a single hospital (non-Veterans Health Administration [VHA]) or a small number of inpatient units, limiting generalizability. The goal of this study is to identify unit design factors contributing to inpatient falls in the VHA.

OBJECTIVE

The first aim of the study is to investigate frontline and management perceptions of and experiences with veteran falls as they pertain to inpatient environmental factors. An iterative rapid assessment process will be used to analyze the data. Interview findings will directly inform the development of an environmental assessment survey to be conducted as part of aim 2 and to contribute to interpretation of aim 2. The second aim of this study is to quantify unit design factors and compare spatial and environmental factors of units with higher- versus lower-than-expected fall rates.

METHODS

We will first conduct walk-through interviews with facility personnel in 10 medical/surgical units at 3 VHA medical centers to identify environmental fall risk factors. Data will be used to finalize an environmental assessment survey for nurse managers and facilities managers. We will then use fall data from the VA Inpatient Evaluation Center and patient data from additional sources to identify 50 medical/surgical nursing units with higher- and lower-than-expected fall rates. We will measure spatial factors by analyzing computer-aided design files of unit floorplans and environmental factors from the environmental assessment survey. Statistical tests will be performed to identify design factors that distinguish high and low outliers.

RESULTS

The VA Health Services Research and Development Service approved funding for the study. The research protocol was approved by institutional review boards and VA research committees at both sites. Data collection started in February 2018. Results of the data analysis are expected by February 2022. Data collection and analysis was completed for aim 1 with a manuscript of results in progress. For aim 2, the medical/surgical units were categorized into higher- and lower-than-expected fall categories, the environmental assessment surveys were distributed to facility managers and nurse managers. Data to measure spatial characteristics are being compiled.

CONCLUSIONS

To our knowledge, this study is the first to objectively identify spatial risks for falls in hospitals within in a large multihospital system. Findings can contribute to evidence-based design guidelines for hospitals such as those of the Facility Guidelines Institute and the Department of Veterans Affairs. The metrics for characterizing spatial features are quantitative indices that could be incorporated in larger scale contextual studies examining contributors to falls, which to date often exclude physical environmental factors at the unit level. Space syntax measures could be used as physical environmental factors in future research examining a range of contextual factors-social, personal, organizational, and environmental-that contribute to patient falls.

INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID)

DERR1-10.2196/24974.

Examining the diffusion of coronavirus disease 2019 cases in a metropolis: a space syntax approach

Background

The urban built environment (BE) has been globally acknowledged as one of the main factors that affects the spread of infectious disease. However, the effect of the street network on coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) incidence has been insufficiently studied. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, which causes COVID-19, is far more transmissible than previous respiratory viruses, such as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus, which highlights the role of the spatial configuration of street network in COVID-19 spread, as it is where humans have contact with each other, especially in high-density areas. To fill this research gap, this study utilized space syntax theory and investigated the effect of the urban BE on the spatial diffusion of COVID-19 cases in Hong Kong.

Method

This study collected a comprehensive dataset including a total of 3815 confirmed cases and corresponding locations from January 18 to October 5, 2020. Based on the space syntax theory, six space syntax measures were selected as quantitative indicators for the urban BE. A linear regression model and Geographically Weighted Regression model were then applied to explore the underlying relationships between COVID-19 cases and the urban BE. In addition, we have further improved the performance of GWR model considering the spatial heterogeneity and scale effects by adopting an adaptive bandwidth.

Result

Our results indicated a strong correlation between the geographical distribution of COVID-19 cases and the urban BE. Areas with higher integration (a measure of the cognitive complexity required for a pedestrians to reach a street) and betweenness centrality values (a measure of spatial network accessibility) tend to have more confirmed cases. Further, the Geographically Weighted Regression model with adaptive bandwidth achieved the best performance in predicting the spread of COVID-19 cases.

Conclusion

In this study, we revealed a strong positive relationship between the spatial configuration of street network and the spread of COVID-19 cases. The topology, network accessibility, and centrality of an urban area were proven to be effective for use in predicting the spread of COVID-19. The findings of this study also shed light on the underlying mechanism of the spread of COVID-19, which shows significant spatial variation and scale effects. This study contributed to current literature investigating the spread of COVID-19 cases in a local scale from the space syntax perspective, which may be beneficial for epidemic and pandemic prevention.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12942-021-00270-4.

Navigation in Indoor Environments: Does the Type of Visual Learning Stimulus Matter?

This work addresses the impact of a geovisualization’s level of realism on a user’s experience in indoor navigation. The key part of the work is a user study in which participants navigated along a designated evacuation route previously learnt in a virtual tour or traditional 2D floor plan. The efficiency and effectiveness of completing the task was measured by the number of incorrect turns during navigation and completion time. The complexity of mental spatial representations that participants developed before and after navigating the route was also evaluated. The data was obtained using several qualitative and quantitative research methods (mobile eye tracking, structured interviews, sketching of cognitive maps, creation of navigation instructions, and additional questions to evaluate spatial orientation abilities). A total of 36 subjects (17 in the “floor plan” group and 19 in the “virtual tour” group) participated in the study. The results showed that the participants from both groups were able to finish the designated navigation route, but more detailed mental spatial representations were developed by the “virtual tour” group than the “floor plan” group. The participants in the virtual tour group created richer navigation instructions both before and after evacuation, mentioned more landmarks and could recall their characteristics. Visual landmark characteristics available in the virtual tour also seemed to support the correct decision-making.

Overcoming the Subject-Object Dichotomy in Urban Modeling: Axial Maps as Geometric Representations of Affordances in the Built Environment

The world is witnessing unprecedented urbanization, bringing extreme challenges to contemporary practices in urban planning and design. This calls for improved urban models that can generate new knowledge and enhance practical skill. Importantly, any urban model embodies a conception of the relation between humans and the physical environment. In urban modeling this is typically conceived of as a relation between human subjects and an environmental object, thereby reproducing a humans-environment dichotomy. Alternative modeling traditions, such as space syntax that originates in architecture rather than geography, have tried to overcome this dichotomy. Central in this effort is the development of new representations of urban space, such as in the case of space syntax, the axial map. This form of representation aims to integrate both human behavior and the physical environment into one and the same description. Interestingly, models based on these representations have proved to better capture pedestrian movement than regular models. Pedestrian movement, as well as other kinds of human flows in urban space, is essential for urban modeling, since increasingly flows of this kind are understood as the driver in urban processes. Critical for a full understanding of space syntax modeling is the ontology of its' representations, such as the axial map. Space syntax theory here often refers to James Gibson's "Theory of affordances," where the concept of affordances, in a manner similar to axial maps, aims to bridge the subject-object dichotomy by neither constituting physical properties of the environment or human behavior, but rather what emerges in the meeting between the two. In extension of this, the axial map can be interpreted as a representation of how the physical form of the environment affords human accessibility and visibility in urban space. This paper presents a close examination of the form of representations developed in space syntax methodology, in particular in the light of Gibson's "theory of affordances." The overarching aim is to contribute to a theoretical framework for urban models based on affordances, which may support the overcoming of the subject-object dichotomy in such models, here deemed essential for a greater social-ecological sustainability of cities.