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Space Syntax: Some Inconsistencies

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  • Carlo Ratti

    (SENSEable City Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA)

Abstract

This paper reports on a number of inconsistencies that appear in space syntax—a well-known technique of urban analysis—when dealing with certain geometrical configurations. At a simple level, the analysis of regularly gridded urban textures (such as Manhattan's) reveals the difficulty of accepting the claim that space syntax allows the modelling of pedestrian choice making. In more complex cases, the distortion of two ideal textures produces a topological discontinuity, leading to the unacceptable situation where one single urban configuration produces two conflicting outcomes when analysed with space syntax tools. Several other points are also discussed, such as the difficulty of space syntax to take into account building height and land use, and its sensitivity to boundary conditions. Conclusions seem to suggest that the topological representation of cities, on which space syntax is based, discards precious metric information and is rather limiting. It is envisaged that with current increases in computational power new algorithms might allow a deeper understanding of urban texture, based on the full exploration of its metric and topological properties. This would contribute to answer the fascinating question which space syntax has helped to frame: what is the influence of urban configuration on social life?

Suggested Citation

  • Carlo Ratti, 2004. "Space Syntax: Some Inconsistencies," Environment and Planning B, , vol. 31(4), pages 487-499, August.
  • Handle: RePEc:sae:envirb:v:31:y:2004:i:4:p:487-499
    DOI: 10.1068/b3019
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    Cited by:

    1. Boeing, Geoff, 2019. "Street Network Models and Measures for Every U.S. City, County, Urbanized Area, Census Tract, and Zillow-Defined Neighborhood," SocArXiv 7fxjz, Center for Open Science.
    2. Boeing, Geoff, 2017. "OSMnx: New Methods for Acquiring, Constructing, Analyzing, and Visualizing Complex Street Networks," SocArXiv q86sd, Center for Open Science.
    3. Samira Ramezani & Barbara Pizzo & Elizabeth Deakin, 2018. "An integrated assessment of factors affecting modal choice: towards a better understanding of the causal effects of built environment," Transportation, Springer, vol. 45(5), pages 1351-1387, September.
    4. Jiaxing Wei & Jing Qian & Yu Tao & Feng Hu & Weixin Ou, 2018. "Evaluating Spatial Priority of Urban Green Infrastructure for Urban Sustainability in Areas of Rapid Urbanization: A Case Study of Pukou in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-14, January.
    5. Abhijit Paul, 2014. "A comparative assessment of edge-effect with syntax integration generated in axial and unit-segment approaches to modelling vehicular movement networks," International Journal of Urban Sciences, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(3), pages 340-354, November.

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