Finding the Optimal D/H Ratio for an Enclosed Urban Square: Testing an Urban Design Principle Using Immersive Virtual Reality Simulation Techniques.

Jaecheol Kim,Seungnam Kim

doi:10.3390/ijerph16050865

Abstract

Using immersive virtual reality (VR), this study examined the D/H ratio principle (where “D” means the depth or width of a public space and “H” means the height of its surrounding buildings.) that urban design theorists have suggested as an important design principle for public spaces. The authors built VR models of eight enclosed urban public squares with different D/H ratios ranging from 1/3 to 6/1. They then carried out an experiment in the form of a visual assessment survey using the VR models with 69 university students majoring in urban planning and compared the optimal D/H ratios from the experimental results with those proposed by urban design theorists. The statistical analysis of the experimental results revealed that the optimal D/H ratios for most qualities of public squares are larger than the optimal ratios claimed by theorists.

Highlights

As shown in Dempsey et al.’s claim that an attractive public realm is one of the important physical factors influencing urban social sustainability ([1], p. 3), the design of urban public spaces influences people’s social lives [2] and, the social sustainability of a city
The statistical analysis of the experimental results revealed that the optimal D/H ratios for most qualities of public squares are larger than the optimal ratios claimed by theorists
Using an immersive virtual reality (VR) technique, this study empirically examined a well-known principle about urban public spaces: the D/H ratio principle

Summary

Introduction

As shown in Dempsey et al.’s claim that an attractive public realm is one of the important physical factors influencing urban social sustainability ([1], p. 3), the design of urban public spaces influences people’s social lives [2] and, the social sustainability of a city. 3), the design of urban public spaces influences people’s social lives [2] and, the social sustainability of a city. Regardless of the importance of urban public spaces, many design principles and theories for urban spaces have been based on the intuition or personal experiences of urban theorists rather than on objective evidence The experience and insight of urban theorists are valuable resources for the field of urban design, but their theories would be more persuasive if they were supported by objective evidence explaining the causal relationship between the theories and their effects. As an effective research method to obtain objective evidence for such causal relationships, Yin suggests case studies and controlled experiments If controlled experiments could be conducted properly, they would be an important complementary resource that could make urban design theory and practice more robust

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Conclusion