Parametrizing the unmeasurable: Urban qualities as quantitative parameters for computer games

Abstract

Parametric design and gamification rely on quantitative factors that can be easily translated into computer language. However, measuring and quantifying the complex urban qualities poses a challenge. This leads to the question of how to incorporate complex spatial quality into parametric design. This research, therefore, proposes a method to parametrize and quantify urban qualities by extracting main spatial qualities from three main sources, developing a comprehensive list of qualities that can be effectively parametrized, breaking them down into more tangible parameters, and assessing their interrelations within a system model. The results reveal that although urban qualities are complex, they are better defined and parametrized when their relations and originating factors are fully investigated. Furthermore, qualities are classified according to their degree of connection to other qualities within the system model and the nature of these connections. This classification results in six categories: Main Instigator, Mediating and Consequential qualities, as well as Minimally, Moderately, and Highly connected qualities. This research contributes to urban parametric design by providing a method to parametrize urban qualities and gamification fields, allowing developers to implement city complex qualities into the games.