What Makes a Space Relatively Memorable A Study on the Recollection of Spaces through Space Syntax and Imageability Theories

In outlining their influential architectural theory of space syntax, Hillier and Hanson acknowledge its affinity to Durkheim’s sociological considerations on the spatial-morphological basis of social life. In doing so, space syntax theory promised to address the then woefully under-theorized relationship between society and space, specifically by emphasizing the agency of spatial-morphological arrangements. Given the Durkheimian inspiration, it is surprising that sociology has been so silent on the subject of space syntax. This lack of dialogue may be explained by the gestation of space syntax research within the specialist disciplinary silo of architectural theory, as well as by the default sociological assessment that formal methodologies of spatial analysis – such as those associated with space syntax – sustain a discredited fallacy of physical determinism. Yet, intellectually this situation is unfortunate: while sociology overlooks how space syntax theory has advanced the Durkheimian understanding of spatial morphologies, space syntax theory misses an opportunity to update and broaden its notion of social processes. In response, we revisit Durkheim’s social morphology and review the strengths and deficits of Hillier and Hanson’s consideration of Durkheimian theory. We identify how difficulties arise because of an over-reliance of space syntax theory on the structural-functionalist macro-wing of the Durkheimain tradition. To address this issue, we prepare the ground for a theoretical engagement between space syntax and the micro-sociological branch of Durkheiminan scholarship, and show how this tradition offers a more coherent means for translating the spatio-morphological insights of space syntax theory into contemporary debates in the sociology of space.

The theory of space syntax provides a way to formalise the connection between spatial configuration and human behaviour. While originally developed for urban space it has been harnessed for the study of workplaces, providing evidence on how the configuration of office space shapes the activities of people. Within the domain of space syntax, configuration means connecting elements of space into a network using a multitude of representational techniques to enable the measurement of spatial network properties. Paired with methods to capture human activity such as observations, questionnaires and staff social networks, the theory of space syntax allows for hypothesising and proofing how spatial configuration affects human behaviour, and how design might be informed to consider this evidence. The theory and methods are becoming more and more relevant today, as evidence-based design is increasingly sought after by practitioners. This chapter gives an overview of this body of work and summarises insights but also critiques current shortcomings, mainly regarding scattered applications and contradictory evidence in small samples, making generalisation hard. The chapter closes by sketching a vision for how space syntax can be advanced as a fruitful workplace theory for future work on office spaces.

The shopping mall is a facility for profit-making with a complex spatial configuration that prioritizes the effectiveness in any aspects. The spatial configuration of a shopping mall needs more than a rule of thumb or a subjective judgment to optimize it. Many researchers have conducted studies of shopping mall spatial configuration by the theory and method of space syntax. But, the complexity of space syntax turns it hard to understand or apply in practical use. Due to the complexity of both shopping mall and space syntax, a guide is needed for practical directions to optimize shopping mall. This article review combines and synthesizes the findings of space syntax precedent studies. The scope of the study is on the building configuration scale (mesoscale). As the result, the optimization of a shopping mall can be measure by space syntax through measurement of connectivity, depth, integration, choice, and intelligibility. Each measurement has a different purpose. The most used measurement in shopping mall study is integration. The spatial configuration of the mall can be represented by the axial map, convex map, isovist map, VGA map, and agent-based in space syntax analyses. The most suitable map for shopping mall analysis is the VGA map because it shows the visual quality is vital in shopping mall design. There are several aspects of the shopping mall that can be adjusted or modified to optimize the shopping mall. Those aspects are pedestrian flows, horizontal complexity, vertical complexity, tenant type allocation, visual quality, retail placement, and anchor placement.

This research analyzes the spatial pattern of large-scale stores based on space syntax theory and explores the correlation between the variations in syntax accessibility and the spatial pattern of large-scale stores. This research develops a framework of spatial topology analysis based on the space syntax theory, which includes the following modifications: the trail to break the traditional long axial line network of space syntax and apply this partitioned network in the topological analysis; the trail to analyze the bus route network; By taking both the syntax accessibility of road and bus network into consideration, we produce the scopes of urban syntax centers of city level, local level and sub local level respectively. In the analysis of the retail distribution pattern, the city level, local level and sub local level urban retail centers are suggested respectively according to the spatial distributions of the quantity and scale of the retail stores. The spatial distribution pattern of each retail format is studied as spatial correlations between the retail locations and the urban space syntax centers based on a case study in Wuhan, China. The Space Syntax can be a useful tool to explain the allocation logic of urban retail space in large cities. We suggest to apply the partitioned transportation network instead of the traditional long axial line network.

An analysis of the relationship between land use density of office buildings and urban street configuration: Case studies of two areas in Seoul by space syntax analysis

Space syntax is a street network method, which was developed in the 1970s at the University of London as a way to quantify urban morphology features and recorded movement and interaction within cities and buildings. In the book The Social Logic of Space (Hillier and Hanson 1984), they firstly argued that spatial layout or structure has a great impact on human social activities. Recently, the approach was refined by Hillier (1996), and it particularly focuses on the arrangement of spaces and possibilities and patterns of movement through the “spatial configuration.” Over the past two decades, space syntax theory has provided computational support for the development of urban morphological studies, revealing the characteristics of spaces in terms of movement and potential use. Indeed, space syntax attempts to define the elements of urban form by geometric accessibility, measuring the relationships between street segments by a series of measurements, such as connectivity, control, closeness, and betweeness (Jiang and Claramunt 2002).

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to analyze the spatial configurations of a sample of Korean regional emergency medical centers (REMCs) to explore its underlying genotypes and thus produce a base line data for the analysis and evaluations of future REMCs designs using space syntax theory. Methods: Space syntax analysis was used as a major tool for the analysis and exploration of Genotype. The measures of Integration(overall integration with exterior and without exterior as well as the integration of individual clinical spaces for each center), base difference factor (DF) and Space link ratio were calculated for a sample of seven Korean REMCs. Results: The result shows a strikingly similar pattern of Syntactic measures across the sample, the mean integration of sample ranges from 0.82-0.99 with exterior (while considering the exterior space as a root) and 0.81-1.01 without exterior (considering the connections of interior spaces only with no outside connection). The base difference factor (DF) of the sample varies from 0.60-0.81 with exterior and from 0.59-0.82 without exterior. Case number-1 was identified as non-genotype with differing order of Syntactic values. Although the genotype had different forms, layouts and even sizes, these results cannot be ex-plained by Phenotypical comparisons. Implications: This study will contribute to the configurational analysis and evaluation of existing and future Korean REMCs design and practice of emergency healthcare delivery system in Korea.Keywords Korean Regional Emergency Medical Center (REMC) Design, Genotype, Phenotype, Spatial Configuration, Design Evaluation.

Planting design for urban parks: Space syntax as a landscape design assessment tool

Movement in a spatial system is produced and determined by the structure of the complex space itself, rather than special attractors within the whole spatial system. Based on this theory of space syntax, tourists' convergence and dispersal in the Palace Museum should be originated by the distribution of the internal constructions form. This article presents an application of the space syntax approach to the Palace Museum. After analyzing its internal spatial configuration, as a conclusion, the paper provides some rational advices so as to facilitate tourists as well as protect our invaluable cultural heritage.

Since earlier linking phenomenology to space syntax by the research of David Simon, studying place image based on phenomenology explanation is always the common focus between space syntax and phenomenology. With the common focus further studied, some issues such as descriptive pattern on place space, place configuration and place sense will be combined with space syntax theory. In this paper, based on the internal relations between space syntax and architectural phenomenology, the mechanism of place description, place configuration and place self-adaptive mechanisms were analyzed by space syntax, and a method also will be presented to interpret place phenomenon by using space syntax.

Forecasting property takes: A comparison and evaluation of methods: Terri A. Sexton, National Tax Journal 15 (1987) 47–59

Old town means an historic or original core of a city which signifies the city’s origin growth. When the city develops and expands its built area, the emergence of a new development center will be inevitable. This study focuses on the connection of the old and new development center of Balikpapan city. In defining the mentioned connection, the authors use Space Syntax theory and depthmapX[net] software to analyze connectivity, integration and choice of the observed networks. Space Syntax analyses helped defining the spatial configuration of the old and the new center of development of Balikpapan city which has higher scores in main connectors and lower scores in local streets which also defines the movement and accessibility of the observed area. It is hoped that this study would be beneficial in guiding the planning and design of the future development of Balikpapan city that is appropriate with its spatial configuration.

The impact of space syntax spatial attributes on urban land use in Muscat: Implications for urban sustainability

This study analyzes the visual access opportunities of neighborhood park users using the Space Syntax theory. In order to achieve this goal, 27 neighborhood parks were selected and 27 axial maps drawn according to the spatial configuration of the sites. Based on the axial map data, this study has calculated some specific space syntax indices, including Connectivity, Integration, and Intelligibility using the Axwoman ver 3.0 based on the Arcview 3.2 application. The value of the representative indices were used to examine visual access opportunities presented by the parks. This study was conducted in two aspects: one focusing on the entire space and another focusing on only the main entrance of the parks. The former used integration and intelligibility values and the latter used connectivity and integration values to evaluate the visual access opportunities of the sites. As a result, this study found that some parks, including Joongang, Balsan, and Sangdang, have high visual access opportunities in terms of the spatial configuration surrounding the park, which shows an integration value higher than 2, and also having intelligibility values higher than 0.7. This is the result of the grid land use pattern surrounding the parks and the straight roads that are closely linked to the main entrances of the parks. It is expected that this methodology and results will be used for locating neighborhood parks during the urban planning stage as providing reasonable evidence.

For the past thirty years, the space syntax theory has been widely used in topics related to constructing the pedestrian zone models, criminal analyses, traffic-related pollution controls, and way-finding processes. Space syntax allows the explanation for people's behavior and social activities from the spatial structure point of view. Most of the space syntax studies emphasize on the relationship between the urban form and the spatial structure. It is often used for assessing development projects or architecture configurations. Researchers are dedicated to developing the theory and method of the spatial data analysis (SDA). The “spatial analysis” is a critical feature of the geographic information system (GIS) and this feature makes it different from various other ways of handling the space information. In this study, the space syntax theory was used for the analysis of the interior environment of the Tunghai University campus and the downtown roads surrounding it so as to find the hot spot of the target base. A suggestion was also proposed for planning a road sign system for the elderly to walk here so that the elderly can walk on the flat and smooth regions in the campus with distinguishing features. This approach achieved the purpose of a sustainable campus and it can also enhance the way-finding efficiency. The walking route which is obtained by the analysis and suitable for the elderly is described as follows. From the entrance gate of the first campus along the Beauson Road to arrive at the Luce Chapel; along the Duxin Road and pass through the President's residence and the Sunlight Lawn; come down two blocks and turn left so as to arrive at the University Milk Restaurant and the Green Heart; turn right and along the Li-shin Road to the second campus so as to pass through the Dairy Farm, Department of Fine Arts, Department of Music, and College of Management; now arrive at the entrance gate of the second campus. This route is one of the routes which are suitable for the elderly to walk along. The follow-up research will invite elderly groups for real testing so as to verify the suitability of this route.