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Friday, April 22, 2011

The spatial congruence effect: exploring the relationship between spatial variables and functional vitality on Lisbon's prime office location.

by Pinelo,J. and Heitor, T.

This paper presents an exploratory study on spatial determinants of urban land uses patterns aimed at exploring the relationship between spatial variables and functional vitality in the urban environment. It investigates the importance of the spatial congruence effect on office location patterns i.e., the adequacy between extrinsic and intrinsic spatial variables. Extrinsic properties refer to topological variables while intrinsic properties consider physical variables, both influencing space use (Hillier, 1999). The research question is focused on the main physical characteristics, which influence use location in the case of prime offices.
Spatial congruence concept emerges from the evidence of two urban phenomena: the existence of hierarchies at both functional and spatial level, and the assumption that they are very directly related. Both phenomena are well documented facts (Hillier, 1976; Tannenbaum, 1995; Hillier, 1991; Alexander, 1965).
Previous space syntax research has shown very consistent correlations between spatial and functional hierarchies (Desyllas, 1999; Hillier, 1999; Kim, 2002). Based on the results of an empirical study of Lisbon’s Prime Zone (FA, 2000), this paper argues that healthy urban environments lay on the congruence of global and local spatial properties i.e., on the adequacy between extrinsic and intrinsic properties. Referred study has showed a very consistent coincidence between highest integration values and highest office rents, i.e., a strong relationship between spatial and functional hierarchies. However, within the spaces with highest integration values, one showed a different functional performance when compared to the others. Besides having a different functioning, it also accommodates some activities associated to urban decay.


more papers about Space Syntax applications:

Flat City; a space syntax derived urban movement network model

Making an Urban Oasis The Use of Space Syntax in Assessing Dhanmondi Lake Revitalization Project in Dhaka, Bangladesh

Modeling street connectivity, pedestrian movement and land-use according to standard GIS street network representations: A Comparative Study

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