Identifying and Measuring Urban Design Qualities

Further investigating the definition of indicators that characterize the urban space (see Exploiting the Bluetooth Spectrum as Material for Space Management Strategies), I have stumbled on a research founded in 2005 by the Active Living Research program that aimed at Identifying and Measuring Urban Design Qualities. A group of 10 experts performed a wide literature review beyond the boundaries of urban design to the fields of architecture, landscape architecture, park planning, and environmental psychology to identify key perceptual and visual qualities of the environment. They started with a long list of perceptual qualities including:

adaptability, ambiguity, centrality, clarity, compatibility, comfort, complementarity, continuity, contrast, deflection, depth, distinctiveness, diversity, dominance, expectancy, focality, formality, identifiability, intelligibility, interest, intimacy, intricacy, meaning, mystery, naturalness , novelty, openness, ornateness, prospect, refuge, regularity, rhythm, richness, sensuousness, singularity, spaciousness, territoriality, texture, unity, upkeep, variety, visibility, and vividness.

They then narrowed the list down to 9 urban design qualities that appeared distinct and important from both the qualitative literature and quantitative attempts to measure what is valued by “users” of urban space:

• imageability
• legibility
• visual enclosure
• human scale
• transparency
• linkage
• complexity
• coherence
• tidiness

Besides, their visual assessment survey that used 48 video clips to analyze and relate urban design quality ratings to measured physical features, I was particularly intrigued by their measurement protocol for the eight qualities with physical features of the environment.

Values for physical features and for urban design quality scores

This kind of approach relies on punctual observations. In contrast, I am imagining how empirical evidences can also become material to measure the qualities of the urban environment. Similar to this research, my challenge is to move from highly subjective definitions of urban environment qualities to operational definitions which capture the essence of each quality and can be measured with a degree of reliability

Why do I blog this: Exploring traditional approaches to qualify the urban environment and its streets; My investigation aims at relating urban qualities with measurable features of digital activities.
References:
Ewing, R., Clemente, O., Handy, S., Brownson, R., & Winston, E. (2005). Identifying and Measuring Urban Design Qualities Related to Walkability—Final Report. Princeton, NJ: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Ewing, R., Handy, S., Brownson, R.C., Clemente, O., & Winston, E. (2006). Identifying and measuring urban design qualities related to walkability. Journal of Physical Activity and Health, 3(Suppl 1), S223-S240.