Print Email Facebook Twitter Analysing larger metropolitan areas: On identification criteria for middle scale networks Title Analysing larger metropolitan areas: On identification criteria for middle scale networks Author Van Nes, A. Faculty Architecture and The Built Environment Department Urbanism Date 2009-06-08 Abstract The aim of this paper is twofold. Firstly, it discusses how to analyse entire regions with the help of space syntax. Secondly, it demonstrates how a main route network through and between urban areas can be calculated in Depthmap. For this purpose one can combine angular choice with metrical distance and add various radiuses on top of each other. The Randstad area as a whole serves as an example. Until recently a spatial configurative analysis of the Randstad’s street and road net could be done in two ways. One of alternative required an analysis of each city, village and town separately with the help of traditional space syntax method. The other one consisted in separating the various layers of movement by drawing them manually on a map. The highway, the local street net and the main routes through cities are identified and drawn separately. Tracing the main routes manually results in two problems. One is the identification criterion for defining a street or road belonging to a main route network. Apparently, this criterion has never been singled out appropriately. Different researchers have come up with different results when tracing the main routes in the same area. The other problem touches upon the difficulty to predict economical consequences of proposed urban interventions. It is difficult to know exactly where main routes were located in the past, and it is even more difficult to know whether a new road link will function as a main route or not in the future. Hence, the method’s scientific value is at stake. For it does not meet the criteria of objectivity, falsifiability, predictability and testability. Recently, Depthmap has undergone large changes. In addition calculating topological distance, metric distance and angular relationships were taken into account. These kinds of measurement were applied to the Randstad in its entirety. Furthermore, experiments with these kinds of measurements allowed for an identification of the main route net (or the middle scale net) with the help of a combination of angular choice and topological distance with radius 3 and 8. This analysis does not only highlight the main routes. It also indicates the degree of vitality of the various streets and roads belonging to a main route network. As the spatial analyses of the whole Randstad show, the ZuidAs in Amsterdam is the most integrated part. It explains as to why 90% of the foreign directed investment takes place in this area. For the rest, the highest integrated streets are on the most congested highways. On a local scale, Amsterdam centre has very high integration values on its street net in comparison with the Randstad’s other towns and cities. In general, a city's degree of economical attractiveness in the Randstad depends on how it is connected to the highway system and to what extent its centres are accessible from the highway net. Subject spatial configurationmodellingmethodologymetropolitan areasurban analysisnetwork analysis To reference this document use: http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:ecd090d6-a43c-476a-a81d-e7972dc94124 ISBN 9789174153477 Source Proceedings of the 7th International Space Syntax Symposium, Stockholm, Sweden, June 8-10, 2009. Eds.: Koch, D., Marcus, L., Steen, J. Trita-ARK. Forskningspublikationer, 2009:1 Part of collection Institutional Repository Document type conference paper Rights (c) 2009 The Authors Files PDF 121_vanNes.pdf 1.57 MB Close viewer /islandora/object/uuid:ecd090d6-a43c-476a-a81d-e7972dc94124/datastream/OBJ/view