Urbanmetrics: An Algorithmic-(Para)Metric Methodology for Analysis and Optimization of Urban Configurations

Lima, Fernando; Montenegro, Nuno; Paraizo, Rodrigo Cury; Kós, José Ripper

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-57819-4_3

Cited by 10 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…This paper builds on this research thread by using the Physical Proximity Calculator, a City-Metrics tool (Lima, 2017), to assess and optimize urban fabrics walkability through pedestrian accessibility. The Physical Proximity Calculator (PPC) computes the Physical Proximity Index (PPI) on scale of 0-1 by calculating the smallest distance between two or more points of interest, considering the street network and relationship between distance and likelihood of walking instead of using other transportation.…”

Section: Shape Grammars-chicago Urban Grammarmentioning

confidence: 99%

A grammar-based optimization approach for walkable urban fabrics considering pedestrian accessibility and infrastructure cost

Lima

Brown

Duarte

2022

Environment and Planning B: Urban Analytics and City Science

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Designing urban areas that provide smaller distances to their amenities is a key factor toward more walkable environments. Moreover, this is a critical aspect of climate-resilient urban planning since it is broadly assumed that areas with greater walkability discourage automobile usage and reduce CO2 emissions. Generative and data-driven design approaches, in turn, increase designers’ ability to explore wider sets of potential solutions. In this sense, identifying designs with an optimized performance out of the vast possibilities that computation can provide is crucial. Shape grammars are a formal method of shape generation that facilitate the elaboration of complex patterns and meaningful designs. This paper hypothesizes that coupling shape grammars with multi-objective optimization can help address trade-offs and decision-making in urban design. It focuses on the pedestrian accessibility and infrastructure cost (as estimated by cumulative street length) trade-off in urban fabrics as a case study to verify the suitability of a grammar-based optimization approach for more dynamic and efficient solution-finding in urban design. Our findings suggest that a grammar-based optimization approach is helpful in addressing urban trade-offs as it could be used to filter the design space and provide optimal alternative fabric layouts with increased pedestrian accessibility and decreased infrastructure cost.

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Section: Shape Grammars-chicago Urban Grammarmentioning

confidence: 99%

A grammar-based optimization approach for walkable urban fabrics considering pedestrian accessibility and infrastructure cost

Lima

Brown

Duarte

2022

Environment and Planning B: Urban Analytics and City Science

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“…According to several authors [11][12][13][14], a walkable urban area or an urban area that follows walkability's principles considers pedestrians the highest priority, seeking greater urban life and promoting more socioeconomic interactions. According to this idea, walkability can be defined as a particular urban area's capability to connect housing and amenities from several categories (e.g., retail, food, education, entertainment, and recreation) through distances that can be traveled within walking distance.…”

Section: Walkabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Several studies addressed ways of measuring the walkability of a particular location. For instance, the works of [16][17][18][19] consider the structure of street networks and their number of intersections, among others. However, in this research, we adopted the walk score index [20,21] for the following reasons: it is one of the most accessible walkability metrics (there are a lot of data available regarding the walk score of streets, neighborhoods, and cities in the U.S.); it was considered a reliable and valid measure of estimating walkable access to amenities; and walk score may be a convenient and inexpensive option for researchers interested in exploring the relationship between access to walkable amenities and health behaviors [22].…”

Section: Walkabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding the Impact of Walkability, Population Density, and Population Size on COVID-19 Spread: A Pilot Study of the Early Contagion in the United States

Lima

Brown

Duarte

2021

Entropy

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The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is an unprecedented global event that has been challenging governments, health systems, and communities worldwide. Available data from the first months indicated varying patterns of the spread of COVID-19 within American cities, when the spread was faster in high-density and walkable cities such as New York than in low-density and car-oriented cities such as Los Angeles. Subsequent containment efforts, underlying population characteristics, variants, and other factors likely affected the spread significantly. However, this work investigates the hypothesis that urban configuration and associated spatial use patterns directly impact how the disease spreads and infects a population. It follows work that has shown how the spatial configuration of urban spaces impacts the social behavior of people moving through those spaces. It addresses the first 60 days of contagion (before containment measures were widely adopted and had time to affect spread) in 93 urban counties in the United States, considering population size, population density, walkability, here evaluated through walkscore, an indicator that measures the density of amenities, and, therefore, opportunities for population mixing, and the number of confirmed cases and deaths. Our findings indicate correlations between walkability, population density, and COVID-19 spreading patterns but no clear correlation between population size and the number of cases or deaths per 100 k habitants. Although virus spread beyond these initial cases may provide additional data for analysis, this study is an initial step in understanding the relationship between COVID-19 and urban configuration.

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“…However, as in shape grammars, the adoption of parametric urban design approaches is not as developed as in architecture. Nevertheless, the works of Steinø and Veirum (2005), Beirão (2012), Lima et al (2017), Nourian et al 2018, andDogan et al (2020), for instance, explore the use of parametric tools in the analysis and generation of urban areas. In this sequence, the work of Lima et al (2019) presents a parametric approach to walkability, diversity, and density analysis in low-income neighborhoods in the city of Juiz de Fora, Brazil.…”

Section: Shape Grammars Parametrization and Informal Settlementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

World Studio: a pedagogical experience using shape grammars and parametric approaches to design in the context of informal settlements

Lima¹,

Miller²,

Duarte³

2020

Blucher Design Proceedings

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The World is experiencing a rapid surge in urban population, in addition to fast urbanization processes. Contemporary cities witness the rise of numerous urban and social problems, leading to the emergence of informal settlements. Still, computational and parametric resources have increasingly been adopted in novel approaches to urban planning and design. These resources can be used in informal settlements to improve urban quality without losing their essential features. This paper describes a teaching experience in the context of a design studio that uses shape grammars and parametric tools to design for an informal settlement context in Ahmedabad, India.

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Urbanmetrics: An Algorithmic-(Para)Metric Methodology for Analysis and Optimization of Urban Configurations

Cited by 10 publications

References 5 publications

A grammar-based optimization approach for walkable urban fabrics considering pedestrian accessibility and infrastructure cost

A grammar-based optimization approach for walkable urban fabrics considering pedestrian accessibility and infrastructure cost

Understanding the Impact of Walkability, Population Density, and Population Size on COVID-19 Spread: A Pilot Study of the Early Contagion in the United States

World Studio: a pedagogical experience using shape grammars and parametric approaches to design in the context of informal settlements

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