Place syntax

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There is great potential in combining geographically oriented accessibility research and geometrically oriented research in architecture, such as space syntax, as stated by e.g. Jiang et al. The weak representations of the cognitive environment for movement space in current accessibility measures, pointed out by e.g. Kwan et al, can be reinforced by the concept of the axial line, developed by Hillier et al. The axial line represents how you move and what you can see, which is by nature directional.

An axial map thereby captures not only the movement grid but also, roughly, how it is to navigate in it. The axial map therefore can put local data on plots or places, as used in geographical approaches, in defined geometrical relations or configurations. Seen the other way around, space syntax can be integrated and strengthened with place data, in ways not done before. This is what we call Place Syntax, which basically means accessibility with axial lines, i.e. accessibility with visibility.

The research group Spatial analysis & Design (SAD) at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden, has, together with the Department of Numerical Analysis and Computing Science, developed a new GIS-tool called "The Place Syntax Tool" (PST). The tool uses spatial data on plot regions or address points. The axial map with unlinks constitute the grid. Address points also work as links between plot and axial line. Distance (dij) can be constrained as 'turns' (axial steps), walk distance or bird's distance (meter). There are also possibilities to define a function on the distance constraints.

SAD believe that the 'Place syntax' approach and the new GIS-tool has great potential for urban analysis and architectural space design for example in better predicting pedestrian flow and estimating accessibilities based on the experiencing subject, both where the pedestrian can go and what it can see.