Geoffboeing.com Website Review

Urban planning professor at Northeastern University Menu and widgets My article, “Planarity and Street Network Representation in Urban Form An*lysis These models are commonly defined as planar, meaning they can be represented in two dimensions without any underpas*es or overpas*es. However, real-world urban street networks exist in three-dimensional space and frequently feature grade separation such as bridges and tunnels: planar simplifications can be useful but they also impact the results of real-world street network an*lysis. This study measures the nonplanarity of drivable and walkable street networks in the centers of 50 cities worldwide, then examines the variation of nonplanarity across a single city. While some street networks are approximately planar, I empirically quantify how planar models can inconsistently but drastically misrepresent intersection density, street lengths, routing, and connectivity. I’ve been traveling a lot over the past month, presenting my recent research at the Architect of the Future conference in Moscow, the Venice Biennale of Architecture, and the ACSP conference in Buffalo. At the first two, I shared my recent findings on how planners have used street networks to organize urban space according to an evolving set of spatial logics during the 20th century. At the third, I shared my findings on how technology platforms like Craigslist can shape rental housing markets and also shape how researchers and policymakers Looking ahead to the spring, in April I’ll be presenting at UAA in Los Angeles as well as a full slate at AAG in Washington, where I’ll physical urban space. This paper develops a typology of measures and indicators for as*essing the physical complexity of the built environment at the scale of urban design. It extends quantitative measures from city planning, network science, ecosystems studies, fractal geometry, statistical physics, and information theory to the an*lysis of urban form and qualitative human experience.