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A configurational approach to analytical urban design: ‘Space syntax’

methodology

Article  in  URBAN DESIGN International · December 2012

DOI: 10.1057/udi.2012.19

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Original Article
A configurational approach to analytical urban design:
‘Space syntax’ methodology

Kayvan Karimia,b

a
The Bartlett School of Graduate Studies, Central House, 14 Upper Woburn Place,
London WC1H 0NN, UK.
E-mail: k.karimi@ucl.ac.uk
b
Space Syntax, 21 Brownlow Mews, London, WC1N 2LG, UK.

Abstract Urban design has always been a challenging task and will remain one because of its inherent
complexities and the diversity of the issues that are associated with it. A competent, experienced urban
designer can use intuitive methods to deal with these complexities and still achieve a good design, but when
projects become more complicated and multifaceted the intuition of the designer is not always adequate to
ensure a successful design. This article argues that urban design process can be enhanced effectively by
analytical methods that are applied at the specific stages of a design process. These methods can impact the
inception of the design ideas, evaluate objectively the design outputs at different stages, assist the further
development of the design solutions and reduce the risk of failure during the design process or project
implementation. The article argues that for these methods to engage with the design process they have to be
spatial in nature, as urban design is eventually manifested in a spatial entity. It is further argued that the
analysis of space could bridge between space and the ultimate users of the design – or the people – if space is
understood through an analysis of its ‘configurational’ properties. Finally, a configurational approach to
analytical urban design is introduced, which is based on the theoretical foundations, analytical methods and
modelling techniques of space syntax. The application of the methods, their role in urban design process and
their contribution to urban design projects are all discussed through the review of a selected number of real-life
projects.
URBAN DESIGN International advance online publication, 26 September 2012; doi:10.1057/udi.2012.19

Keywords: urban design process; analytical methods; spatial configuration; space syntax

Introduction led by design, on the one hand, and the relevance

Urban design is normally perceived as a twentieth-
century discipline, but it is evidently much
older, perhaps as old as the earliest form of
architectural design. Full-scale, designed cities
were created more than five millennia ago in
Indus Valley and Mesopotamia (Golany, 1995).
Even in the simplest forms of settlements, some
degrees of urban design can be identified in the
spaces that are shaped consciously or uncon-
sciously to serve the needs of people. The nature
of urban design as an independent discipline,
however, is not easily understood despite such a
precedence and embeddedness in human socie-
ties. The close affinity of urban design with archi-
tecture and other disciplines that are predominantly
of urban design to other disciplines, such as
engineering, transport and infrastructure, which
are science or technology led by nature, create an
ambiguity about the true characteristics of urban
design. Is it a purely intuitive undertaking, as
seen in some innovative design activities, or is it
a predominantly knowledge-based, logical pro-
cess, as observed in other disciplines? A central
aim of this article is to determine whether
urban design could in principle take an analy-
tical approach; and if it could, what kinds
of analytical methods are required for such an
undertaking.
The key step in this debate is the understanding
of design itself. Design is a concept that is used
diversely in many different contexts and its

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 Karimi
interpretation is subject to vast variations (Johnson,
2009). These definitions are helpful in unveiling
different facets of design, but finding an all-
inclusive definition that could be accepted by
everyone is almost an impossible task. To avoid the
difficulty of dealing with design on a general
level, this article will try to focus primarily on the
specific case of urban design, which involves
shaping and transforming the urban environment
as a large composition of buildings, public spaces,
roads and other natural or artificial elements. It is
also worth emphasising that, unlike some other
types of design activities, what is commonly meant
by the term design in the field of urban design is
not necessarily an object, or a physical product; it is
rather what is involved in creating, or the act
of generating the programmes or plans for such an
artefact through a complex procedure (Moughtin
et al, 1999).
Even within the more confined area of urban
design, still a myriad of different definitions for
urban design can be found (Sitte, 1945; Arnheim,
1969; Jones, 1984; Krier, 1993; Barnett, 2009;
Krieger and Saunders, 2009; Kasprisin, 2011,
pp. 10–19). Generating yet another definition, or
even adopting one that would suit our argument
most closely, is not the objective of this work.
Instead, it will try to construct an understanding
of urban design by identifying the tangible and
commonly accepted aspects of it. In this construct,
the article will rely on the theoretical studies that
exist in the field, but at the same time it will adopt
a heuristic discourse guided by common sense
and collective understandings of the theoreticians
and practitioners alike.
Challenges of Using Analytical Methods in
URBAN DESIGN
The challenge of using analytical methods in
urban design begins with questions such as what
type of analysis should be used, or how they
should be applied. The use of analytical methods
in urban design is relatively new and begins
predominantly in the second half of the twentieth
century, but even in the beginning of the past
century there were theoreticians and thinkers,
such as Camilo Sitte (Sitte, 1945; Collins et al,
2006) and Patrick Geddes (Welter and Whyte,
2003; Geddes, 2008), who proposed methods of
study that could be considered analytical.
The use of analytical methods becomes more
evident in the second half of the twentieth
2 r 2012 Macmillan Publishers Ltd. 1357-5317
century, when new urban ideas emerge and
urbanists try to use quantitative methods and
urban models. There is a wide range of these
approaches. Conzen as an analytical urban geo-
grapher tries to push the extent of urban
geography towards developing tangible methods
of analysing urban form based on the plan
shape of its components: streets, plots, buildings
(Conzen and Conzen, 2004). Kevin Lynch attempts
to analyse the city based on the perception of
main urban components – paths, edges, districts,
nodes and landmarks (Lynch, 1960). Christopher
Alexander’s analysis of urban grid, which
involves graph representation and graph analysis
(Alexander, 1968), gives rise to more systematic
thinking about design. In the 1960s, the scientific
methods or design methods became a predomi-
nant feature of the design discussions, imme-
diately followed by major criticism of these
methods in 1970s for not recognising the complex-
ities of design as ‘wicked problems’ (Rittel, 1972).
More recently, Mike Batty uses the mathematics
of fractal geometry to demonstrate that cities
could be analysed and explained by principles of
self-similarity, hierarchy and randomness (Batty
and Longley, 1994).
Apart from the attempts to create an analytical
understanding of the city based on mathematical
models and quantitative methods, there have been
various analytical tools and models, such as
transport models (Lee and Boyce, 2004), economic
models (Fujita et al, 2001) and planning models
(Hall and Tewdwr-Jones, 2010; Weber and Landis,
2012), which have not been developed specifically
for urban design, but have been used in the
disciplines that are associated with urban design.
More recently, with the advancement of computer
programmes, new techniques of rendering and 3D
modelling have emerged that are mainly used in
representation of design, but sometimes are also
used to analyse specific aspect of the design
(Morello et al, 2010). The most recent appearance
of these approaches is Parametric Design, which
enables designers to change the design parameters
and visualise the results dynamically (Motta,
1999).1 Finally, among the most technical deve-
lopments in this field, perhaps the invention of
Geographical Information Systems (GIS) has had
the most direct influence on analytical approaches
in urban planning and transportation (Birkin, 1996;
Nyerges, 2004). The capability of overlaying layers
upon layers of geo-referenced data and the ability
to analyse these layers quantitatively has turned
GIS into a powerful tool in urban planning.
URBAN DESIGN International Vol. 0, 0, 1–22

Most of the above-mentioned applications
of analytical methods and tools have a major
difficulty: they do not easily become an integral
part of the urban design process; and even if they
do, they cannot provide a reliable evaluation
system lead the design process by bringing
together creativity and research into one single
framework. There are several reasons for this
deficiency, but perhaps prime amongst them is
the lack of an urban theory that could link physi-
cal aspects of the urban system with its functional,
social and behavioural aspects, directly and
seamlessly (Hillier, 2008; Penn, 2008; Sailer et al,
2008). This theoretical shortfall creates a gap
between the analysis of things and how their
manipulation in design could impact people.
Furthermore, these approaches normally separate
analysis and design from each other and rarely
produce tangible analytical tools, or methods,
which could be integrated into the design process.
These methods are rarely multi-disciplinary and
multi-scalar, which restrict their application to
only particular areas of urban design or planning
with no or very minor connections with other
disciplines, such as transportation, engineering or
socio-economics, or to various scales of an urban
system, such as regional, district, neighbourhood
or public space scales. Furthermore, analytical
models that could deal with large urban systems,
such as transport models, are usually time-
consuming, data-intensive and rather expensive
to build (Weber and Landis, 2012). The large
amount of data, time and resources that are
required to create and run the models make their
use in design difficult and impractical.
What Do We Mean By (Urban) Design:
Some Heuristic Propositions
To begin the argument on analytical urban design,
it is essential to clarify some fundamental issues
first. In order to avoid a big diversion in this
article, a series of simple and hard-to-reject
propositions are used to construct the argument.
In other words, it is intended here to guide the
discussion with the characteristics of urban de-
sign that are hard to reject, rather than the ones
that give rise to disagreements.
The first and foremost proposition to begin
with is that design is inherently a procedural
entity, or a process. The concept of a process is
widely present in various literature and design
manuals, which attempt to produce a definition
r 2012 Macmillan Publishers Ltd. 1357-5317
A configurational approach to analytical urban design
for design in general or urban design in partic-
ular (RIBA, 1980; Luckman, 1984; Rowe, 1987;
Moughtin et al, 1999; Roberts and Greed, 2001;
Lang, 2005; Cama, 2009). In fact, the concept of
process is the core element of all these definitions.
A process, which is normally considered as a
continuous action, operation or series of changes
that take place in a continuous manner, seems to be
very relevant to any design activity (Jones, 1992;
Lawson, 2005).
The second proposition is that the design
process starts with an initiation phase and ends
up with an outcome. The initiation phase of the
design process is normally a project brief, a
request, a demand or even some sort of an
undefined need, put in place by a client, a
community, a group or the designers themselves.
Normally, some sort of an output – a plan, an
object or a system – could also be identified,
which is normally considered as the result of this
process (Levin, 1984; Moughtin et al, 1999; Lang,
2005). In other words, design is a purposeful
process that starts with some sort of objectives,
well-defined or ill-defined (Rowe, 1987, p. 40),
and ends up with an outcome that responds to
them. This does not mean that the design process
is bound to terminate definitely at a certain time.
In most cases the process is carried forward to
redefine or reshape the objectives and initiation of
another cycle of design, but at each of these cycles
there is normally something that could be called
the design outcome.
The third commonly agreeable proposition here
is that the urban design process involves some
degree of problem solving or solution making
(Jones, 1992; Kroll, 2001; Lawson, 2004, 2005). This
is perhaps the natural consequence of the pre-
vious two propositions. If we seek to respond to
some objectives to produce a result through a
series of actions, we have to think of different
ways of achieving the results and responding to
the challenges involved in each approach.
The fourth proposition, which might appear
less apparent than the previous three, is that
design cannot be an entirely logical or discursive
process. Some forms of intuition, creativity or
novelty, which are not entirely governed by
logical, or scientific discourses, can be identified
in some parts or the whole of the design process
(Daley, 1984; Darke, 1984; Hillier et al, 1984).
Considering the vast diversity of the design
activities, which spans from very precise and
technical processes such as industrial design to
highly qualitative and creative activities such as
URBAN DESIGN International Vol. 0, 0, 1–22 3
 Karimi
ornament or fashion design, it becomes a more
persuasive argument if an unlikely parallel is
used: science. Science is by any definition more
logical and more deterministic than design, so if it
is argued that even scientific processes are not
entirely logical it would not be unreasonable
to conclude that design process would follow
the suit.
The contemporary reflections on the theory of
science and scientific methods, such as the work
of Karl Popper and others (Popper, 1959, 1963;
Hacking, 1983, 1991; Stengers, 2000), tend to
define a scientific process as more of a ‘con-
jecture-refutation’ cycle rather than a pure deduc-
tive or inductive process. In this interpretation
of science, an element of ingenuity, intuition and
even incidence can always be found in most
scientific approaches. Sometimes a simple thing,
such as the fall of an apple, which had not been
contemplated before, could ignite a scientific
conjecture, which suddenly brings together years
of logical work: a Eureka moment. Now, if some
stages of a scientific exploration are led by
inspiration or intuition, it would be unreasonable
to rule out that a bigger, or at least an equal share
of them, takes place in the design process.
The ‘conjecture-refutation’ model in science
gives rise to the concept of a ‘conjecture-test’
model in design, which is predominantly based
on a cycle of creating design conjectures – or
design ideas, concepts, generators – and testing
them against certain criteria (Darke, 1984; Hillier
et al, 1984). In this model, design is a non-
discursive process that is assisted by analytical
knowledge at some stages. This opposes the
pure analysis–synthesis model, which defines
design as appraised cycles of logical analysis
and synthesis that lead to design decisions
(Markus, 1969; Moughtin et al, 1999).Whereas
the former recognises the non-discursive nature
of design and tries to explain the design process
as an interaction of intuition with logical thinking,
the latter removes the element of intuition
altogether and turns the design process into a
deterministic process.
Accepting that design is not an entirely logical
process gives rise to another equally important
question: is (urban) design an entirely intuitive
process? Intuition is normally considered as a
form of knowledge created by instinctive feeling
as opposed to deductive knowledge, which is
based on conscious reasoning (Fitz, 2001). Explor-
ing the operation of human intuition in design is
truly beyond the confines of this article, but
4 r 2012 Macmillan Publishers Ltd. 1357-5317
perhaps the question could be turned into
something for which we could find an answer:
can any parts or stages of the design process be
informed by non-intuitive actions, such as reason-
ing, induction or analysis? In reality, it is very
difficult to imagine that logical thinking cannot
play a role in any part of the design process.
Accepting design as a purposeful process of
problem solving and solution making inevitably
leads to conceding that some degree of rational
thinking and reasoning has to be applied through-
out the process. A design process needs to reflect
on itself and assess whether the outputs at each
stage respond adequately to the objectives of
design, even if this reflection appears as an
implicit form of reasoning (Lawson, 2004).
The URBAN DESIGN Process
The design process in general terms is seen as
what happens between a problem – or a brief, a
need, a demands - and a solution – or a result, an
outputs, a product (Lawson, 2005, p. 49). What
happens between these two ends comprises some
form of an idea generation and some form of an
idea development (Moughtin et al, 1999; Lawson,
2004, 2005). From the design of a tiny object such
as a piece of jewellery to the design of a large
entity such as a city, these stages, at least in their
simplest form, are evident. Urban designers with
the task of designing an urban project need to
identify a number of questions that are either
given to them directly, or arise from the brief and
their own understanding of the tasks (Moughtin
et al, 1999; Lloyed-Jones, 2001; Roberts, 2001a).
Then they need to develop design ideas that
would in their parts, or entirety, respond to those
questions (Moughtin et al, 1999; Lang, 2005).
The important issue in this process is that the
ideas and solutions have to be somehow eval-
uated against a series of criteria that are intro-
duced externally or internally. A part of this
evaluation takes place during the idea-generation
stage, which normally is a conjecture-test cycle
(Figure 1). In a normal design process, conjectures
are normally tested intuitively and the designers
come up with their own judgement of whether
or not a design conjecture would work. How-
ever, when the design ideas are shaped, a more
rigorous evaluation is needed to determine
whether or not the design idea could potentially
become the right design solution for the project.
URBAN DESIGN International Vol. 0, 0, 1–22
 A configurational approach to analytical urban design

Figure 2 is an attempt to explain the urban
design process through a very simple, generic
model that could encompass most types of urban
design. The main structure of this model is based
on two fundamental stages of the design process:
design generation and design development. This
structure in principle is not in any disagreement
with a large number of other (urban) design
models that have been introduced previously
(Jones, 1992; Lawson, 2005). An important char-
acteristic of this model is that it does not treat
design as a linear process and presents it instead
as a cycle of design generation and design
development, which has a floating set of inputs
Figure 1: The conjecture-test cycle in creation of design ideas.
A conjecture formed by non-discursive methods is tested by
some means of logical thinking to shape a design idea. The test
part of this process can still be led by intuition, but it is
fundamentally distinct from the conjecture part.
and outputs. The main two stages of the cycle are
distinct but feed into each other re-iteratively.
Another important point in the model presented
in Figure 2 is that it links the end of the process
to its starting point, creating a cycle that can be
repeated infinitely to enhance the design output,
as well as the design brief itself.
Somewhere in this cycle, normally in the begin-
ning, a project brief is introduced. The full devel-
opment of the design brief could shift to later stages
of the process, but the cycle of idea generation and
idea development normally starts from what the
design process is meant to achieve (Punter, 1999;
DTLR, 2000). In some cases, there is only a loose
brief, and thus the full design brief and its objectives
have to be defined through the process (Alan Penn,
2008), but even in those cases the design cycle
normally starts with an acknowledgement of what
is intended to be achieved eventually.
This cycle is influenced by wider issues such as
political agenda, general social trends, economic
conditions and technological restrictions, as well
as the constraints or potentials specific to the
project. These wider issues differ from project to
project, but they influence the design decisions in
a conscious or unconscious manner. The process
is also influenced by some kind of a stakeholder
input, which in its simplest form could be the
designer’s own interpretation of the stakeholders

BRIEF / CLIENTS
DEVELOPMENT
GENERATION

DESIGN IDEAS DESIGN SOLUTIONS

WIDER DESIGN
ISSUES OUTPUT
DESIGN
DESIGN

CONSULTATION / STAKEHOLDERS

Figure 2: A generic urban design process. Two main stages of ‘design generation’ and ‘design development’ create a cycle that is
induced by a design brief, wider urban design issues and stakeholder consultations. The urban design output comes normally after
the design development phase, but the entire process could be reiterated until a satisfactory output is obtained.

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 Karimi
views, but normally in an urban design project
the views of the stakeholders are brought in the
process at certain times (Carmona, 2001; Roberts,
2001b). Finally, at the end of the design develop-
ment phase, a design output appears. This output
does not have to be a full product, but it needs to
fulfil, at least partially, the requirements of the
brief. After the production of the design output, it
is either adopted or goes back to redefine the
brief and start a new cycle of idea generation and
design development.
The two main stages of the process also involve
a set of sub-processes. An important sub-process
in the idea-generation phase is the conjecture-test
cycle that leads to an initial option generation
and option testing. In its simplest form, this
sub-process is about generation of just one con-
juncture (design idea) and one test (intuitive
acceptance or rejection). In its more sophisticated
form, different options are generated and intuitive
or objective methods are used to choose the best
option (Cowan, 2002; American Planning Asso-
ciation, 2006).
The design development phase involves genera-
tions of more solutions to address specific aspects
of the design, but the main focus of this phase is to
turn the initial design idea to an implementable
solution (Cowan, 2002). In some cases, this phase
turns into a very pragmatic process of taking the
initial design and modifying all its parts to pro-
duce a whole that could fulfil the design objectives
in the best possible way. Similar to the conjecture-
test cycle in the idea generation phase, the design
development stage also involves some degree of
assessment to determine, either by the designers’
intuition or by other means, whether or not the
developed design output is ready (Roberts, 2001b).
If the design outcome is not satisfactory, it has to
go back to the design cycle again and be fed into
the generation of new solutions, or a revision of the
older solutions, to reshape the final design output.
The important question to be answered now
is whether any form of analytical investigation
could be applied to any part of the design process;
and if so where it should be applied to make a
meaningful contribution.
Analytical URBAN DESIGN: Can the
Design be Informed by an Analytical
Investigation?
Analysis is commonly understood as the process
or method of dividing any complex entity to its
6 r 2012 Macmillan Publishers Ltd. 1357-5317
constituent components, study each component in
detail and bring them back together to form, or
synthesise, a better understanding of it (Blakey,
1850). Design is an inherently complex issue
comprised of different components and facets.
The subjects and outcome of the design process are
often very complex too and include many parts
and wholes. In principle, the design process can be
divided into components to be investigated sepa-
rately and then be synthesised within the general
framework of the design (Lang, 1994; Moughtin
et al, 1999; Carmona, 2001). In that sense, analysis
is not only relevant to the process, but is an
advantageous method when there is a need to
build more rigour in the study of design compo-
nents and evaluating them against certain criteria.
An analysis of the brief, the wider socio-
economic context, the site and many other issues
in the beginning of the design process provides a
better understanding of the problems, constraints
and needed solutions (Roberts and Greed, 2001).
Therefore, even before generating any ideas, the
analysis can provide the designers with the
information that they might not be able to obtain
intuitively. Furthermore, during the conjecture-
test process, the ‘test’ part of the process could be
enhanced by an analysis of the conjecture. It is
conceivable that only intuition, or unconscious
processing, could be applied at this stage, but
human intuition is limited in many ways and a
pure intuitive test could be inaccurate and biased
(DePaul and Ramsey, 1998, p. 51). Whether any
form of analysis could also influence the design
‘conjecture’ is a very interesting debate and a field
of study in its own right (Goldschmidt, 1992;
Kalay, 1992), but to maintain the clarity of
argument this article will focus on the parts that
are more transparently linked with logical think-
ing and analytical methods.
After the formation of design ideas through a
conjecture-test cycle, the design ideas could be
tested more systematically using the same analy-
tical techniques that are applied at the begin-
ning of the process. The analysis of the design
ideas would determine whether they respond
adequately to the objectives of the design and
whether they work as intended by designers. By
applying analytical methods, a more reliable
evaluation of the design ideas is expected, as it
is not the mind of one individual (or a group of
individuals) that determines whether or not the
design ideas would work, but there is a method
that could be repeated and applied by others to
get the same results.
URBAN DESIGN International Vol. 0, 0, 1–22
 A configurational approach to analytical urban design

On the basis of the most generic form of an
urban design process presented previously,
Figure 3 shows how the process could be system-
atically informed by analysis. In this diagram, two
extra stages are identified before and after the
idea-generation, or design development phases.
In this model, in the beginning of the design
process a set of analytical investigations, or a
‘baseline analysis’, is produced before the gen-
eration of any ideas or solutions. The baseline
analysis aims to clarify the brief, the context,
limitations, particularities and other issues that
are relevant to design. The design solutions
are generated after the digestion of the analy-
tical study, as well as the wider issues (social,
economic, political) that exist and are relevant to
the design.
Once design ideas or design options are
shaped, analytical tools are used to evaluate
them. More than being just a rejection-approval
filter, this phase could critically determine what
aspects of the design ideas or design options
might not work. If the design idea is rejected fully,
the entire phase has to be repeated again, until the
design evaluation allows it to move to the design
development phase. This stage is one of the most
practical periods in the design process, which
could benefit from stakeholder consultation;
however, as argued before, it could take place in
the previous or next phases as well. The benefits
of consultations are twofold: first, they add
another layer of assessment from the viewpoint
of outsiders; second, they provide further insights
into the development phase of the design. If the
results of stakeholder consultation reject the
design ideas, the design process has to go back
to the starting point again and respond until it is
accepted by both internal analytical test and
external consultations.
During the design development phase, where
the design ideas are taken forward, analytical
methods could still be used to assess specific
aspects of the design. This could be achieved
either by the analytical methods that have been
developed at the earlier stages or methods that
are developed specifically to deal with certain
aspects of the design, in which case a series of
conjecture-test cycles is likely to happen.
Space Syntax Methodology: A
Configurational, Analytical Framework for
URBAN DESIGN
It is inherently a difficult task to define the
specifications for the methods that could be used
directly in design process, but based on what has
been discussed four important characteristics

BRIEF / CLIENTS

BASELINE STUDY

BASELINE ANALYSIS
DEVELOPMENT
GENERATION

WIDER DESIGN IDEAS DESIGN SOLUTIONS DESIGN

ISSUES OUTPUT
DESIGN

DESIGN

ANALYTICAL EVALUATION

DESIGN EVALUATION

CONSULTATION / STAKEHOLDERS

Figure 3: Analytical urban design process. An analytical phase, or a baseline analysis, takes place before the design generation phase.
The analytical tools are applied again after the formation of design ideas, or design options, to evaluate them and feed back into the
process.

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 Karimi
seem to be apparent. First, any analytical
approach that could be used in design has to be
a spatial one. Urban design is about creating and
shaping spaces, and if analytical approaches
cannot deal directly with this important aspect
of the design they cannot be used in design.
Second, a spatial analytical approach should be
able to link directly space with people and users.
Urban design, by definition, is about shaping
spaces for the people and society. By analysing
space or any attributes of it in isolation from how
the space would be used in reality, or how its
shape would influence the life of people, we just
produce an abstract representation of the space.
Third, such analytical approaches have to be
capable of dealing with different scales. An urban
system manifests itself in many scales: an urban
room, a public space, a neighbourhood, a district,
an entire city or even a region. Each of these scales
has its specific characteristics and has to be dealt
with accordingly, but these different scales are in
continuous interaction with each other and are
required to be seen in one single framework.
Finally, a spatial analytical model should be able
to investigate a system as a whole or in its parts.
The parts are explored, used and perceived
differently from each other and the entire urban
system. The whole is made of its parts, but it also
influences its parts when the system grows or
transforms. It is quite apparent why the use of
analytical methods in urban design has been
fairly restricted: it is not very easy to find a
methodology that could fulfil all these criteria.
In the pursuit of an analytical methodology that
could be applied to urban design process, it is
argued that space syntax, a set of theories linking
space and society and a set of techniques for
analysing spatial configuration (Hillier et al, 1983;
Hillier and Hanson, 1998), can provide such
a means.
Space syntax describes the logic of society
through its manifestation in spatial systems:
how spaces are put together – or the configuration
of space – relates directly with how people
perceive, move through and use spatial systems
of all kind, ranging from small domestic spaces
to large-scale urban settlements (Hillier, 1996;
Hillier and Hanson, 1984; Hanson and Hillier,
1987). Generally speaking, space syntax is an
overarching concept – or a paradigm – and a set
of specific theories, such as the theory of order
and structure (Hanson, 1989a, b), natural movement
(Hillier et al, 1993), centrality as a process (Hillier,
2001), movement economy (Hillier, 1996) and
8 r 2012 Macmillan Publishers Ltd. 1357-5317
movement generated land-use agglomeration (Alan
Penn and Alasdair Turner, 2004). Furthermore,
there are analytical models and tools, such as axial
analysis (Hillier and Hanson, 1984), visual graph
analysis (Turner, 2003) and segment-angular analysis
(Hillier and Iida, 2005), which are direct products
of the main theoretical paradigm and its theoretical
propositions.
The core concepts of space syntax can be
explained through two fundamental propositions.
The first proposition is that space is intrinsic to
human activity, not a background to it. Space is
shaped in ways that reflects the direct interaction
between space and people, and through this the
space we create, or the built environment,
becomes humanised (Hillier and Hanson, 1984;
Hanson and Hillier, 1987; Hillier, 2008). It is
not intended here to discuss in depth why space
and society are intrinsically linked, as it is fully
documented in space syntax-related literature,
but imagining the opposite would be a much
harder proposition to compel. Human societies,
from the least to most complex, create spaces that
reflect closely what they do and how they live.
A society without a built environment, or a built
form without people, is beyond our normal
experience of urbanism.
An important implication of considering space
and society as inherently corresponding entities is
that by analysing one we create a deep under-
standing of the other. Analysis of the society,
or social patterns, is admittedly a much more
difficult task, as it involves dealing with the intri-
cacies of humans and lack of tangible, measurable
components or features (Bernard, 2000). On the
contrary, analysis of space is a much more achiev-
able task.
The second core proposition of space syntax
is that space is fundamentally a configurational
entity (Hillier and Hanson, 1984; Hillier and Penn,
1991; Hillier, 1996; Hillier, 2008). Configuration,
simply defined as simultaneously existing rela-
tions, is about the composition of the built form
from the parts that are in a unique relationship
with each other. Again, it is not intended here to
prove the validity of this core proposition, as it is
well documented elsewhere, but advocating for
the opposite would not be an easy task. From the
most primitive spatial forms to most advanced
types, the built space is always divided into
components, or sub-spaces, which play different
roles or are used in different ways. Even within a
simple convex space, such as a Bedouin tent, the
occupiers differentiate various parts that are
URBAN DESIGN International Vol. 0, 0, 1–22

designated to different purposes, such as places
for work, rest, dining and storage (Bill Hillier
and Julienne Hanson, 1984, p. 177). These parts,
if studied carefully, create a defined pattern
of relationships, namely, configuration, which is
unique to any system (Figure 4).
The research has shown that there is a strong
relationship between spatial configuration and
how people move through the city (Hillier et al,
1993; Hillier and Penn, 1996). The spatial con-
figuration is also associated closely with other
important issues in the city, such as: the patterns
of vehicular movement (Penn et al, 1998), cogni-
tion and wayfinding (Conroy-Dalton, 2003), loca-
tion of prominent urban elements (Hanson,
1989a, b; Karimi, 1998), land uses (Kim and Sohn,
2002; Penn and Turner, 2004), social segregation
(Vaughan, 1997; Vaughan, 2007; Vaughan and
Arbaci, 2011) and crime (Hillier, 2002; Hillier and
Shu, 2000).
The generative association between space
and society, as well as the inherent congruence
between spatial configuration and human activ-
ities or urban functions, make the use of space
syntax in design a strong proposition. As there is
a direct relationship between spatial configura-
tion and urban functions, analysis of the spatial
configuration provides a powerful tool for de-
signing, shaping, maintaining and altering urban
functions. On the basis of this assumption, a series
of representation and modelling techniques has
been developed for analysing spatial configura-
tion. These techniques are primarily based on
Figure 4: Spatial configuration. The patterns of relationship between different components of a French house are translated into a
graph, which could be justified from different places (Hillier et al., 1987). The properties of the graphs represent the topological
relationship between different spaces.
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A configurational approach to analytical urban design
fundamental concepts, such as movement, visual
perception and human occupation, which link
physical space with people directly (Figure 5).
The models use simple geometrical attributes,
such as lines of sight and movement or visual
fields, to create a network. This network is then
turned into a pattern of relationships, or a graph
representation, which can be analysed quantita-
tively to determine the relative role that each
space plays in the configuration of the system, as
a whole, or in its parts (Figure 6). The output of
the analysis is usually shown by a range of
colours from dark red (most connected/inte-
grated) to dark blue (least connected/integrated).
A very important type of syntactic analysis for
urban studies is the description of the network
of public spaces by a series of ‘axial’ lines that
represent the longest lines of sight and movement
(Figures 5 and 6a). This is an efficient representa-
tion of the spatial network described by a net-
work of lines that can be analysed more easily.
The advantage of this model is that it creates an
uncomplicated model of the spatial network
that corresponds directly with how the network
is perceived (visibility) and navigated through
(movement) by people. The direct association
between how space is configured and how it is
used by people creates an analysis that could be
used and interpreted directly in the urban design
process.
The lines in the spatial network could be
treated as continuous entities, or they can be
de-composed into segments. The relationship
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 Karimi

People move in lines Perceive the built environment Gather in 'convex' spaces
through 'visual fields'

Figure 5: The most fundamental, yet simple, attributes of the space is used to create space syntax models.

Figure 6: Two methods of spatial modelling: a line-based model of the City of London (a) and a visual field-based model of an office
environment (b). Spatial structures of urban and architectural systems are represented by a colour scheme, using a colour scheme
that ranges from the most connected (dark red) to least connected (dark blue).

between each segment and all other segments is
calculated by an analytical computer software,2
using various methods, such as metric distances
(how far to travel), topological distances (how
many changes of direction) and angular distances
(what degree of angular shift). The second type
of analysis is called an ‘axial analysis’ and the
third, which has been developed more recently, is
called ‘segmental angular analysis’ (Hillier and
Iida, 2005).
By translating the network of lines into a graph
that represents the topological relationships be-
tween lines, a quantitative analysis of the system
is performed by calculating how each space is
connected with the other spaces in the system. The
analysis can be based on the relative depth (or
shallowness) of spaces from each other, which is a
measure of ‘proximity’ or ‘to-movement’, or based
on the possibility of being used in journeys
throughout the system, which is a measure of
‘between-ness’ or ‘through movement’. The former
measure of analysis in space syntax terminology is
called integration and the latter is called Choice
(Hillier and Iida, 2005). Each of these measures
explains certain aspects of the urban structure and
is used in connection with specific questions that
have to be answered in an urban study.
The analysis can also be performed for the
entire system (the global network), or parts of it
(the local network). In the global scale of analysis
(Figure 7a), we take into account every possible
relationship in the system (from anywhere to
anywhere), whereas in the local scale of analysis
(Figure 7b) the analysis is restricted to a certain
local catchment, which could be topological (up to
a certain number of changes of direction from
each line), or angular (up to a certain degree of
angular change from each segment), or metric (up
to a defined metric distance from each segment).
The local and global analyses are very useful
methods of looking at different scales of a spatial
system, but they could also be used to define how
an entire system is understood by the percep-
tion of its parts. The congruence between local
and global spatial configuration determines how
intelligible the system is to the people who
navigate through it (Hanson, 1989a, b; Hillier
and Penn, 1996). The intelligibility of the network
is another set of analytical metrics that could be
used in the process of urban design.

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Analysis of different urban systems shows a
remarkable degree of consistency in results. In
most cities, the spatial structure is normally a
‘foreground network of linked centres at all
scales, set into a network of largely residential
space’ (Hillier and Vaughan, 2000). These centres
range from very local centres, where you find
very local functions, to major centres of large
cities, where a specialised system of high perme-
ability routes and smaller urban blocks facilitate a
more complex urban system. The research also
shows that the structure of the grid correlates
consistently with the pattern of pedestrian and
vehicular movement (Penn et al, 1998) and other
issues such as the distribution of land uses (Penn
and Turner, 2004) and social behaviours (Hillier
and Shu, 2000).
Configurational analysis of the spatial network
can be linked to other layers of data in the city to
build more complex models. These layers include
movements of all kind (pedestrian, vehicular,
cyclist), human behaviour, land use, population
or building densities, land values, social interac-
tions, crime, fear of crime and many other layers of
information. As long as the available data have the
right earth coordination (geo-reference), they can
be linked to configurational analysis of the spatial
network on a GIS platform. By linking these layers
to spatial configuration, through various method
of correlational and regression analyses or weight-
ing of the spatial model by different factors, more
Figure 7: A segmental angular analysis of the city of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Analysis of the urban grid at the local level (a) picks up
locally distinct areas, such as the historic centre and unplanned settlement, but in the city-wide analysis (b) a totally different pattern
emerges. The historic core and unplanned settlements are excessively isolated urban areas within a super grid structure that is
dominated by the modern traffic routes.
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A configurational approach to analytical urban design
complex models can be created, which are used for
forecasting the implications of the changes that we
make to the spatial system or to other features
(Figure 8). For instance, Pedestrian Movement
Models are created by taking into account not
only the layout of the space, but other issues such
as land use, proximity to transport hubs and even
visual attractions (Ferguson et al, 2012). In the
absence of sufficient or accurate data, the spatial
configuration layer could be used by itself in most
cases as a proxy for the other layers, but if the data
are available the composite models could enhance
the accuracy of the model and its sensitivity to
particular factors in urban design.
How Space Syntax Analysis Engages with
the Design Process
The Space syntax approach of applying analytical
methods to urban design process is based on the
same principles that were discussed before, with
the main difference that the very foundation of
the analysis in the baseline and evaluation phases
is spatial configuration analysis (Figure 9). In the
space syntax approach, a series of primary analyses
– or a baseline analysis – informs the design process
from the outset by detecting the problems and
potentials that are identified by the analysis of
spatial configuration. These strengths and weak-
nesses directly reflect the performance of the urban
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 Karimi
Figure 8: Composite urban models. The analysis of spatial structure (left) has been combined with commercial density (middle) to
create a composite model (right), which is sensitive to both factors.
system and enable the design team to see them
more clearly. Depending on the nature of urban
design projects, further layers of information are
linked with the configurational analysis to construct
composite models that address more accurately
specific issues that cannot be addressed simply by
spatial analysis.
The baseline analysis informs the idea genera-
tion phase in two ways. First, it enhances the
general understanding of the designers about the
project and impacts the formation of design ideas.
As discussed before, the direct influence of the
analysis on idea generation has not been estab-
lished and needs further research, but the
experience of practising space syntax methodol-
ogy in real projects has shown that in some cases
analysis could directly lead to generation of some
design conjectures (see sections ‘Public space
projects’ and ‘City-wide and regional scale pro-
jects’). However, transformation of design ideas
into design solutions is something that is directly
impacted by the baseline analysis, as it involves
some degree of testing to shape a solution or
12 r 2012 Macmillan Publishers Ltd. 1357-5317
design option. The second and more important
role of the baseline analysis at this stage is about
enhancing the test part of the conjecture-test cycle
sub-process and adding more objectivity to it.
As soon as soon as the design solutions emerge,
the configuration models created in the baseline
phase are used to evaluate them in terms of their
spatial and functional performance. Similar to the
baseline phase, it starts with spatial analysis, but
can be complemented further with composite
models that are developed in the baseline phase.
The analytical approach at this stage facilitates the
selection of better design options, but it also
informs the design development phase, where the
next level of solutions and sub-solutions are to be
developed. Similar to any urban design process,
the idea generation is inevitably informed by
wider socio-political and economic issue, as well
as the views of stakeholders, which are fed into
the process. The cycle of generating and evaluat-
ing ideas can be repeated in different stages and
at different scales until the most optimum solu-
tion is reached.
URBAN DESIGN International Vol. 0, 0, 1–22
 A configurational approach to analytical urban design

BRIEF / CLIENTS

BASELINE STUDY

COMPOSITE
SPATIAL
ANALYTICAL
ANALYSIS
MODELS

DEVELOPMENT
GENERATION
DESIGN
COMPLETION
DESIGN IDEAS
WIDER DESIGN
ISSUES OUTPUT
DESIGN DESIGN
DESIGN OPTIONS SOLUTIONS

DESIGN
FURTHER
SPATIAL
ANALYTICAL
EVALUATION
EVALUATIONS

DESIGN EVALUATION

CONSULTATION / STAKEHOLDERS

Figure 9: Configurational approach to analytical urban design: space syntax methodology. In this approach, the foundation of the
analytical baseline study and analytical design evaluation is spatial configuration analysis. Further composite models of evaluation
could be built on the spatial layer to enhance the responsiveness of the methodology.

The design evaluation phase informs the design
development stage, in which further analytical
models could be used to assess different aspects
of the design. Similar to the previous phases,
these models are developed on the platform of a
spatial configuration model, but they will be
linked with other issues as well to respond to
specific aspect of the design development phase.
Some examples of these models could be found in
the following section.
Applications of the Methodology
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, when space
syntax research was under development in
University College London (UCL), an increasing
demand emerged for using this approach in real-
life urban design projects. The very early projects
undertaken by Space Syntax Laboratory, a re-
search centre at the Bartlett, UCL, demonstrated a
great potential for using the methodology in the
urban design process (Hillier et al, 1992). The
desire to use this approach was shared by various
groups. Designers were interested, as they could
build their designs on firm grounds and defend
their work objectively. Developers and investors
were enthused by it as they found it very helpful
in improving their planning, creating more value
and demonstrating it more efficiently to others, in
particular to local authorities. The public sector
was also interested as they could assess objec-
tively their projects and provide better feedbacks
to stakeholders and decision makers.3
Space syntax methodology has been used
extensively in a wide array of urban design and
planning projects, ranging from the scale of small
public spaces to the scale of entire cities.4 The
capability to communicate with a wide range of
disciplines and the advantage of using a single
methodology to deal with different scales of
design have proved particularly valuable in urban
design projects, where a multi-scale, multi-dis-
ciplinary approach was needed.
There is no room in this article to discuss all
these projects in detail, but a selective sample of
them is introduced below in three categories of
public spaces, urban masterplans and city-wide
or regional strategic planning. These cases are
used as evidential examples of how the analytical
urban design process becomes possible by using
space syntax methods.
Public space projects
Space syntax methodology has been utilised in
the design of several prominent public space

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 Karimi

projects in the United Kingdom, such as Trafalgar
Square in 1998-2000 (House of Lords, Science and
Technology Committee, 2006, p. 37) and Millen-
nium Bridge in 1997–2000 (Jenkins and Foster, 2008,
p. 584) in London, to create an enhanced public
realm. In a multi-award-winning scheme for the
design of Nottingham Market Square, one of the
most outstanding public spaces in medieval
English cities, space syntax methods were used
to establish the spatial and functional links
between the inside of the square and its wider
urban context, revealing a major deficiency of the
design implemented in the 1950s (Figure 10a).
Insensitive spatial segregation of the centre of the
square and the consequent functional sub-divi-
sion of the public space were identified as major
barriers to the success of the square (Space Syntax
Limited, 2004).
Further observational study of people’s move-
ment and behaviour confirmed that there was
an imbalance in how people moved and used
different parts of the square (Figure 10b). People
generally hesitated to cross the square diago-
nally and certain type of age groups, such as
teenagers tended to occupy specific parts of the
square. Clearly, the spatial layout of the square
and how the square performed functionally or
socially were interlinked. The findings from

Figure 10: Nottingham Market square. Spatial configuration analysis (a) and the analysis of people’s behaviour (b) were utilised to
generate and develop the urban design. The analysis of intervisibility, using the Visual Graph Analysis method, inspired the main
concept of the design and was used to assess design options. The project has been regarded a successful urban project and has won
multiple awards in the United Kingdom (see Note 5).

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spatial analysis and observational study were also
consistent with the social evidence and reputation
of the square at that time (Punter, 2009).
The analysis suggested that by creating
diagonal movement channels through the square
and using the ‘shadows’ created by movement
flows for stationary activities, the new spatial
layout could enhance the performance of the
square in terms of legibility and pedestrian flows
and balance the urban buzz created by movement
with stationary activities which happen in close
interaction with movement flows (Figure 10c).
This conclusion was fed directly into the urban
design process where the design team, led by
Gustafson Porter Landscape Architects, created a
series of design options. This is a good example
for the cases in which analysis could help generate
design ideas or design conjectures. Arguably, the
designers could have reached the same idea
intuitively, but in this case analysis played a direct
role in formation of the initial design idea.
The analysis was then applied to evaluate design
options created by designers, which involved two
diagonal movement corridors through the square.
The most optimised solution was developed
further to become the final design (Figure 10d).
In this design, the centre of the square was opened
to provide a smoother transition for people who
intended to use or cross the square, and the areas
that were less likely to be used by pedestrians were
designed as places for stationary and leisure
activities. In the design development phase of the
project, detailed design ideas, such as an inno-
vative use of water features and urban furniture,
were developed and tested to shape the final
design output.
A strong association between spatial configura-
tion and patterns of activity is a fundamental
base behind the subsequent success of this project
(Figure 10). Nottingham Market Square has
become a popular transitional space, as well as a
destination for urban activities. The project has
been praised for its contributions and success by
multiple panels and experts after its implementa-
tion (Hillier, 2007).5
Urban masterplanning project
Space Syntax techniques have been intensively
used in medium-scale urban design projects, such
as urban masterplans, where macro- and micro-
scales of urban space are in constant and simul-
taneous interplay. A large number of these projects
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A configurational approach to analytical urban design
have been informed by space syntax methodol-
ogy, among which the master plans for King’s
Cross and St Pancras (Hillier et al., 1988; Hillier
et al, 1992), Elephant and Castle in London
(http://www.london-se1.co.uk/news/view/843),
St Botolph’s Quarter in Colchester (Colchester
City Council, 2005),6 Beijing CBD in China
and the new city of Masdar in Abu Dhabi, are
prominent.
The engagement of space syntax methodology
in the design of the City of Masdar in Abu-Dhabi
is perhaps a good example of how the methodo-
logy can be used in the middle of an urban design
process, when there are concerns about the design
and an analytical study could provide reliable
evidence for designers and decision makers to
enhance the design and rectify possible flaws.
Masdar, which started as an urban design com-
petition, has been widely introduced as a sustain-
able, zero-carbon development (Heap, 2010a, b;
Droege, 2012). In a review of the masterplan in
2009, space syntax methods were used to make an
assessment of the masterplan and assist the team
with further development of the design. Regard-
less of the fact that the design process was well
underway at that time, a baseline study based on
spatial analysis was carried out. The spatial
analysis was then linked with a series of urban
layers, such as land use, density and transport
network to create a series of composite models to
further analyse the masterplan and help assess or
modify the design (Figure 11).
The analysis of the initial design proposals
revealed some deficiencies in the spatial layout,
such as: lack of a strong City Centre or a city
spine; unconsolidated wayfinding and pedestrian
navigation patterns caused by a staggered urban
grid, which reduced the correspondence between
the global and local accessibility patterns; isola-
tion of the residential neighbourhoods from each
other and the city centre; over-integration of
linear parks to the extent that they were compet-
ing with the urban spine; and a relative mismatch
between the spatial structure and distribution of
land uses and densities. Following an analytical
review of the scheme in 2009, most of the pro-
blems identified by the baseline analysis were
remedied by restructuring the spatial layout. The
methodology was then used to test further a series
of options that were created by the design teams,
until an optimum design was achieved. During
the subsequent design development phase, the
same analytical techniques were used to advise
the design team on the implementation stages and
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 Karimi

Figure 11: The City of Masdar, Abu Dhabi. A spatial configuration model was used to help optimise the spatial structure of the city.
Furthermore, the spatial model was linked with land use distribution (a), residential densities (b), employment centres (c) and
transport nodes (d) to create a composite model of urban evaluation, which is sensitive to all these factors. The model is also an
accurate Pedestrian Movement Model, which could be used to forecast pedestrian flows.

phasing of the project. Each phase of implementa-
tion was modelled separately, or in the context of
the previous phases, to see how the system
changes when it grows in different phases. The
design team made their final decisions about
permanent and temporary features of the project
based on the analysis of different phases.
Finally, in the design development phase, more
detailed analytical models were produced to look
at the performance of the specific phases, public
spaces and neighbourhoods. The model used in
this phase of analysis was a combination of two
methods: The visual graph analysis (VGA), which
takes into account the possible visibility of any-
where in the system to anywhere else and shows
the intensity of intervisibility in different locations
(Figure 6b); and an agent-based model, in which
the agents chose their path randomly by mimick-
ing human’s field of vision and navigational
characteristics through space (Figure 12). This
model simulates the aggregate patterns of beha-
viour, based on the individual paths (Alasdair
Turner et al, 2002). To enhance the output of the
model, it was weighted by the ratio of likely
volumes of flows at origins and destination
(Ferguson et al, 2012). The use of this model took
the analysis to a micro-scale, where the impact of
issues such as landscape features, urban furniture
and even shading could be accurately measured.
The model was then used to fine-tune the final
stages of the design development.
Masdar City is an ongoing project and there
will be more re-iterations of the design since the
economic and social parameters keep changing in
its context. The methodology introduced above,
however, provides a stable basis that can assist the
design and decision-making teams to modify the
design without compromising the efficiency of
the urban layout.
City-wide and regional scale projects
Space syntax methodology has been used inten-
sively in a large number of projects to contribute
to city-scale urban design and planning projects,
such as the city of Riga in Latvia, the city of
Chung Chun in China, and the city of Derry in
Northern Ireland. Prominent among these studies
is a Spatial Planning Framework prepared for the
City of Jeddah in Saudi Arabia (Space Syntax
Limited, 2006). The work was undertaken in
direct collaboration with the then Mayor of
Jeddah, his deputy and head of planning, and
the department of planning, to develop spatial
strategies for the city. The Strategic Planning

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450 People Per Hour
Pedestrian movement
People per hour
400+
200-400
100-200
50-100
25-50
0-25
Figure 12: One of the implementation phases in the City of Madar. A visibility-based agent simulation of one of implementation
phases gives a detailed picture of pedestrian activity. The colours represent levels of pedestrian flow that correspond to certain urban
characters generated by people’s presence (images are from other cities to help understand the analysis). Designers can visualise the
character of public spaces and evaluate the likely impact of the changes that they make to urban layout.
Framework, and subsequent urban design pro-
jects have arguably been influential pieces of
work which informed many strategic and detailed
projects, such as the recently adopted Jeddah
Strategic Plan(Municipality of Jeddah, 2009).
The baseline study was initiated with the
development of a segment-angular analysis of
the entire city of Jeddah. This model was further
linked with the distribution of population density,
land uses, vehicular traffic and socio-economic
conditions (Figure 8) to create composite urban
models. The analysis of the city at the global
level revealed major problems of the urban
structure, among which were: extreme isolation
of the historic core; lack of a proper City Centre;
excessive shift of the centre of urban structure to
the north of the city; imbalanced urban growth
and sprawl; negative impact of the undeveloped
mega-scale sites in the heart of the city on their
surroundings; and spatial segregation of un-
planned settlements, which were rapidly turning
into urban slums (Figure 13). These results were
compatible with the other studies that had
been undertaken before the Strategic Planning
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A configurational approach to analytical urban design
150 People Per Hour
700 People Per Hour
Framework, the views of the city’s expert
expressed in stakeholder workshops during the
course of the project, or the qualitative observa-
tions by the project team.
The analysis of city’s status quo then was
compared with the analysis of the city’s Local
Plan (Figure 13b). This comparison showed that
the proposed Local Plan would only aggravate
the above-mentioned problems. The integration
core of the city in the Local plan shifts to east,
where an intercity motorway appears to take the
role of the main urban spine. The historic centre of
the city becomes much weaker and the east-west
major streets appear as the linear centres of the
future city. The segregation of both central and
peripheral unplanned settlements, as well as the
extensions to the north, south and east, is
excessively intensified.
Through a series of analytical investigations,
strategic solutions were developed for each of the
identified problems. These solutions were tested,
their impact was assessed and proposals for
optimisation of the spatial system were devel-
oped. The individual and aggregate impacts of all
URBAN DESIGN International Vol. 0, 0, 1–22 17
 Karimi

Figure 13: Space syntax models of the city of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. These models have been used as the base layers to inform the
Strategic Planning Framework. The spatial structure of the city as exists now (a), is compared with what it would be like if the old
Local Plan is implemented (b), and what it would become if all strategic transformations proposed by the Strategic Planning
Framework are implemented (c).

these urban transformations were measured by
the spatial model on local and global scales. The
analysis showed major city-wide improvements
compared with the existing city as well as with
the proposed local plan, adopted previously by
the Municipality (Figure 13c).
The project then continued further to develop
more specific urban design solution options, or
assess the impact of the other masterplans
developed for different parts of the city, including
a masterplan for the vacant Old Airport Site, a
masterplan for the Historic core and waterfront,
and a series of regeneration and area action plans
for the unplanned areas of the city (Karimi et al,
2007; Karimi and Parham, 2012). In all these
projects space syntax methodology was used in
the baseline study phase, as well as analytical
evaluation phases. In the most recent study of this
kind in 2011, a composite model, which takes into
account spatial structure, land use, density and
road capacity, was used to assess the impact of all
masterplans developed for the City Centre of
Jeddah on the definition, boundary, movement
flows and vehicular traffic of the City Centre
(Figure 14). This is a highly advanced tool that
could feedback into the design process for each of
these projects, as well as to the main strategic plan
of the city.
Conclusions
Contemporary urban design confronts multiple
challenges, which are only going to be more
complex in future. These challenges and the
necessity to reduce the risks of failure demand
new methods of urban design, capable of inform-
ing the design process by evidence, analysis and
rigorous investigation. Without contradicting the
traditional, intuition-based approaches to urban
design, which are still applicable, this article has
argued that urban design as a process can be
informed by analytical methods

18 r 2012 Macmillan Publishers Ltd. 1357-5317 URBAN DESIGN International Vol. 0, 0, 1–22

Figure 14: A composite model that combines space syntax analysis with land use and population density to measure the extent of the
existing City Centre as it is now (a) and in future (b). The model also measures the impact of each urban development (spatial layout,
land use, density) on the shape of the city centre and issues such as movement and traffic.
To establish this approach, the article argued
that there are certain stages in the urban design
process that could be assisted more directly by
logical thinking and analytical methods. Whereas
generation of ideas and design conjectures are
predominantly led by intuition, the evaluation of
the ideas and assessment of the design solutions
can be effectively led by analytical methods. It
was also argued that the application of analytical
methods in urban design is most effective if they
are based on a theoretical framework that could
link directly the spatial aspects of the built
environment with people and society.
The article further argued that an analytical
approach to urban design based on spatial
configuration can provide a powerful vehicle to
achieve a more enhanced urban design outcome.
The proposed methodology is based on space
syntax theory, which treats space as an intrinsic
entity to society, shaped through a series of
relations and patterns, or spatial configuration.
The analysis of spatial configuration provides an
efficient method of analysis to explore the
functionality and efficiency of urban systems,
which becomes an integral part of an analytical
urban design process. This process begins with a
baseline study that comprises spatial configura-
tion models, but it could also be linked to other
important issues to create composite models of
urban assessment. The analytical model will
then be applied to evaluate design options and
help transform design ideas further to become
r 2012 Macmillan Publishers Ltd. 1357-5317
A configurational approach to analytical urban design
applicable design solutions. This entire process
has similar intuitive or non-intuitive inputs and
outputs, which are involved in a normal urban
design process, but it uses analytical methods at
certain stages to effectively inform and enhance
the design.
Finally, through a series of real-life examples,
the experience of applying these methods and
outcome of the process was discussed for differ-
ent scales of urban projects, from public space to
an entire city. These projects, such as any other
real projects, have their limitations and con-
straints, but the benefits of the methodology are
evident in the initiation, progression and final
output of each case.
Notes
1 Albeit considered as an analytical approach sometimes,
Parametric Design is more about a tool for manipulation and
representation of certain parameters.
2 One of the main software for this kind of analysis is open
source software called Depthmap, which has been devel-
oped by the Space Group at Bartlett, UCL (Turner, 2001).
3 In response to the increasing requests of the professional
sector, a consultancy firm, Space Syntax Limited, was set up
by UCL to utilise space syntax methods and modelling
techniques in urban design projects (Hillier 2007).
4 The records of Space Syntax Limited show that more than
1500 projects have been undertaken between 1995 and 2012.
5 Among these awards are: First ever RIBA CABE Public
Space Award, 2008; The Civic Trust Awards in three
categories of Outstanding Contribution to the Public Realm,
URBAN DESIGN International Vol. 0, 0, 1–22 19
 Karimi
Hard Landscaping, and a Special Regeneration Award, 2008;
Commendation for Regeneration, RICS East Midland
Awards, 2008; Best Public Realm & Open Space Award
and Overall Winner, Lord Mayor’s Awards, 2007; Design
Excellence Award, East Midlands Property Awards, 2007.
6 The St Botolphs Quarter Master plan Planning guidance
was adopted as Council policy by the LDF Panel on
30 June 2005 (http://www.colchester.gov.uk/article/4100/
St-Botolphs-Quarter-Master-plan).
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