Street Voids: Analyzing Street-Level Walkability

Based on 3D Morphology and Remotely

Accessible Urban Data

Elif Ensari1(B) , José Beirão2 , and Mine Özkar3

1 New York University, New York, NY 10012, USA
ee2143@nyu.edu
2 CIAUD, Research Centre for Architecture, Urbanism and Design, Lisbon School of
Architecture, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal
jnb@fa.ulisboa.pt
3 Istanbul Technical University, Istanbul, Turkey

ozkar@itu.edu.tr

Abstract. Urban planning and design approaches that aim to leverage walking as
a sustainable means of transportation require a thorough understanding of the built
environment. Information regarding density, diversity, accessibility, and attractive-
ness of streets is critical to assess walkability, yet it is also resource-intensive to
acquire through traditional methods. We present a computational analysis method
that captures and aggregates information on walkability indicators encapsulated in
the 3d morphology, street-view imagery, and POI data of streets, using a 3d com-
ponent called the Street Void [1]. This component builds on the Convex and Solid-
Void models [2] which are 3d representations of open-urban spaces informed by
the interrelationships between topography, surrounding buildings and other imme-
diate physical boundaries, and facilitates the quantitative evaluation of walkability
attributes. The method is unique in that it allows for the walkability evaluation of
urban open spaces in the micro level, with a semi-automated algorithm and utiliz-
ing remotely accessible urban data. We present the implementation of this analysis
on four neighborhoods of Istanbul and Lisbon, demonstrating insight drawn from
its quantitative output. The research interconnects knowledge in the domains of
computational design, behavioral psychology, urban management, and planning;
with the contribution of a novel quantitative analysis of streets to inform urban
decision-making processes.

Keywords: Urban Walkability · Urban Morphology · Computational Design

1 Introduction

The morphology of the built environment shapes urban life and captures dynamic and
highly representative information necessary to understand the urban context, in order to
inform its design, planning and management processes. The quantitative evaluation of the
urban built environment, especially when the third dimension is accounted for, can reveal

© The Author(s) 2023

M. Turrin et al. (Eds.): CAAD Futures 2023, CCIS 1819, pp. 236–252, 2023.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-37189-9_16
 Street Voids: Analyzing Street-Level Walkability 237

how the street network, topography, buildings, and the open spaces in between work
with the infrastructure, services, and the amenities in influencing the urban experience.
This paper looks at the three dimensional (3d) morphological attributes of the urban
built environment, combined with streetscape and activity data, and proposes a remotely
applicable and semi-automated measuring method that is both scalable and less resource-
intensive than on-site surveys. The purpose of the method is to evaluate urban walkability
and to inform urban design, planning and management decisions for improving the
walkability of the urban built environment.
The study firstly enhanced and expanded an existing urban classification and assess-
ment model; secondly, used case studies to explore its application on walkability evalu-
ation; and thirdly, developed urban planning and design recommendations based on the
insight drawn from the statistical analyses of case study results. Through this research,
we found that (1) 3d morphological attributes are effective in understanding the walk-
ability of urban streets; (2) a combination of characteristics is more meaningful than
individual ones in determining walkability (3) a 3d model-based morphological analysis
method can be practically utilized in evaluating and improving walkability. Our premise
is that 3d model based, automated and remotely applicable evaluations will be ubiqui-
tous and practical in the future due to the increasing availability of 3d data and rapid
advances in computation.
The following section provides a literature review on the use of urban 3d repre-
sentation models, the theoretical background of and preceding work on the 3d analysis
method, Convex and Street-Voids further developed in this study, as well as the history of
walkability research that our study contributes to. Section 3 presents our methodology,
which involves conducting Convex and Street-Void analysis, aggregation of additional
urban data to the model’s unit of analysis, a definition of walkability indicators based
on the Convex and Street-Void model, and their refinement through four case studies.
Section 4 lays out the case studies which were carried out in neighborhoods in Istanbul
and Lisbon. Finally, Sect. 5 presents our conclusions.
This work was a part of the doctoral studies conducted in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for a Ph.D. in Architectural Design Computing [1].

2 Background

This research engages with the broad literature of the methods and domains of application
of 3d representation models of the urban built environment. More specifically, it inves-
tigates the potential role of a 3d representation model in the evaluation of walkability,
intended to inform urban design, planning and management practices.

2.1 3D Representation Models of the Urban Environment

3d representation models emerged as part of computer aided design (CAD) tools and
evolved from being merely geometric representations of the built environment utilized
for visualization purposes to semantically rich information systems that facilitate uses
from design, evaluation, and construction documentation to management [3]. While the
initial scale of application for 3d representation models was limited to those of industrial
238 E. Ensari et al.

products and buildings, as computation methods, processing power and data acquisition
techniques advanced, they began to be applicable in the urban scale as well. On the other
hand, GIS tools, linking geometry with geographic location and semantic data managed
through databases have been used to represent the built environment in the urban scale
for decades [4]. However, advantages for the use cases of 3d GIS and representation
models over 2d GIS and other 2d representation models have been reported extensively
[3].
The need for 3d representations in the urban scale stems from the necessity to account
for the height component of the built environment to create accurate and photorealistic
simulations of historic and new planning scenarios, useful both technically in design and
engineering studies where multiple aspects of the built urban environment are evaluated,
and when communicating with the public in urban renewal processes. State of the art
urban 3d representation models, which include 3d GIS, City Information Models (CIM)
or Digital Twins, offer these benefits, and are generated faster than ever through automa-
tion; integrate geometry with dynamic data and allow multiple users to collaborate,
affording them real-time analysis and insight.
3d GIS, CIM and Digital Twin are designations corresponding to digital 3d city mod-
els with geometric representations of buildings, topography and other physical elements
linked with additional data. 3d GIS adds the third, Z-dimension to the traditional GIS,
commonly used for mapping elements citywide or in the larger scale in 2d, linked with
their geographical locations and additional attributes which are managed via databases.
BIM, used mainly in the architecture, construction, and manufacturing industry, pro-
vides the user with a 3d modeling interface that integrates objects with parametrically
modifiable attributes such as dimension, material, cost, or scheduling information. CIM
offers to integrate such a system within a city-scale and geo-referenced 3d model, facil-
itating simulation, analysis and management of infrastructure, buildings, and services
by multiple stakeholders, supported by data manageable through the system [5].
Digital Twins of cities are used by city agencies in Dublin, Singapore, Helsinki,
Zurich, Madrid, The Hague, Budapest, Lyon, Oslo, Porto, Athens, Antwerp, Pilsen and
many others in managing transportation, energy production and consumption, air quality,
noise, open government data and participatory processes with citizens [6]. Inevitably
these technologies will become more widely integrated into the everyday operations of
urban planning and management in the near future, despite their resource-intensiveness
and cumbersome adaptation processes. The introduction of BIM into the architecture
and construction industry was not effortless, yet it constitutes a good example of the
adoption of new technology by an established industry, once it proved to be effective
in responding to the ever-evolving conditions of the built environment. Considering the
greater complexity and ceaseless transformation of cities along with the needs of their
growing populations, CIM’s offerings to the city agencies and their providers are not
only rewarding, but essential.
The value of the city-scale parametric representation models such as CIM, and of
the capacity to deal with urban morphology in 3d, is in the inclusion of information
regarding the topography, building heights and relationships between layers of vertically
superposed systems in the analysis of phenomena. Space syntax, a prominent spatial
analysis theory that is used to evaluate street networks in the urban scale [7], has been
 Street Voids: Analyzing Street-Level Walkability 239

criticized precisely due to its disregard of the third dimension [8]. Convex and Solid-
Voids (CSV) originated from an interest in addressing this gap [9], as a method of not
only analyzing the urban built environment in three dimensions, but also utilizing the
voids delineated by the urban boundaries as units of analysis, rather than analyzing the
solids constituting the urban boundaries as most evaluation methods do.
The motive behind the CSV’s theoretical concept was to measure the perceptual
qualities of the urban open spaces with a consistent analysis method, for which, a 3d-
representation model was developed that could be algorithmically generated, informed
by the topography, buildings, and other vertical boundaries defining the urban open
space [10]. The smallest 3d units of this model, the Convex Voids (CV), already held the
morphological information such as width, length, height, squareness, compactness and
fatness. Fatness is the radius of the biggest circle inscribed in a 2D polygon; compact-
ness is the ratio between the perimeter of a polygon and the perimeter of a circle of the
same area and squareness is the ratio between area of a polygon and area of its small-
est bounding square [2]. CVs’ automated aggregation into Solid-Voids (SV) captured
additional information on the horizontal and vertical continuity of the open space, the
impact of neighboring open spaces with varying enclosure levels on each other and the
level of connectivity within the street network based on the number of streets crossing
each other at intersections.
This paper presents subsequent research of prior work [1] that introduced additional
spatial information to the CSV model such as function, level of activeness and availabil-
ity of amenities in the urban space. This information is external to the morphology of
the urban open space, however, is analyzed in relation to the location of the CSV and its
neighboring CSVs within the street network. The final model leverages the morpholog-
ical attributes inherently analyzed with the CSV model and combines it with additional
spatial information to derive street characteristics related with walkability. Additionally,
a new unit of analysis was created by the aggregation of the original SV units along
street segments, called the Street-Void (STV).

2.2 Urban Walkability Assessment, Urban Planning and Design

Walkability is a term used to describe the level of comfort, safety and pleasurableness of
the walking experience afforded by the built environment to its inhabitants. Walkability
literature covers methods developed to quantify urban street characteristics with the
aim of informing health sciences [11], urban design [12], planning and policy making
[13]. While efforts have been made to automate the data collection and analysis to most
accurately capture the built environment characteristics that influence the actual walking
experience, the problem with the existing methods is that they either disregard the 3d
and the micro-scale attributes or require on-site analysis, which makes them resource
intensive, non-scalable and non-dynamic.
Automation and scalability of urban analysis is important for its integration with
Digital Twins or CIMs which hold the potential to make walkability evaluations of
existing and simulated designs for the built environment more accessible to city admin-
istrations. However, scale and level of detail becomes critical for the automation of an
analysis method, as data collection in high levels of detail is costly and cumbersome,
if not impossible to automate. Walkability has been studied looking at different scales
240 E. Ensari et al.

and levels of detail in the urban environment, yet only large-scale and low-detail eval-
uations have been automated through GIS or other algorithmic methods. Generally, the
macro-scale measures that are based on indicators such as density, connectivity and land
use mix can easily be digitized and calculated through GIS. As the level of detail to
be measured increases, obtaining relevant data in GIS format becomes more difficult,
hence such measuring methods often rely on in-person audits. While such measures can
assess particular features of the built environment in detail, such as how well a sidewalk
is maintained or how safe a street crossing is, in-person audits tend to be expensive,
inefficient and unreliable [14].
Efforts have been made to adapt urban measures based on detailed and small-scaled
features of urban design to GIS [14], and also to automate assessments in this scale using
additional techniques and resources like 3d GIS and Google Street View Imagery that
account for the third dimension [15]. These are valuable precedents as they introduce
algorithmic methods of analysis for the streetscape attributes in the meso-to-micro scale,
which were found to be highly influential in the walking behavior of urban inhabitants
[15, 16]. These attributes are also easier to modify through local government-level urban
design interventions, carrying potential for rapid and meaningful impact on mobility
behavior. GIS and other automated methods render analysis in this scale efficient and
objective as opposed to surveys and audits that are prone to human error and require
extensive resources in terms of time, money and man-hours.
This study aims to inform urban design and policy, presenting an analytical method
that fills the gap in walkability research with a semi-automated, remotely applicable, 3d
and streetscape-level analysis. We anticipate that this approach also holds potential to
identify urban vulnerabilities or opportunities through morphology and remotely acces-
sible data in future applications. The motivation is to create an assessment that is easily
adaptable to changes and that has the potential to be integrated into CIM and Digital
Twin workflows, hence a parametric, GIS-based model structure was utilized.

3 Methodology
Departing from existing literature, a new categorization of built environment attributes
is utilized in this study. The categories were selected to represent the most widely
applied walkability measures, and are based primarily on morphological attributes,
streetscape elements and amenity information. The categories operationalized are Den-
sity, Diversity, Complexity, Human Scale, Enclosure, Connectedness, Shape, Incline,
Permeability/Transparency, and Infrastructure Quality.
First, a set of walkability indicators (Table 1), measurable using morphology and
street view imagery were developed based on a literature review [1]. Next, through case
studies of four neighborhoods, indicator values were calculated using CSV, Space Syntax
and street view image analyses, as well as location based social network (LBSN) and
location sharing services (LSS) data. The unit of analysis was modified from the units
utilized in the existing CSV method from CV and SV, to STV. Finally, recommendations
were compiled to inform urban design and planning processes, based on the statistical
analyses of the results.
The methods of measurement used are based on 3d morphological analysis of streets
and 2d morphological analysis of the street network carried out using the CSV and the
 Street Voids: Analyzing Street-Level Walkability 241

Space Syntax methods respectively, amenity locations present on the open map platform
Google Places and streetscape features documented through automated image processing
of Google Street View data. These evaluations were adopted firstly to facilitate a semi-
automated and remotely applicable walkability analysis to any neighborhood, which
has urban information available through government resources and open data platforms.
This information includes the topography; building footprints with height information;
lot outlines; public and private amenity locations; and street view imagery. The second
criterion for the selection of these methods was their fitness for analysis in the street and
neighborhood scale. These criteria are in line with the goal of building a detailed yet
practical analysis method of the urban built environment characteristics, for which data
collection, update and feed-in can be automated as much as possible.

3.1 Convex and Street-Void Analysis

CSVs are 3d representation models of the open spaces in the built environment, developed
to capture morphological attributes useful for urban analysis [2, 10]. They are generated
through a semi-automated workflow in which the main code operates in the Grasshopper
visual programming environment [17] within the Rhinoceros3d CAD software [18] and
with input files generated with QGIS [19]. Through CSVs, the urban empty space is
compartmentalized as solids, and can be analyzed as object, network and field entities.
Five primary entities that the method incorporates are the Convex Space (CS), Convex
Void (CV), Solid Void (SV), Facade and Flow (Fig. 1) [20]. The additional Street Void
(STV) unit presented in this paper is generated by the aggregation of CVs along street
segments, and further adapted to analyze streetscape and use attributes external to but
informed by the open space’s morphology.
CVs derived from what may be termed 3d-informed convex representations of pub-
lic space. These are convex spaces, but they contain associated information on terrain
elevation as well as on the elevation of the physical elements that frame such spaces.
Contrary to traditional Space Syntax convex spaces which are flat and resort to the
‘fattest’ algorithm (spaces with the greatest inscribed circle [8, 21] as algorithmic def-
inition), 3d-informed CSs resort to a ‘fattest + squareness’ algorithm in aggregating
triangles. The ‘fattest + squareness’ algorithm is able to recognize junctions as singular
spaces defined by the street corners and therefore assess the specific spatial properties
of such spaces. These convex spaces are informed because they derive from geographic
information and therefore can have associated data, such as data required for studies in
walkability. And they are 3d-informed because they contain information on elevation,
slope and boundary elevations (façades and other types of spatial limits). This informa-
tion is used to extrude the CS into a 3d representation called the CV. CV representations
inherit the CS data or keep semantic relations to the CS layer.
CVs are aggregated into more complex spatial units called SVs. These aggregations
occur whenever three conditions are satisfied: (1) continuity between spaces with a low
angular horizontal deviation; (2) continuity between spaces with low vertical deviation;
and (3) connectivity between spaces with similar scale of boundary share. SVs tend to
cross each other at street intersections forming a network layer and can be characterized
by properties such as the number of CVs defining them expressing continuity, the number
of connections with other solid voids expressing connectivity and the topological distance
242 E. Ensari et al.

to other solid voids expressing network depth. Such networks may be the representational
basis for topological analysis. Though similar to Space Syntax and therefore amenable
for showing similar mathematical properties, they are peculiar to these models and
therefore require independent calculus and interpretation. However, the 3d nature of the
representations are particularly fit for analyzing public space at street and neighborhood
level, complementing models with the information taken from other GIS layers, as
well as inherited data (e.g.: from CVs), and data taken from the bounding elements
such as buildings, their façades and other private spaces and limits. The most recent
functional software version generates two additional layers – façades and flows – where
additional data can be included. Flows represent polylines connecting CS centroids,
common edges’ midpoints and neighboring spaces´ centroids forming a spatial kind
of centerline representation. They allow for the calculation of both the horizontal and
vertical shift between spaces, providing (or not) the required conditions to the solid void
generation.

Fig. 1. Convex and Street-Void entities. a: Convex Spaces, b: Facades, c: Convex Voids, d: Flows,
e: Solid Voids, f: Street Voids.

The STV was developed as an alternative to SVs, by aggregating CVs along street
segments, providing a more consistent unit of analysis for research contexts. STVs only
overlap at intersections, unlike SVs and inherit all data from the CVs they contain but
the CV values can yield additional information based on the summary method used
in this aggregation. Among the indicators developed for walkability assessment in this
study, averages, weighted averages, sums and coefficients of variation of data inherited
from CVs constituting each STV have been utilized. See Table 1 for the reduced set of
attributes measured using the CSVs.

3.2 Street Network Analysis

Following the morphological analysis by the STVs, a 400 m radius Space Syntax analysis
of each street segment was carried out and aggregated per STV to assess its connectivity
 Street Voids: Analyzing Street-Level Walkability 243

within the spatial network. The indicator values of Connectivity, Node Count, Angular
Connectivity, Choice, Integration and Total Depth [22] were aggregated within STVs as
weighted averages based on segment lengths and utilized as part of the morphological
evaluation and the classification of the street segments.

3.3 Street View Imagery Based Attribute Analysis

To collect information regarding the streetscape characteristics that has been shown in
literature to influence the pedestrian experience, street view imagery from Google Street
View platform was analyzed for built environment and use-indicating attributes. Street
view images were captured every 15 m, facing both sides of the street segments, and the
images were fed into an image-processing algorithm [23]. Next, the number of instances
where the following elements were recognized by the algorithm was aggregated per
STV: tree, landscape, environment, park, door, window, pavement, commercial, business,
shopping, chair, bench, furniture, car, vehicle, traffic, calamity, abandoned, demolition
and people.

3.4 Street Activity Attribute Analysis

The most intuitive and earliest utilized means to collect data on pedestrian behavior was
counting people. Due to the resource-intensiveness and non-scalability of this method,
along with the ubiquity and location tracking capability of the cellular phones today,
GSM data has become one of the most practical means of tracking pedestrian behavior
in open urban space. Yet this type of data was not accessible for our study, so instead,
LBSN and LSS data was mapped to identify use patterns in the studied neighborhoods.
Flickr, Instagram and Google Place posts were tracked within 3.5-m buffers around the
analyzed STV footprints using APIs provided by these platforms and aggregated per
STV. These values were used together with the people counts obtained from the street
view imagery.

4 Case Studies
Neighborhood sections from Caferaga and Hasanpasa in Istanbul, and Chiado and Ajuda
in Lisbon were selected for analysis based on having similar size, road density and built
area densities. We selected areas that do not cut through an axis or open space perceived
in continuity unless interrupted by administrative boundaries. Additionally, we assumed
one neighborhood from each city to be more walkable (Caferaga and Chiado) and one
less so (Hasanpasa and Ajuda), with the assumptions supported by density based on
built area, diversity based on Google Place frequency, and activity on streets based on
number of street sides where people were identified on street view imagery and social
media activity based on Flickr posts. Incidentally, Chiado and Caferaga neighborhoods
have touristic and commercial characteristics more than the other two.
The built area densities of Caferaga and Chiado considered walkable are about
44% higher and floor area densities are between 80% and 100% higher than Hasan-
pasa and Ajuda which are considered less walkable. Caferaga and Chiado have shorter
244 E. Ensari et al.

streets, therefore smaller blocks, and more frequent intersections than Hasanpasa and
Ajuda. Density of Google Place locations are significantly higher in Caferaga and Chi-
ado (0.075/m and 0.064/m) and are very low for Ajuda (0.008/m). Density of Flickr
posts are significantly higher in Caferaga (0.066), followed by Chiado (0.029) and are
94% and 80% lower in Hasanpasa and Ajuda respectively. Number of street sides where
people were sighted in street view images are double as much in Caferaga (267) and
Chiado (120) when compared with Hasanpasa (102) and Ajuda (38).

4.1 Statistical Analysis and Classification of Street Voids

We first conducted a descriptive statistical analysis of all attribute values and looked
at the variation between the range and averages across the four neighborhoods [1]. We
expected similarities between Caferaga and Chiado as both were considered walkable,
and between Hasanpasa and Ajuda as both were considered less walkable. Similarly, we
expected contrasting results between walkable and less walkable pairs of neighborhoods
within each city. We then ran regression analyses to test the power of measured attributes
in predicting pedestrian activity. Based on the results of these two exercises, we selected
22 attributes (Table 1) and ran a K-means clustering analysis [24] of their values for
the four neighborhoods. We mapped the STVs in each class and explored their footprint
shapes and sizes, street view imagery and the results of a second descriptive analysis
of attributes comparatively between classes (Figs. 2, 3 and 4). The walkability-related
characteristics of these classes of STVs were consistent and revealed changing impacts
of some attributes in different combinations.
In the regression analyses, we utilized Flickr and Instagram post locations and the
presence of people on street view images, some of which also appear in recent walka-
bility literature as activity indicators [25, 26], as dependent variables. We tested them
all separately, and as combined into one variable, but did not find significant correla-
tions. However, we utilized these results in eliminating attributes with consistently low
predicting power across different models of regression analyses.
The K-means analysis seeks to group attributes into a given number of clusters
based on the proximity of features in the multi-dimensional space of attribute values
[24]. We tested the model with 5, 6, 7 and 8 clusters to group all our STVs from the four
neighborhoods within our 22-dimensional attribute space and upon mapping, observing
street views and comparing descriptive statistics of the resulting clusters, we decided on
the 6 clusters as showing the most consistent STV classification (See Figs. 2, 3 and 4
for examples from the 6 clusters).
 Street Voids: Analyzing Street-Level Walkability 245

Table 1. Selected attributes1 .

Characteristic Attribute Explanation

Density
Physical STV_FArea_p_STVLen Total floor area of
surrounding buildings
per STV length
Use GPlaces_pSTVLen Number of Google
Place locations that are
tagged within 3.5 m of
the STV footprint area
divided by the length of
STV
Diversity
Morphological STVs_#FacadesPerM Number of surrounding
Facades per STV length
Land use GPlaces_pSTVLen See above
Connectedness
Space Syntax WAv_Integration400 Wav of Integration
within 400 m radius
(Human) Scale
STVs_Area Footprint area of STV
(not projected)
STVs_Length Length of STV. (Length
of longest continuous
street segment.)
STVs_Width Av width of STV. (STV
area divided by length.)
STVs_Height Wav of heights of
included CVs
STVs_#FacadesPerM Number of Facades per
STV length
(continued)

1 Attributes that were eliminated for over-representing some measures or shown to be insignificant
in the case studies were: STV perimeter, enclosure, elevation change, flow length/STV area,
#buildings/STV length, #buildings/STV area, total floor area/STV area, average floor area per
building; weighted averages of flow incline, facade heights, facade widths and Convex Solid
(CS) elevations; coefficient of variations for the values of building area, floor area, #floors, CS
compactness, CS squareness, CS skyview, CS, elevation, CS diameter
246 E. Ensari et al.

Table 1. (continued)

Characteristic Attribute Explanation

STVs_WAv_FacadeArea
STVs_Av_Floors
STVs_Av_BArea
Complexity
Granularity/Articulation STVs_#FacadesPerM
STVs_WAv_FacadeArea
STVs_PerimTArea
Other streetscape features Green
Motor_transit
commercial amenities GPlaces_pSTVLen
Enclosure
STVs_Height
STVs_HeightTWidth
STVs_WAv_FacadeHeightTWidth
WAV_CS_Skyview
Shape
Wav of building and
wall façade areas
surrounding STV
Av number of building
floors per STV
Av footprint area of
surrounding buildings
per STV
Number of Facades per
STV length
Wav of building and
wall façade areas
surrounding STV
Perimeter of an STV
divided by its Area
Nss where trees, parks,
natural greenery, or
landscape is identifiable
Nss where cars,
vehicles or traffic is
identifiable
See above
See above
STV_Height divided by
STV_Width
Wav of building and
wall façade height to
width proportions
Wav of included CS
Sky view factors per
STV
(continued)
 Street Voids: Analyzing Street-Level Walkability 247

Table 1. (continued)

Characteristic Attribute Explanation

STVs_Compactness Ratio between the
perimeter of STV
footprint and perimeter
of a circle of the same
area
STVs_WAv_CS_Compactness Wav of included CS
Compactnesses per
STV
STVs_WAv_CS_Squareness Wav of included CS
Squarenesses per STV
STVs_PerimTArea Perimeter of an STV
divided by its Area
Permeability/Transparency
GPlaces_pSTVLen see above
Infrastructure Quality (and Maintenance)
Green see above
Pavement Nss where pavements
are identifiable
Motor_transit see above
Negative Nss where
abandonment,
demolition or calamity
is identifiable
Av = Average, Wav = Weighted Average, Nss = Number of street sides

4.2 Findings and Further Analysis

Each cluster, despite representing spaces from more than one neighborhood, and often
from neighborhoods in both Istanbul and Lisbon, showed distinct characteristics legible
on the plans, street views and in the descriptive statistical analysis.
Cluster 1 represented relatively well known, active and wide streets; most notably
Moda Caddesi from Caferaga, a part of Kurbağalıdere Caddesi from Hasanpasa, Rua
de Santa Catarina from Chiado and Calçada da Ajuda from Ajuda, hence, was able
to identify most main streets within our selected neighborhoods. The main streets that
were even more active than those identified in Cluster 1 and were almost exclusively in
Chiado, were identified in Cluster 2. Cluster 3, which represented dense, diverse (high
frequency of small facades hence potential for a diversity of building types and uses), well
enclosed, and lower traffic STVs with the most favorable attribute values for walkability
was most commonly found in Chiado as well. Cluster 4 represented large squares, with
lower enclosure but high commercial and pedestrian activity, including the Praça Luís
248 E. Ensari et al.

de Camões and Praça de São Paulo as well as smaller squares including Largo Barão
Quintela along with their connecting streets, Rua do Alecrim, Rua das Flores, Rua da
Boa Vista and Avenida Dom Carlos. The two shape attributes of STVs_Compactness
and WAV_CSSquareness showed the highest median values in Cluster 4, hence revealing
that these attributes were successful in identifying square-like spaces that are popular
public squares. Cluster 5 represented narrow, mainly residential streets with ground-floor
commercial amenities similar to the streets of Cluster 3 but were wider and commercially
more active. Cluster 6 STVs captured low density, wide, little enclosed, least connected
and single-use spaces, mainly in Hasanpasa and Ajuda, the less walkable neighborhoods.
Looking at the descriptive summary statistics of these 6 clusters, which had dis-
tinct characteristics relevant with walkability, we saw different attribute values to
have varying influence on open spaces of different characteristics. Out of the 22
attributes, we identified 10 to be more closely linked with observable walkability charac-
teristics: STVs_Area, STVs_Length, STVs_Width, STVs_Height, Wav_CS_Skyview,
Av_Floors, BArea_pSTVLen, FArea_pSTVLen, Permeability and Negative. We had
omitted the Permeability indicator which is measured based on the counts of doors
and windows on street view images, as this measure proved unreliable on commercial
streets where shop windows weren’t identified as windows by the algorithm. However,
for residential streets, the frequency of openings was accurately detected, hence we
didn’t disregard it in the next step. We made a second classification, this time grouping
Street-Voids based on their shapes, use, and observed walkability levels. The purpose
was to identify the value ranges for the finally selected 10 attributes influencing the
walkability in street-like vs. square-like and commercial vs. residential open spaces.
Our groups consisted of square-like, commercial and walkable, square-like, residential
and walkable, street-like, commercial and walkable, street-like, residential and walkable,
and square-like, residential and non-walkable STVs. We did not have many samples of
commercial and non-walkable open spaces hence excluded the two groups of STVs that
would have been street-like, commercial and non-walkable and square-like, commercial
and non-walkable.
We found that within the urban open space network, firstly, the square-like and
street-like spaces and secondly, spaces with residential and commercial uses perform
differently in terms of walkability, and so can have attribute values of different levels
while affording similar levels of walkability. For example, square-like and commercially
active spaces in Cluster 4 have lower enclosure levels, larger buildings, wider facades
(hence lower possibility for a diversity of building uses) and more frequent visual indica-
tors of “calamity”, “abandoned” or “demolition” (all negative influences on walkability)
than Clusters 2, 3 and 5, yet spaces of Cluster 4 accommodate a vibrant social life both
during the day and night hours and are considered highly walkable open spaces. As
another example, comparing two street-like clusters of 3 and 5 which have similar den-
sities and building morphologies, we saw higher levels of activity in Cluster 5 despite
its wider streets, lower enclosure levels, and higher motor traffic. Hence, we found that
commercial and mixed uses along street-like spaces as in Cluster 5, afford streets a
higher level of walkability, even with lower values of walkability-supporting attributes
like density and enclosure.
 Street Voids: Analyzing Street-Level Walkability 249

Based on our findings we recommend that open urban spaces first be analyzed for
their shape to find whether they are square or street-like (STV_Compactness > 0.7 =
square like). Since our results show the Scale and Enclosure attributes to be more influen-
tial on the walkability of street-like spaces than square-like spaces; design and planning
interventions to increase building heights, human-scale elements like street furniture
and green elements that constitute visual boundaries can be prioritized in improving the
walkability of street-like spaces. As the second step, whether a space is commercial or
not should be determined (GPlaces_pSTVLen > 0.2 = commercial). In terms of the
scales of the urban spaces, we found that square-like commercial spaces can be walk-
able even at sizes as large as 2000 m2 ; while square-like residential spaces, when they
are smaller than 500 m2 . Street-like spaces are walkable if their footprints (per STV)
are below 1000 m2 , regardless of their residential or commercial characteristics. For
lower-level interventions than zoning and planning, design and programming of public
spaces can help increase perceived levels of Enclosure and Density to make up for the
larger-scaled open public spaces for improved walkability. We found that total building
footprint area per STV length should be at least 45 m2 for residential and square-like
spaces and 25 m2 for residential and street-like spaces; the total floor areas per STV
area should be at least 80 m2 for all street-like spaces and 180 m2 for residential and
square-like spaces. Refer to [1] for all analysis result values.

Fig. 2. Street View images and plan from Cluster 3. Hasanpasa (left), Chiado (center, right).

Fig. 3. Street View images and plan from Cluster 4. Chiado.

250 E. Ensari et al.

Fig. 4. Street View images and plan from Cluster 6. Hasanpasa (left), Ajuda (center, right).

5 Conclusion
CSV representations collect information on open public spaces, linked, not only with
their geographical and topological location within the network of open spaces, but also
with the open spaces’ 3d morphological characteristics. In existing research, includ-
ing those integrating GIS, the data has been either associated with points, buildings, or
an abstraction of the street network, such as the street centerlines. STV data is aggre-
gated within street-segment-based 3d representations and may combine point-based geo-
referenced data, hence providing a much more consistent representation for the analysis
of phenomena that takes place within the public space. Furthermore, the method and
representation model are able to associate vital information taken from the physical ele-
ments that shape the void, like facades along streets, and help evaluate information in
relation with the morphology of the spaces, like the variation of building footprint sizes
throughout the street segment.
The CSVs, being a rhizomatic network representation, assumes a particular interest
for exploratory analysis but also brings an algorithmic complexity problem due to the
computation being exponential depending on the size of the model. A simplification of
the algorithm is under study to solve this problem. Another vulnerability of the method
is that its accuracy depends on the detail and accuracy of the 3d city model fed into
the generative algorithm. However, thanks to the improvement of remote sensing and
street-level imaging technologies and as the 3d city models are becoming ubiquitous in
urban studies and management, access to more reliable models is becoming easier.
The latent potential of the models is still to be explored in most phenomena that
take place in open public spaces. Possible future applications include the study of links
between the 3d morphology of open spaces with spatial, social and economic indicators
relating to public health, crime, pollution, transit ridership or household income, and the
provision of improvement scenarios in the forms of land use and zoning interventions.
The contribution of this research to walkability literature and the fields of urban
planning, design, and management, firstly, is that it facilitates a 3d, semi-automated and
remote evaluation of the open public space. Secondly, it allows for the assessment of all
open public spaces, may they be streets, boulevards, intersections, or squares of different
sizes. Thirdly, it proposes the need for groups of criteria in the evaluation of open spaces,
depending on their morphology and use characteristics as opposed to the uniform sets
of criteria applied to the evaluation of all street spaces in existing walkability studies.
Overall, the research contributes to the computational design field by an analysis method
that links multi-faceted big data with the 3d urban form.
 Street Voids: Analyzing Street-Level Walkability 251

The shortcoming in this walkability evaluation method is that a consistent statistical

correlation could not be sought between the CSV data and walking behavior due to the
lack of robust mobility data. Furthermore, STV areas do not distinguish the percent-
age of the surface given to pedestrians nor sidewalk width, values that are known to
impact walkability. Planned future work involves testing the correlation of the devel-
oped walkability indicators with GSM-based walking data and accounting for sidewalk
widths.

Acknowledgements. José Beirão is financed by national funds through FCT – Fundação para
a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P., under the Strategic Project with the references UIDB/04008/2020
and UIDP/04008/2020.

References
1. Ensari, E.: An Uninterrupted Urban Walk: 3D Analysis Methods for Supporting the Design
of Walkable Streets, (2020)
2. Sileryte, R., Čavić, L., Beirão, J.N.: Automated generation of versatile data model for
analyzing urban architectural void. Comput. Environ. Urban Syst. 66, 130–144 (2017)
3. Biljecki, F., Stoter, J., Ledoux, H., Zlatanova, S., Çöltekin, A.: Applications of 3D City models:
state of the art review. ISPRS Int. J. Geo-Inf. 4, 2842–2889 (2015)
4. Maliene, V., Grigonis, V., Palevičius, V., Griffiths, S.: Geographic information system: old
principles with new capabilities. URBAN Des. Int. 16, 1–6 (2011)
5. Beirão, J.N., Montenegro, N., Arrobas, P.: City Information Modelling: parametric urban
models including design support data. In: Conferência da Rede Lusófona de Morfologia
Urbana. Faculdade de Arquitectura, Universidade Técnica de Lisboa, Lisbon (2012)
6. Charitonidou, M.: Urban scale digital twins in data-driven society: challenging digital
universalism in urban planning decision-making. Int. J. Archit. Comput. 20, 238–253 (2022)
7. Hillier, B., Hanson, J.: The Social Logic of Space. Cambridge University Press (1984). https://
doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511597237
8. Ratti, C.: Space syntax: some inconsistencies. Environ. Plan. B Plan. Des. 31, 487–499 (2004)
9. Beirão, J.N., Chaszar, A., Čavić, L.: Analysis and classification of public spaces using convex
and solid-void models. In: Rassia, S.T., Pardalos, P.M. (eds.) Future City Architecture for
Optimal Living. SOIA, vol. 102, pp. 241–270. Springer, Cham (2015). https://doi.org/10.
1007/978-3-319-15030-7_13
10. Beirão, J.N., Chazsar, A., Čavić, L.: Convex and solid-void models for analysis and classifi-
cation of public spaces. In: Gu, N., Watanabe, S., Erhan, H., Hank, M., Haeusler, W., Huang,
R.S. (ed.) Rethinking Comprehensive Design: Speculative Counterculture, Proceedings of
the 19th International Conference on Computer Aided Architectural Design Research in Asia
CAADRIA. pp. 253–262. Kyoto (2014)
11. Chandrabose, M., et al.: Built environment and cardio-metabolic health: systematic review
and meta-analysis of longitudinal studies. Obes. Rev. 20, 41–54 (2019)
12. Ozbil, A., Gurleyen, T., Yesiltepe, D., Zunbuloglu, E.: Comparative associations of street
network design, streetscape attributes and land-use characteristics on pedestrian flows in
peripheral neighbourhoods. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public. Health. 16, 1846 (2019)
13. Babb, C., Curtis, C.: Institutional practices and planning for walking: a focus on built
environment audits. Plan. Theory Pract. 16, 517–534 (2015)
252 E. Ensari et al.

14. Harvey, C.: Measuring Streetscape Design for Livability Using Spatial Data and Methods
(2014)
15. Carlson, C., Aytur, S., Gardner, K., Rogers, S.: The Importance of the “Local” in Walkability.
Buildings 5, 1187–1206 (2015)
16. Learnihan, V., Van Niel, K.P., Giles-Corti, B., Knuiman, M.: Effect of scale on the links
between walking and urban design. Geogr. Res. 49, 183–191 (2011)
17. Davidson, S.: Grasshopper (2017)
18. McNeel, R.: Rhinoceros (2017)
19. QGIS Geographic Information System (2017)
20. Čavić, L., Sileryte, R., Beirão, J.N.: 3D-informed convex spaces. In: Proceedings of the 11th
Space Syntax Symposium. pp. 1–15. Lisbon (2017)
21. Turner, A., Penn, A., Hillier, B.: An algorithmic definition of the axial map. Environ. Plan. B
Plan. Des. 32, 425–444 (2005)
22. Turner, A.: Depthmap 4 (2004)
23. Clarifai Inc.: Clarifai. https://clarifai.com/. Last accessed 13 May 2019
24. Hartigan, J.A., Wong, M.A.: Algorithm AS 136: a K-means clustering algorithm. J. R. Stat.
Soc. Ser. C Appl. Stat. 28, 100–108 (1979)
25. Yin, L., Cheng, Q., Wang, Z., Shao, Z.: “Big data” for pedestrian volume: exploring the use
of google street view images for pedestrian counts. Appl. Geogr. 63, 337–345 (2015)
26. Quercia, D., Aiello, L.M., Schifanella, R., Davies, A.: The digital life of walkable streets. In:
WWW’15: Proceedings of the 24th International Conference on World Wide Web, pp. 875–
884 (2015)

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, sharing,
adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate
credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and
indicate if changes were made.
The images or other third party material in this chapter are included in the chapter’s Creative
Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not
included in the chapter’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by
statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from
the copyright holder.