Environment, Development and Sustainability

Measuring Spatial Configurations for Spatial Neighborhood Sustainability Assessment

--Manuscript Draft--

Manuscript Number: ENVI-D-23-01188

Full Title: Measuring Spatial Configurations for Spatial Neighborhood Sustainability Assessment

Article Type: Review Article

Keywords: Sustainability Assessment, Neighborhood, Spatial Configuration, Space Syntax,

Spatial Assessment

Abstract: Neighborhood Sustainability Assessment (NSA) has become an important topic of

interest in promoting sustainable cities. It is the suitable scale of a neighborhood that
allows meaningful evaluation of social, economic, and environmental impacts. Also, a
neighborhood’s representation of the link between the city and an individual further
adds to its popularity. In an era of growing interest in socio-spatial measures for
addressing sustainable neighborhoods, this paper explores the significance of
measuring spatial configurations through the Space Syntax method for NSA. The study
provides a bibliometric overview of Space Syntax research and a systematic literature
search to review 13 research articles that use Space Syntax as part of the NSA. The
review identifies integration and connectivity as the most frequently used metrics in
NSA and finds that linking Space Syntax to neighborhoods’ sustainable development,
especially environmental sustainability, is a newly emerging topic. Finally, the paper
concludes with a discussion on the significance and limitations of Space Syntax as a
spatial assessment method.

Powered by Editorial Manager® and ProduXion Manager® from Aries Systems Corporation
Blinded Manuscript(author information must not appear in the Click here to view linked References
manuscript)

Measuring Spatial Configurations for Spatial Neighborhood Sustainability

1
2 Assessment
3
4
5
6
7
8 Abstract
9
10 Neighborhood Sustainability Assessment (NSA) has become an important topic of interest in promoting
11 sustainable cities. It is the suitable scale of a neighborhood that allows meaningful evaluation of social,
12
13 economic, and environmental impacts. Also, a neighborhood’s representation of the link between the city and an
14 individual further adds to its popularity. In an era of growing interest in socio-spatial measures for addressing
15
16 sustainable neighborhoods, this paper explores the significance of measuring spatial configurations through the
17 Space Syntax method for NSA. The study provides a bibliometric overview of Space Syntax research and a
18
19 systematic literature search to review 13 research articles that use Space Syntax as part of the NSA. The review
20 identifies integration and connectivity as the most frequently used metrics in NSA and finds that linking Space
21
22 Syntax to neighborhoods’ sustainable development, especially environmental sustainability, is a newly emerging
23 topic. Finally, the paper concludes with a discussion on the significance and limitations of Space Syntax as a
24
25 spatial assessment method.
26
27
28 Keywords: Sustainability Assessment, Neighborhood, Spatial Configuration, Space Syntax, Spatial
29
30 Assessment
31
32
33
34
35 1. Introduction
36
37
38
39 The growing urban population and urbanization trends in many parts of the world pose a serious threat
40 to achieving sustainable development goals. To overcome these challenges, the development and usage of
41
42 sustainability assessment tools have become a common practice enabling local decision-makers to evaluate and
43 benchmark the sustainability performance of regions, cities, neighborhoods, and buildings. Although the
44
45 prominent assessment tools were initially developed for building sustainability assessment, the beginning of the
46 21st century, marked by the Agenda 2021, witnessed the expansion of the building assessment tools from a
47
48 single building evaluation to the scales of a neighborhood and the city. Popular assessment tools such as LEED
49
and BREEAM, developed in 1990 as the first American and European building assessment methods,
50
51 respectively, soon introduced certification tools and systems at the neighborhood level (Gargiulo et al., 2018).
52
Recently, the Asian and African regions are also witnessing a boom in NSA systems and the development of
53
54 new tools (Dawodu et al., 2019; Lai et al., 2018).
55
Various scholars recognize neighborhood as an appropriate scale for analyzing sustainable
56
57 development behavior (Hilley & Sim, 2020; Kumar et al., 2020; Lin & Shih, 2018; Moroke et al., 2020; Reyes
58
59 Nieto et al., 2018; Zumelzu & Barrientos-Trinanes, 2019). (Adewumi et al., 2019) mention three critical factors
60 causing the emergence of neighborhood-level assessment, i.e., the Agenda 2021 that required community
61
62 1
63
64
65
 involvement, the need for enlarging the scale from building-level assessment to a larger scale, and the increasing
1 recognition of the role of neighborhoods as building blocks of cities. According to scholars, the building-level
2
3 assessment is incapable of addressing the social and economic dimensions of sustainability (Ferwati et al.,
4 2019).
5
6 While the metrics and benchmarks in the prominent NSA tools are useful as they communicate the
7 complex sustainability issues and urban policy outcomes in an easy and simplified manner (Gargiulo et al.,
8
9 2018), these metrics are typically non-spatial and unable to identify the level of sustainability of various
10
locations and priority intervention points in a city (Pedro et al., 2019; Subramanian et al., 2021). Researchers
11
12 believe that proper spatial land use planning and governmental policies could increase human welfare and
13
sustainability in cities (Du et al., 2020). Scholars link urban form and morphology to achieving sustainability in
14
15 multiple dimensions, including economic, environmental, and social (Khatibi et al., 2023; Lai et al., 2018; Reza
16
17 Shirazi & Keivani, 2021). Moreover, the considerable rising urban population, especially in Asia, that has led to
18 compact and high-rise urban developments further stimulates the importance and increased interest in studying
19
20 the physical form of cities (Lai et al., 2018). Researchers are looking into various metrics for measuring urban
21 form and morphology and are developing new tools (Biljecki & Shin, 2022; Fleischmann et al., 2021). In fact,
22
23 since the early nineties, there has been an increase in theoretical and applied research on Spatial Decision
24 Support Systems, with a particular focus on combining GIS and multi-criteria models, owing to the need to
25
26 expand both systems' decision support capabilities (Pedro et al., 2019). This conforms with the more recent
27 conception of sustainability that promotes participative and human-oriented attitudes to address environmental
28
29 problems (Khatibi & Khaidzir, 2022). Subsequently, the 15-minute city concept has emerged as a human-scale-
30 based strategy for designing neighborhoods in cities (Khavarian-Garmsir et al., 2023). Thus, further
31
32 emphasizing the significance of socio-spatial methods that link spatial layouts with human activity patterns.
33 According to (Hasgül, 2015, p. 4), as defined by (Peponis,1997), a spatial configuration is “The
34
35 structure of potential movement and copresence as determined by the placement of boundaries in space and by
36 the connections and disconnections between areas that results from the presence of boundaries (Peponis,1997)”.
37
38 Space syntax is an attempt to develop a configurational concept in design (Dursun, 2007), and it is a geometric
39 analysis of the spatial configuration of a space (Hasgül, 2015). It provides objective and quantitative ways to
40
41 measure the characteristics of spatial configurations (Pongmas, 2004).
42
Space Syntax theory presents a space-led perspective to understanding and designing cities (Hillier &
43
44 Stonor, 2010). According to Hillier (2009), sustainability in cities can be affected by some generic arrangement
45
approaches of a city’s spatial structure, like its street network (Hillier, 2009). Space Syntax describes the
46
47 interaction between the form and function of a city; it provides a form-function theory of the city. The form of
48
cities is defined by a broad collection of buildings linked together by a complex spatial network, whereas the
49
50 network of movements, activities, and interactions defines the functions of a city. The spatial network of the
51
52 cities is defined through roads, streets, alleys, boulevards, etc. (Hillier & Stonor, 2010). The Space Syntax
53 theory, first developed by Bill Hillier and Julienne Hanson with their colleagues at University College London,
54
55 England, allows the representation of spatial configuration as an axial map and in its quantitative measurement
56 in several ways (Pongmas, 2004). Reis et al. (2016)’s review of spatial metrics identifies the syntax of space as
57
58 one of the subcategories of geospatial metrics along with other geospatial metrics such as density, land use
59 diversity, centrality, connectivity, etc.
60
61
62 2
63
64
65
 While the significance of density and land use to the development and assessment of sustainable
1 neighborhoods is frequently addressed in the literature (Bahadure & Kotharkar, 2015; Reza Shirazi & Keivani,
2
3 2021; Soltani et al., 2019), the importance of spatial configuration (especially using Space Syntax) for
4 sustainability assessment at the neighborhood scale has rarely been tackled before. More recently, Yamu et al.
5
6 (2021) provided a literature review of the space syntax literature for defining its concepts and empirical
7 application, concluding with the value it adds to creating sustainable cities (Yamu et al., 2021). Moreover,
8
9 literature review papers on the use and potential of Space Syntax in healthcare facilities research (Haq & Luo,
10
2012) and the geographic context of Poland also exist. However, a literature review on the use of space syntax
11
12 for sustainability assessment, especially at the neighborhood scale, remains a significant gap in the literature. A
13
VOSviewer keyword occurrence analysis and overlay visualization of literature on Space Syntax, retrieved from
14
15 the Scopus database and captured in Fig. 1, shows how Space Syntax methods for addressing sustainable
16
17 development and sustainability are recently flourished topics. Also, it shows the recent interest in associating
18 Space Syntax methods with research on social behavior, travel behavior, spatial integration, spatio-temporal
19
20 analysis, connectivity, walkability, neighborhoods, and city planning. Therefore, this study aims to review a set
21 of papers addressing neighborhood sustainability using Space Syntax methods as part of their assessment
22
23 strategy. The underlying goal is to explore the role of spatial configuration using Space Syntax methods for the
24 spatial assessment of sustainability in neighborhoods. The specific review questions are introduced in the
25
26 following section.
27 VOS viewer is a free software package developed by the University of Leiden. It uses text mining
28
29 methods to generate clustering maps by examining the networks of co-occurrences or co-citations of the terms
30 in various sources (Grazieschi et al., 2020; Tseng et al., 2020). As the significance of using Space Syntax to
31
32 explore the spatial features of a sustainable city is getting noticed (Yamu et al., 2021), we found it reasonable to
33 offer some general information (graphically) about the method. Consequently, Fig 2 shows the growing interest
34
35 in the Space Syntax method by showing the number of documents published yearly. Similarly, Fig. 3 and Fig. 4
36 provide the list of top authors and countries contributing to the knowledge, respectively.
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62 3
63
64
65
 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26 Fig. 1 Keyword Analysis (minimum no. of occurrence 10) of literature retrieved from Scopus on “Space Syntax”
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
Fig. 2 The number of documents published per year on Space Syntax Fig. 3 Key authors contributing to Space Syntax
46
47 knowledge
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62 4
63
64
65
 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12 Fig. 4 Key countries/territories contributing to Space Syntax knowledge
13
14
15
16
17 2. Materials and Method
18
19
20 As the goal of the paper is to identify research that uses Space Syntax for spatial assessment of
21
22 sustainability in neighborhoods, we defined a search string to retrieve relevant papers from a database. Among
23 different academic databases, Scopus was selected for its broad coverage of quality peer-reviewed research. The
24
25 search string is a combination of terms, including assess*, sustainab*, neighborhood, spatial, and Space Syntax.
26 The settings were set to identify the search terms in the title, abstract, or keywords of the papers. The following
27
28 is the exact search string used to search papers:
29 ( TITLE-ABS-
30
31 KEY ( spatial AND neighborhood AND sustainab* AND assess* ) ) AND ( "SPACE
32 SYNTAX" ) AND ( LIMIT-TO ( DOCTYPE , "ar" ) OR LIMIT-TO ( DOCTYPE , "cp" ) ) AND ( LIMIT-
33
34 TO ( LANGUAGE , "English" ) ) AND ( LIMIT-TO ( SRCTYPE , "j" ) OR LIMIT-
35 TO ( SRCTYPE , "p" ) )
36
37 A total of 11 articles were retrieved on Oct 2022; four papers were excluded due to irrelevance, i.e., not
38 using Space Syntax. However, a search into the reference list of the excluded articles identified three relevant
39
40 papers to the subject matter, which were included in the list of articles for review. This final set of 10 articles
41
and 3 more articles, identified through the first author’s research on neighborhood sustainability, were then
42
43 reviewed to answer the following questions.
44
45
46 The full text of the articles was studied to answer the following questions:
47
48
49 1. Which aspects of neighborhood sustainability are addressed in the article, and how is Space Syntax
50
51 used in the assessment process?
52 2. Which Space Syntax metrics are used to address the sustainability aspects in neighborhoods?
53
54 3. Are Space Syntax and spatial configuration measures used as a stand-alone method of assessment, or
55 whether other methods and assessment measures are used to support the sustainability assessment?
56
57 4. How do spatial configuration and Space Syntax measures contribute to the spatial assessment of
58 neighborhood sustainability, and what are the benefits and shortcomings of the Space Syntax Method?
59
60
61
62 5
63
64
65
 1
2 3. Results and Discussion
3
4
5 Our analysis revealed that out of the 13 reviewed articles, 12 of them used space syntax with a focus
6
7 on measuring a social aspect of sustainability. The measured aspects include vitality (3), accessibility (3),
8 spatial relationships of vernacular houses (for incorporating local heritage in future developments) and
9
10 promotion of social and cultural sustainability (1), street network, street liveliness, and street liveability (2),
11 spatial characteristics and crime (2), street network and socio-economic performance (1), and neighborhood
12
13 urban pattern and connectivity to its overall social sustainability (2). Table 1 provides the details of the 13
14 reviewed articles.
15
16 Maqsood and Zumelzu (2021) used Space Syntax for vitality and accessibility assessment with a
17
diversity measure to explore the quality of life in two Chilean neighborhoods. In another paper, Zumelzu
18
19 and Barrientos-Trinanes (2019) measured neighborhood vitality levels using Space Syntax to understand
20
how the morphological factors trigger the vitality levels. Similarly, another article measures vitality at two
21
22 different scales in two LEED-ND-certified neighborhoods. A composite measure of density, diversity, and
23
24 accessibility is used at the neighborhood scale, and the Space Syntax Visibility Graph Analysis (VGA)
25 measures of Connectivity, Integration, and Through Vision are used at the street scale (Martino et al.,
26
27 2019).
28 Dharmasthala et al. (2021), on the other hand, interrogate street liveability in an Australian city by
29
30 assessing the degree of integration, connectivity, and tree visibility (VGA) using Space Syntax in relation to
31 the streetscape features (% sky, building, and trees) and the community profiles. However, Li et al. (2017)
32
33 assess the quality of the street network in Hankou (China) at three different scales, i.e., city, district, and
34 community. Integration and Choice measures are used for the district scale assessment, while VGA
35
36 Integration analyzes the street network at the community scale. Moreover, street network Integration using
37 Space Syntax is jointly used with the building density and land use mixture measures by Ye and Nes (2014)
38
39 to reveal how urban form impacts the socio-economic performance in the towns of the Netherlands.
40 Researchers, namely (López & Nes, 2007) and (Baran et al., 2007), used Space Syntax to measure the
41
42 spatial characteristics of the streets and how they relate to the distribution and occurrence of criminal cases
43 (i.e., burglary, auto theft, robbery, and larceny).
44
45 Further, Al-Jokhadar and Jabi (2017) present a topological analysis of the neighborhoods and
46 vernacular houses in the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region using various measures, including
47
48 the Space Syntax measures, to create a model for guiding the high-rise design in MENA.
49
Soltani et al. (2019), Alipour and Galal Ahmed (2021), and M.R. Shirazi et al. (2020) use Space Syntax
50
51 as part of a comprehensive tool for social sustainability assessment. Soltani et al. (2019) measure
52
Intelligibility (i.e., the correlation between connectivity and integration) to study how it mediates the impact
53
54 of density on social aspects. Alipour and Galal Ahmed (2021) use Integration and Depth measures to
55
measure the spatial connectivity of a neighborhood, its street network, and the mobility network,
56
57 respectively. The paper uses computational and quantitative measures of spatial urban form to assess
58
59 neighborhood social sustainability. Finally, Shirazi et al. (2020) use Space Syntax to analyze the
60 connectivity level of a neighborhood’s street network using the Choice measure. It measures the
61
62 6
63
64
65
 connectivity indicator as part of a tripartite framework for assessing the social sustainability in a London
1 neighborhood.
2
3 The above-mentioned analysis conforms with the main interest of Space syntax, which lies in the
4 relationship between space and society (Dursun, 2007; Yamu et al., 2021). For example, vitality, liveliness,
5
6 crime, and socio-economic all frame the life and condition of people in a society. According to Dursun
7 (2007), space syntax is an attempt to understand how spatial configurations generate social interactions and
8
9 express cultural and social meaning.
10
However, the link between spatial configuration and environmental sustainability is a more recent
11
12 advancement and a rarely tackled topic in the literature. Out of the 13 reviewed articles, only one used
13
space syntax for the assessment of spatial properties in street networks with a focus on environmental
14
15 sustainability, i.e., the carbon emission in a city (Rokseth et al., 2019). Consequently, in recent literature,
16
17 street network configuration is linked with transport energy consumption. It is believed that spatial
18 configurations can enhance cycling, walking, and using public transportation, thus reducing energy use
19
20 generated through car dependency (Yamu et al., 2021).
21
22
23 Table 1 List of reviewed papers with the Space Syntax metrics and the aspect of Sustainability measured
24
25 Title Author Country Space Syntax Measure Focus on
26
27 (Year) Sustainability
28 Aspect
29
30 Assessing Sustainable Urban (Maqsood & Chile People Following Accessibility
31 form in Social Housing Zumelzu, Gate Method and Static Vitality
32
33 Neighbourhoods: Two cases in 2021) Snapshot Method
34 Southern Chile
35
36 Analysis of the effects of urban (Zumelzu & Chile Gate Method Vitality
37
form on neighborhood vitality: Barrientos- Static Snapshot Method
38
39 five cases in Valdivia, Southern Trinanes,
40
41 Chile 2019)
42 Applying the vernacular model (Al-Jokhadar United Connectivity Socio-Cultural
43
44 to high-rise residential & Jabi, Kingdom Integration Value Sustainability
45 development in the Middle East 2017) Control Value in Vernacular
46
47 and North Africa houses
48
49
50 Properties of urban form (Rokseth et Norway Maximum Space Syntax Street
51 influencing carbon emissions: al., 2019) Global Integration Connectivity-
52
53 Implementing a GIS-based Intersection density Carbon
54 Method Emission
55
56 Urban and Suburban Legacies: (Martino et Brazil Isovist Area/ Street Vitality
57
Space, Form and Urban Vitality al., 2019) Connectivity (visible
58
59 space)
60
61
62 7
63
64
65
 in Two LEED- Integration (movable
1 ND Certified Olympic Villages space)
2
3 Through Vision
4
(movable space) (The
5
6 amount of times a cell is
7
passed when moving
8
9 through all the possible
10
origin- destinations in the
11
12 system)
13
14 Assessment of lively street (Li et al., China VGA (Visual Liveliness of
15 network based on geographic 2017) Integration) Street network
16
17 information system and space Integration
18 syntax Choice
19
20 Space And Crime in Dutch (López & Netherland Global integration Security, Crime
21 Built Environments: Nes, 2007) Local Integration
22
23 macro and micro scale spatial Area Integration
24
conditions for residential Integration Gradient
25
26 burglaries and thefts from cars Control
27
28 Local Angular
29 Integration (to identify
30
31 the main routes through
32 the cities)
33
34 Topological depth from
35 the main routes
36
37 Street Connectivity
38
Segment Connectivity
39
40 Quantitative tools in urban (Ye & Nes, Netherland Street network Socio-
41
42 morphology: combining space 2014) integration using angular economic
43 syntax, spacematrix and mixed- analyses with both Performance
44
45 use index in a GIS framework topological and metric
46 radii
47
48 The Space Syntax and Crime: (Baran et al., United Global Integration Vitality and
49 evidence from a suburban 2007) States Connectivity Crime
50
51 community
52 Investigating the Social Impacts (Soltani et Australia Angular segment Accessibility
53
54 of High-Density al., 2019) analysis (Normalized
55 Neighbourhoods Through angular choice NACH)
56
57 Spatial Analysis Angular segment
58
analysis (Normalized
59
60
61
62 8
63
64
65
 angular integration
1 NAIN)
2
3 Intelligibility (Pearson
4
correlation between the
5
6 connectivity and
7
integration values)
8
9 Assessing the effect of urban (Alipour & UAE Integration Neighborhood
10
11 form on social sustainability: a Galal Integration and
12 proposed ‘Integrated Measuring Ahmed, Connectivity
13
14 Tools Method’ for urban 2021) Step Depth analysis Mobility (Bus
15 neighborhoods in Dubai stop distances)
16
17 Promoting Social Sustainability (Shirazi et UK Choice Spatial
18 of Urban Neighbourhoods: The al., 2020) connectivity
19
20 Case of Bethnal Green, London
21 Are high distributed (Dharmastha Australia Global Integration Street
22
23 streetscapes also located in the la et al., Liveability
Connectivity
24
high social interaction streets? 2021)
25
A Space syntax approach on Visibility Graph
26
27 Analysis
street liveability assessment
28
29
30
31
32
33
34 In terms of the metrics of assessment, the most frequently used metric for measuring spatial configuration in the
35 reviewed papers was integration, followed by connectivity, choice, depth, and control (Table 2). The analysis
36
37 conforms with Reis et al.(2016)’s study of spatial metrics that introduced Integration and Connectivity as the
38 most frequent syntax of space metrics (Reis et al., 2016) (Fig. 1). Form and morphology define a critical
39
40 component of a sustainable neighborhood (Khatibi et al., 2023). The physical and spatial form of a
41 neighborhood brings a variety of opportunities and social experiences to its residents, affecting their quality of
42
43 life (Alipour & Galal Ahmed, 2021; Lai et al., 2018). Besides, spatial configuration acts as an underlying
44 structure (Hillier & Stonor, 2010), believed to influence the degree of densification, land use mixes, movement
45
46 flows through the street networks, and economic activity dispersion in cities (de Koning et al., 2020). According
47 to (de Koning et al., 2020), Integration is one of the best space syntax measures for capturing spatial
48
49 configuration. It is worth mentioning that space syntax uses the concept of centrality, measuring the to-
50 movement and through-movement potentials of every street segment in relation to all other segments. The to-
51
52 movement potential is defined as closeness, i.e., the potential as a destination and how easy it is to get to the
53
destination, whereas the through-movement potential is defined as betweenness, i.e., the potential as a route and
54
55 how likely it is to pass through the route (Hillier, 2009; Hillier & Stonor, 2010; Yamu et al., 2021). For
56
example, Integration measures the to-movement potential of a street or space, while Choice can measure its
57
58 through-movement potential.
59
60
61
62 9
63
64
65
 1 Improved concepts and measures of spatial configuration are also introduced to Space Syntax since its
2
3 development in the 1970s. Normalized angular choice (NACH) and Normalized angular integration (NAIN)
4 are among these improved measures (Yamu et al., 2021), used in one of the reviewed papers to measure
5
6 accessibility in high-density neighborhoods (Soltani et al., 2019).
7
8
9 Table 2 Definitions of the common metrics in the study (Syntax of Space measures)
10
11
12 Metric Definition
13 Integration Integration measures the to-movement potential of a street/space, i.e., it estimates
14
15 how easy is it to access a space from all the other spaces in the system
16 (Abdelraheem, 2010; Yamu et al., 2021). It defines “the average depth from one
17
18 space to all the other spaces in a system” (Al-jokhadar & Jabi, 2017).
19
20
21 Connectivity Connectivity, a static local measure, is explained as the number of connections each
22 street/space has with its directly neighboring streets/spaces. The higher the number
23
24 of connections, the higher a space’s connectivity (Al-Jokhadar & Jabi, 2017; Yamu
25 et al., 2021).
26
27
28 Choice Choice measures the through-movement potential in an urban system. It is used to
29
30 evaluate “to what extent a given street belongs to the shortest-path between any
31
pairs of two streets” (Li et al., 2017, p. 17805). That is, the choice of a street refers
32
33 to the number of times we pass the street when traveling through all the shortest-
34
path from street to street (Li et al., 2017).
35
36
37
38 Depth Depth is measured as the number of steps (spaces) that need to be passed through
39 from a starting point in an urban system (Yamu et al., 2021).
40
41
42 Control Control concerns the degree of a space’s control on access to its direct neighbors
43
44 accounting for the number of alternative connections the neighbors provide (Al-
45 Jokhadar & Jabi, 2017). “It is the sum of the reciprocal of the connectivity of its
46
47 neighbours” (Abdelraheem, 2010, p. 15)
48
49
50
51
52
53 Moreover, three observational metrics were also used in two of our reviewed papers. These metrics deal with
54
observing human behavior in space and are considered part of the space syntax analysis; they also correlate with
55
56 the syntax of space metrics (Yamu et al., 2021). (Maqsood & Zumelzu, 2021) used the People Following
57
method for accessibility, and (Maqsood & Zumelzu, 2021; Zumelzu & Barrientos-Trinanes, 2019) used the Gate
58
59 method and Static Snapshot method for measuring vitality. Additionally, it is also possible to use the
60
61
62 10
63
64
65
 observational and the common Space Syntax measures in a single study. For example, (Syed Mahdzar et al.,
1 2017) use the Gate Method and the Integration analysis to propose a better transit stop planning for the city of
2
3 Pasir Gudang in Johor, Malaysia. Table 3 defines these observational metrics.
4
5
Table 3 Definitions of the observational metrics in the study
6
7
8 Metric Definition Measurement of
9
People Following This technique allows observing the movement of pedestrians, Accessibility
10
11 or Snail Trailing i.e. their movement pattern from a specific location, the
12
average distance they walk and move from that location, and
13
14 the relationship that route has with other routes in the
15
16 particular area. The technique can be performed with GPS
17 (global positioning system) tracking or manually (Syed
18
19 Mahdzar, 2013; Yamu et al., 2021).
20 Gate Method or Gate Method observes the occupation intensity of an urban Vitality
21
22 Gate Counts area; it counts the number of pedestrians, motorized vehicles,
23 and cyclists passing through an imaginary line on the streets.
24
25 known as the gate. The method provides evidence that highly
26 integrated streets have higher occupation intensity than
27
28 segregated streets (Syed Mahdzar, 2013; Zumelzu &
29 Barrientos-Trinanes, 2019).
30
31
32 Static Snapshot The Static Snapshot technique observes the usage pattern and Vitality
33
34 Method activities of people in a static moment within a short time
35
period by walking around the space (Syed Mahdzar, 2013;
36
37 Zumelzu & Barrientos-Trinanes, 2019).
38
39
40 It is worth mentioning that only two of the thirteen reviewed papers used Space Syntax as a stand-alone
41
42 method for the assessment of urban form in the neighborhood. These include Li et al. (2017)’s study of
43 street liveliness and the study of space and crime by López and Nes (2007). The rest of the papers combined
44
45 space syntax metrics with other important measures to study different aspects of sustainability in
46
neighborhoods. For example, to study the quality of life in two Chilean neighborhoods, Maqsood and
47
48 Zumelzu (2021) measured the diversity of the urban form through its typology, land use mix, and
49
population density, along with the space syntax metrics that were used to measure accessibility and vitality.
50
51 Similarly, for measuring the urban form features that influence carbon emissions, Rokseth et al. (2019)
52
53 measured a couple of metrics, including population density and land use diversity together with street
54 connectivity through space syntax. The two important metrics of land use and density were again combined
55
56 with space syntax metrics by Martino et al. (2019) to study vitality in two neighborhoods in Brazil. Ye and
57 Nes, 2014 also used land use and density measures along with the integration metric of space syntax to
58
59 study the socio-economic performance of the neighborhoods. However, their study focused on combining
60 the three metrics into a single method using GIS (Ye & Nes, 2014). Consequently, Alipour and Galal
61
62 11
63
64
65
 Ahmed (2021) and Shirazi et al. (2020) defined several urban form measures as part of their frameworks for
1 assessing social sustainability in urban neighborhoods, including measures of spatial configuration using
2
3 Space Syntax, density, and land use mix. Therefore, this points not only to the importance of using land use
4 and density measures with spatial configuration measures for the sustainability assessment of
5
6 neighborhoods (as confirmed in previous studies) (Khatibi et al., 2023) but also to the limitation of the
7 Space Syntax method in measuring these aspects of sustainable urban form and morphology.
8
9
10
11
12
13 4. Conclusion
14 This paper aims to review literature that uses Space Syntax for measuring sustainability in neighborhoods to
15
16 contribute to the Spatial assessment (specifically, Spatial Configuration) of sustainability in neighborhoods. The
17
review finds that linking spatial configuration to the issue of sustainability and sustainable development,
18
19 especially in the neighborhood context, is a relatively new concept. This argument is not only confirmed by Fig.
20
1 but also through the papers retrieved from the Scopus database, published only after 2017, except for the three
21
22 articles identified through the list of references (as discussed earlier), i.e., the papers by López and Nes, 2007;
23
24 Ye and Nes, 2014; Baran et al., 2007. Moreover, we also found that spatial configuration and the Space Syntax
25 measures are related to several neighborhood sustainability factors, such as security, vitality, accessibility,
26
27 walkability, carbon emissions, and sociocultural and socio-economic performance. However, though the social
28 and economic issues have usually been addressed through Space Syntax metrics, linking spatial configuration
29
30 and Space Syntax to environmental sustainability, such as carbon emissions and energy consumption, is a more
31 recent research topic. According to (Yamu et al., 2021), the spatial structure of streets or street network
32
33 configuration in an urban environment through its influence on pedestrian movement and use of sustainable
34 transport options (e.g., walking, cycling, public transport) significantly contributes to the concept of a
35
36 sustainable city. Likewise, previous research has also proved the significance of physical form in supporting
37 sustainable transportation. For example, (Ewing et al., 2014) addressed the influence of the 5Ds of a built
38
39 environment (i.e., density, diversity, design, destination accessibility, and distance to transit) to travel behavior
40 outcomes in 15 diverse neighborhoods in the United States. Despite this, linking the to-movement and through-
41
42 movement potential of the street network configuration using Space Syntax to the transport energy consumption
43 is a new topic tackled by (de Koning et al., 2020). The research identifies nine typologies of spatial
44
45 configurations in communities to reduce the transport energy usage of private vehicles.
46 Moreover, the review also infers the importance of combining spatial configuration measures, e.g.,
47
48 integration and connectivity, with other spatial measures, such as density and land use mix. It conforms with
49
Charalambous and Mavridou (2012)’s discussion of the criticism of Space Syntax methods. According to
50
51 (Charalambous & Mavridou, 2012), the Space Syntax method does not account for the three-dimensional
52
geometry of the built environment, i.e., it analyzes a street with no building the same way as a street with a high-
53
54 rise building. Moreover, the method does not differentiate between commercial and residential land use.
55
Therefore, in light of this discussion, one can argue that combining spatial configuration metrics with other
56
57 spatial metrics that represent land use mix and density may provide a holistic spatial assessment of
58
59 neighborhood sustainability. However, on the other hand, according to (Yamu et al., 2021), as argued by Dalton
60 et al. (2015), there is only a minor mismatch between what respondents claimed to have seen in real life (3D)
61
62 12
63
64
65
 and the outcomes of a 2D visual graph study. Also, the Space Syntax theory of natural urban transformations
1 states that the spatial configuration of the street network influences the degree of land use mix and density in
2
3 urban environments (de Koning et al., 2020, p. 4). In brief, while some have addressed the limitations of the
4 Space Syntax method, others have debated its robustness as an analytical tool and its highly effective connection
5
6 between theory and practice.
7 As with every research, our paper also has its limitations. Our research is limited to the sources
8
9 obtained through a search in the Scopus database by using a specific set of keywords and reviewing the journal
10
articles and conference papers published by researchers. However, future research can study the spatial
11
12 configuration of a street network in a particular neighborhood and study its impact on some well-accepted
13
sustainability criteria, such as accessibility, affordability, environmental quality, density, mixed land use,
14
15 presence of green spaces, vitality, safety, and energy performance (Khatibi et al., 2023).
16
17
18
19
20 5. Declaration of Interests
21
22 The authors declare no competing interests.
23
24
25
26
27
28 6. Data availability statement
29 The datasets analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on
30
31 reasonable request.
32
33
34
35
36 7. References
37
38 Abdelraheem, A. (2010). Chapter Three: Bill Hillier Mapping Method: Basis of Space Syntax Technique.
39 Center of Planning and Architectural Studies (CPAS). https://cpas-
40
41 egypt.com/publication/journal_article/spatial-conditions-for-sustainable-communitiesthe-case-of-
42
informal-settlements-in-gcr/
43
44 Adewumi, A. S., Onyango, V., Moyo, D., & AlWaer, H. (2019). A review of selected neighbourhood
45
sustainability assessment frameworks using the Bellagio STAMP. International Journal of Building
46
47 Pathology and Adaptation, 37(1). https://doi.org/10.1108/IJBPA-07-2018-0055
48
Al-jokhadar, A., & Jabi, W. (2017). APPLYING THE VERNACULAR MODEL TO HIGH-RISE RESIDENTIAL
49
50 DEVELOPMENT IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH The Concept of ‘ Sustainable Vertical Cities .’
51
52 11(2), 175–189.
53 Al-Jokhadar, A., & Jabi, W. (2017). Applying the vernacular model to high-rise residential development in the
54
55 Middle East and North Africa. Archnet-IJAR, 11(2), 175–189. https://doi.org/10.26687/archnet-
56 ijar.v11i2.1254
57
58 Alipour, S. M. H., & Galal Ahmed, K. (2021). Assessing the effect of urban form on social sustainability: a
59 proposed ‘Integrated Measuring Tools Method’ for urban neighborhoods in Dubai. City, Territory and
60
61
62 13
63
64
65
 Architecture, 8(1), 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40410-020-00129-4
1 Bahadure, S., & Kotharkar, R. (2015). Assessing sustainability of mixed use neighbourhoods through residents’
2
3 travel behaviour and perception: The case of Nagpur, India. Sustainability (Switzerland), 7(9), 12164–
4 12189. https://doi.org/10.3390/su70912164
5
6 Baran, P. K., Smith, W. R., & Toker, U. (2007). The Space Syntax and Crime: Evidence from a Suburban
7 Community. 6th International Space Syntax Symposium, Istanbul, 119:02-119:06.
8
9 Biljecki, F., & Shin, Y. (2022). Global Building Morphology Indicators. Computers, Environment and Urban
10
Systems, 95(101809), 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1016/0198-9715(83)90008-x
11
12 Charalambous, N., & Mavridou, M. (2012). Space Syntax: Spatial Integration Accessibility and Angular
13
Segment Analysis by Metric Distance (ASAMeD). Angela Hull, Cecília Silva and Luca Bertolini (Eds.)
14
15 Accessibility Instruments for Planning Practice, 57–62. http://www.accessibilityplanning.eu/wp-
16
17 content/uploads/2013/01/3-ASAMeD-R.pdf
18 Dawodu, A., Cheshmehzangi, A., & Williams, A. (2019). Expert-initiated integrated approach to the
19
20 development of sustainability indicators for neighbourhood sustainability assessment tools: An African
21 perspective. Journal of Cleaner Production, 240. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.117759
22
23 de Koning, R., Tan, W. G. Z., & Van Nes, A. (2020). Assessing spatial configurations and transport energy
24 usage for planning sustainable communities. Sustainability (Switzerland), 12(19).
25
26 https://doi.org/10.3390/su12198146
27 Dharmasthala, S., Sun, Q., & Langenheim, N. (2021). Are high distributed streetscapes also located in the high
28
29 social interaction streets ? A Space syntax approach on street liveability assessment. 28th International
30 Conference on Geoinformatics. https://doi.org/10.1109/IEEECONF54055.2021.9687512
31
32 Du, M., Zhao, M., & Fu, Y. (2020). Revisiting urban sustainability from access to jobs: Assessment of
33 economic gain versus loss of social equity. Environmental Impact Assessment Review, 85(106456), 1–12.
34
35 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eiar.2020.106456
36 Dursun, P. (2007). Space Syntax in Architectural Design. 6th International Space Syntax Symposium, İstanbul,
37
38 1–12. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/228646158
39 Ewing, R., Tian, G., Goates, J. P., Zhang, M., Greenwald, M. J., Joyce, A., Kircher, J., & Greene, W. (2014).
40
41 Varying influences of the built environment on household travel in 15 diverse regions of the United
42
States. Urban Studies, 52(13), 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042098014560991
43
44 Ferwati, M. S., Al Saeed, M., Shafaghat, A., & Keyvanfar, A. (2019). Qatar Sustainability Assessment System
45
(QSAS)-Neighborhood Development (ND) Assessment Model: Coupling green urban planning and green
46
47 building design. Journal of Building Engineering, 22, 171–180. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jobe.2018.12.006
48
Fleischmann, M., Romice, O., & Porta, S. (2021). Measuring urban form: Overcoming terminological
49
50 inconsistencies for a quantitative and comprehensive morphologic analysis of cities. Environment and
51
52 Planning B: Urban Analytics and City Science, 48(8), 2133–2150.
53 https://doi.org/10.1177/2399808320910444
54
55 Gargiulo, C., Sforza, A., Sterle, C., & Zucaro, F. (2018). An optimization model fitting the neighborhood
56 sustainability assessment tools. Sustainability (Switzerland), 10(10). https://doi.org/10.3390/su10103365
57
58 Grazieschi, G., Asdrubali, F., & Guattari, C. (2020). Neighbourhood sustainability: State of the art, critical
59 review and space-temporal analysis. Sustainable Cities and Society, 63(September), 1–17.
60
61
62 14
63
64
65
 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2020.102477
1 Haq, S., & Luo, Y. (2012). Space Syntax in Healthcare Facilities Research : A Review. HerdJournal, 5(4), 98–
2
3 117.
4 Hasgül, E. (2015). Space As Configuration: Patterns of Space. ARCHTHEO 2015: 9th Theory and History of
5
6 Architecture Conference, 13.
7 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/335910605_Space_As_Configuration_Patterns_of_Space
8
9 Hilley, J., & Sim, S. (2020). Context-based neighborhood sustainability assessment in Birmingham, Alabama.
10
Sustainability (Switzerland), 12(9426), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12229426
11
12 Hillier, B. (2009). Spatial Sustainability in Cities Organic Patterns and Sustainable Forms. Proceedings of the
13
7th International Space Syntax Symposium, 1–20. http://eprints.ucl.ac.uk/18538/
14
15 Hillier, B., & Stonor, Ti. (2010). Space Syntax: Strategic Urban Design. City Planning Institute of Japan, 284.
16
17 https://www.cpij.or.jp/eng/file/hillier.pdf
18 Khatibi, M., & Khaidzir, K. A. M. (2022). Toward a Value-Driven Framework for Built Environment
19
20 Sustainability: Investigating the Recent Developments through the Design Paradigm. The International
21 Journal of Design Management and Professional Practice, 16(1), 19–35.
22
23 https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.18848/2325-162X/CGP/v16i01/19-35
24 Khatibi, M., Khaidzir, K. A. M., & Syed Mahdzar, S. S. (2023). Measuring the Sustainability of Neighborhoods:
25
26 A Systematic Literature Review. IScience, 143747. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2023.105951
27 Khavarian-Garmsir, A. R., Sharifi, A., & Sadeghi, A. (2023). The 15-minute city: Urban planning and design
28
29 efforts toward creating sustainable neighborhoods. Cities, 132(November 2022), 104101.
30 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2022.104101
31
32 Kumar, S., Santara, A., & Banerji, H. (2020). Pentagram Sustainability Model. International Review for Spatial
33 Planning and Sustainable Development, 8(2), 100–117. https://doi.org/10.14246/irspsda.8.2_100
34
35 Lai, P. C., Chen, S., Low, C. T., Cerin, E., Stimson, R., & Wong, P. Y. P. (2018). Neighborhood variation of
36 sustainable urban morphological characteristics. International Journal of Environmental Research and
37
38 Public Health, 15(3). https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph15030465
39 Li, X., Lv, Z., Zheng, Z., Zhong, C., Hijazi, I. H., & Cheng, S. (2017). Assessment of lively street network
40
41 based on geographic information system and space syntax. In Multimedia Tools and Applications (Vol.
42
76, Issue 17, pp. 17801–17819). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11042-015-3095-2
43
44 Lin, K. W., & Shih, C. M. (2018). The comparative analysis of neighborhood sustainability assessment tool.
45
Environment and Planning B: Urban Analytics and City Science, 45(1), 90–105.
46
47 https://doi.org/10.1177/0265813516667299
48
López, M. J. J., & Nes, A. van. (2007). Space And Crime in Dutch Built Environments: macro and micro scale
49
50 spatial conditions for residential burglaries and thefts from cars. Proceedings, 6th International Space
51
52 Syntax Symposium, İstanbul.
53 Maqsood, M., & Zumelzu, A. (2021). Assessing sustainable Urban form in social housing Neighbourhoods:
54
55 Two cases in Southern Chile | Evaluación de la sostenibilidad de forma Urbana en conjuntos de Vivienda
56 social: Dos casos en el sur de Chile. Revista de Urbanismo, 44, 149–165. https://doi.org/10.5354/0717-
57
58 5051.2021.54756
59 Martino, N., Trigueiro, E., Girling, C., Martins, M., & Lira, F. (2019). Urban and suburban legacies: Space,
60
61
62 15
63
64
65
 form and urban vitality in two LEED-ND certified olympic villages. 12th International Space Syntax
1 Symposium, July.
2
3 Moroke, T., Schoeman, C., & Schoeman, I. (2020). Neighbourhood sustainability assessment model for
4 developing countries: A comprehensive approach to urban quality of life. International Journal of
5
6 Sustainable Development and Planning, 15(1), 107–123. https://doi.org/10.2495/SDP-V15-N1-107-123
7 Pedro, J., Silva, C., & Pinheiro, M. D. (2019). Integrating GIS spatial dimension into BREEAM communities
8
9 sustainability assessment to support urban planning policies, Lisbon case study. Land Use Policy,
10
83(September 2018), 424–434. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2019.02.003
11
12 Pongmas, N. (2004). Configuration of Public Space and Social Sustainability. Graduate Faculty of Texas Tech
13
University.
14
15 Reis, J. P., Silva, E. A., & Pinho, P. (2016). Spatial metrics to study urban patterns in growing and shrinking
16
17 cities. Urban Geography, 37(2), 246–271. https://doi.org/10.1080/02723638.2015.1096118
18 Reyes Nieto, J. E., Rigueiro, C., Simões da Silva, L., & Murtinho, V. (2018). Urban Integrated Sustainable
19
20 Assessment Methodology for Existing Neighborhoods (UISA fEN), a New Approach for Promoting
21 Sustainable Development. Sustainable Development, 26(6), 564–587. https://doi.org/10.1002/sd.1720
22
23 Reza Shirazi, M., & Keivani, R. (2021). Social sustainability of compact neighbourhoods evidence from london
24 and berlin. Sustainability (Switzerland), 13(4), 1–20. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13042340
25
26 Rokseth, L., Manum, B., & Nordstöm, T. (2019). Properties of urban form influencing carbon emissions:
27 Implementing a GIS-based method. 12th International Space Syntax Symposium, 1–16.
28
29 Shirazi, M. R., Keivani, R., Brownill, S., & Butina Watson, G. (2020). Promoting Social Sustainability of Urban
30 Neighbourhoods: The Case of Bethnal Green, London. International Journal of Urban and Regional
31
32 Research, 46(3), 1–25. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-2427.12946
33 Soltani, S., Gu, N., Paniagua, J. O., Sivam, A., & McGinley, T. (2019). Investigating the Social Impacts of
34
35 High-Density Neighbourhoods Through Spatial Analysis. In Communications in Computer and
36 Information Science (Vol. 1028). Springer Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-8410-3_19
37
38 Subramanian, K., Chopra, S. S., Cakin, E., Liu, J., & Xu, Z. (2021). Advancing neighbourhood sustainability
39 assessment by accounting for sustainable development goals: A case study of Sha Tin neighbourhood in
40
41 Hong Kong. Sustainable Cities and Society, 66, 1–38. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2020.102649
42
Syed Mahdzar, S. S. (2013). Streets for people: Sustaining accessible and sociable streets in Pasir Gudang City
43
44 Centre. Proceedings of the Ninth International Space Syntax Symposium, 1–18.
45
Syed Mahdzar, S. S., Saari, N. S., & Jaberolansar, S. (2017). Planning Integrated Stop Transit for Pedestrian
46
47 Using Space Syntax Analysis Case Study: Pasir Gudang City. 14th International Congress of Asian
48
Planning School Association 2017, Asia: Reshaping Urban & Rural Development through Planning,
49
50 Beijing, China, October, 1–9.
51
52 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/320947648_Planning_Integrated_Stop_Transit_for_Pedestrian_
53 Using_Space_Syntax_Analysis_Case_Study_Pasir_Gudang_City
54
55 Tseng, M. L., Chang, C. H., Lin, C. W. R., Wu, K. J., Chen, Q., Xia, L., & Xue, B. (2020). Future trends and
56 guidance for the triple bottom line and sustainability: a data driven bibliometric analysis. In
57
58 Environmental Science and Pollution Research (Vol. 27, Issue 27, pp. 33543–33567). Springer.
59 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-09284-0
60
61
62 16
63
64
65
 Yamu, C., van Nes, A., & Garau, C. (2021). Bill hillier’s legacy: Space syntax—a synopsis of basic concepts,
1 measures, and empirical application. Sustainability (Switzerland), 13(6).
2
3 https://doi.org/10.3390/su13063394
4 Ye, Y., & Nes, A. Van. (2014). Quantitative tools in urban morphology: Combining space syntax, spacematrix
5
6 and mixed-use index in a GIS framework. Urban Morphology, 18(2), 97–118.
7 Zumelzu, A., & Barrientos-Trinanes, M. (2019). Analysis of the effects of urban form on neighborhood vitality:
8
9 five cases in Valdivia, Southern Chile. Journal of Housing and the Built Environment, 34(3), 897–925.
10
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10901-019-09694-8
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62 17
63
64
65