EFFECTIVENESS OF SPACE SYNTAX IN THE DESIGN OF URBAN PARKS : A CRITICAL ANALYSIS

Abstract

This study aims to critically analyze the effectiveness of using Space Syntax software for designing and analyzing urban parks. The first part of the study gives an overview of the theoretical base of Space Syntax and also introduces the term urban parks. This section focus on the various basic understanding of space in the conceptual development of the software. The second part of the study is the literature review examining in more detail the different concepts and methods in Space Syntax analysis. The study also looks into the limitations and inconsistencies of Space Syntax methods as discussed by experts. The third part defines a hypothesis to identify the key areas of application of the software and also the utility of software in designing different qualitative parameters of an urban park. The hypothesis is then tested by critically analyzing two case studies of urban parks where Space Syntax is applied to analyze the different parameters in the design of an urban park as defined in the hypothesis. The fourth and the last part constitute the discussion of the potentials and limitations of Space Syntax based on the analysis of the case studies relating to the hypothesis structure. The study ends with re-examining the effectiveness of Space Syntax as a tool in the process of design and in the qualitative analysis of the design parameters of an urban park.