This study investigates the theoretical causal relationships among neighborhood built environments, social capital and social sustainability using structural equation modeling (SEM), through a case study in Seoul, Korea. The dataset consisted of responses from a questionnaire survey completed by 500 respondents. Neighborhood built environments were also objectively measured by GIS analysis, using a 250-m buffer based on the home addresses of the respondents. A total of four latent variables of the neighborhood physical environments were used in the model: perceived neighborhood environment, characteristics of the residential area, land use diversity and accessibility to parks and sport facilities. Respondents' demographic and socioeconomic characteristics were also considered in the model. The results of the analysis indicate that there is a statistically significant causal relationship among neighborhood physical environment, social capital and social sustainability. The results also suggest that neighborhood-level spatial and non-spatial factors can influence the formation of social capital that affects social sustainability. Moreover, this result indicates the possibility that urban spatial planning can play a critical role in social issues.
This study combined space syntax metrics and geographic information systems (GIS)-based built-environment measures to analyze pedestrian volume in different land-use zones, as recorded in unique public data from a pedestrian volume survey of 10,000 locations in Seoul, Korea. The results indicate that most of the built-environment variables, such as density, land use, accessibility, and street design measures, showed statistically significant associations with pedestrian volume. Among the syntactic variables, global integration showed a statistically significant association with the average pedestrian volume in residential and commercial zones. In contrast, local integration turned out to be an important factor in the commercial zone. Therefore, this study concludes that the syntactic variables of global and local integration, as well as some built-environment variables, should be considered as determinant factors of pedestrian volume, though the effects of those variables varied by land-use zone. Therefore, planning and public policies should use tailored approaches to promote urban vitality through pedestrian volume in accordance with each land-use zone’s characteristics.
Many cities around the world have experienced fast urbanization with suburban development. The organic urban forms of old towns or existing city centers have been extended with modern grid systems. However, little research has been conducted to identify the impact of modern grid forms on the organic urban structure in the city center. This study aims to examine the transformation of urban morphology using space syntax for the case study of Barcelona, Spain, which is an ideal case city because of its organic city center surrounded by an orthogonal urban system.The result showed that at the car-oriented global scale, the city center area with an organic urban form loses its importance in terms of space syntax indexes such as choice and integration values. However, the organic structure becomes more important at the pedestrian-oriented local scale. Furthermore, adding the grid structure to the original organic form increases the relative importance of the organic form in Barcelona's city center. This finding indicates that a grid system and an organic form are not in opposition to each other, but can instead be complementary. This study implies that the integration between organic form and grid system is very important and necessary for urban regeneration in many cities.
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