Linking urban design to sustainability: formal indicators of social urban sustainability field research in Perth, Western Australia

Abstract

The making of a livable urban community is a complex endeavor. For much of the 20th Century planners and engineers believed that modern and rational decision-making would create successful cities. Today, political leaders across the globe are considering ways to promote sustainable development and the concepts of New Urbanism are making their way from the drawing board to the ground. While much has changed in the world, the creation of a successful street is as much of an art today as it was in the 1960s.Our work seeks to investigate 'street life' in cities as a crucial factor towards community success. What are the components of the neighborhood and street form that contributes to the richness of street life? To answer this question we rely on the literature. The aim of the Formal Indicators of Social Urban Sustainability study is to measure the formal components of a neighborhood and street that theorists have stated important in promoting sustainability. This paper will describe how this concept helps to bridge urban design and sustainability. It will describe the tool and show how this was applied in a comparative assessment of Joondalup and Fremantle, two urban centers in the Perth metropolitan area. URBAN DESIGN International (2005) 10, 51-64.

Leveraging VGI Integrated with 3D Spatial Technology to Support Urban Intensification in Melbourne, Australia

“…Given that these indicators are quantitative and easily measurable (Larco, 2015), most regulatory guidelines and practical reports by governments use a range of objective indicator to measure the qualitative aspects of neighbourhood character. For instance, the Western Australian Ministry for Planning have developed urban fabric indicators (Porta & Renne, 2005) to ensure the liveability of neighbourhoods. These include land use diversity, street connectivity, number of buildings and number of lots (Table 1).…”

“…These factors constitute the subjective aspects of neighbourhood character but have been neglected in most regulative guidelines pertaining to neighbourhood character and sustainability of urban design (Ewing, Hajrasouliha, Neckerman, Purciel-Hill, & Greene, 2015;Porta & Renne, 2005;Purciel et al, 2009).…”

“…Examples include: semantic integration techniques (e.g. ontology-based spatial urban data development, ontology for planning and design), and developing application programming interfaces (APIs) for data discovery and urban analytical tools and services (Psyllidis, Bozzon, Bocconi, & Titos Bolivar, 2015). As such, a web ontology browser (WOB) and a web-based user interface can be developed to support discovery, modelling, visualisation and analysis of heterogeneous urban data types (e.g.…”

Community Severance: Where Is It Found and at What Cost?

“…Severance can be inferred by comparing the ratios obtained when busy roads are considered to be feasible and unfeasible areas for walking (Héran, 2011a, chap. 4;Jones et al, 2005;Porta & Renne, 2005;Schlossberg & Brown, 2004).…”

Urban Design and Quality of Life

“…For Porta and Renne (2005), the visual characteristics of transparency are reinforced through their assignment of it as a measure of the amount of window space fronting the street. In this case, transparency is highlighted as one of seven quantifiable qualities associated with a socially sustainable streetscape.…”