Application of space syntax methodology to predict spontaneous commercial areas and to develop strategic decision-making tool: a study on Kolkata

Abstract

Spontaneous commercial urban development is becoming strategically significant for the urban designers and policy makers for developing strategies for inclusive growth, managing traffic, allocating resources and developing infrastructure. The developments of such areas may be an excellent indicator of urban vitality, but they also create visual imbalance and adversely affect historical patterns and create difficulty in managing urban infrastructure. This study employs axial line analysis of space syntax to establish the relationship between spatial configuration and development of spontaneous commercial areas. The integration value generated from the axial line analysis and the metric measure of road width are used to generate a strategic decision-making grid in classifying street segments for assessing their potential in becoming spontaneous urban commercial spaces. This strategic grid operates from both the ends on conservative and generative use of space by maintaining the pattern or through suggesting changes as per the actual requirement and condition.