What is space syntax?
‘Space syntax’ is a world leading technology, originally developed at University College London (UCL), one of Europe’s premier research universities. Space Syntax Limited works closely with UCL in advancing the technology.
Space syntax is the world’s first computer-based modelling technique to treat cities and buildings ‘space first’, that is as the network of spaces we use and move through. Research using space syntax modelling shows:
- how movement patterns and flows in cities are powerfully shaped by the street network
(Hillier & Iida 2005) and how this relation shapes the evolution of the local centres and sub-centres that makes cities liveable (Hillier 2006, Hillier 1999)
- how patterns of security and insecurity are affected by spatial design (Hillier 2008)
- how spatial segregation and social disadvantage are related in cities (Vaughan 2007)
- how buildings can create more interactive organisational cultures (Penn 1999)
Because space syntax models are ‘space-based’:
- they can be used both to understand how existing cities, urban areas and buildings are working, and to simulate the likely effect of new interventions.
- they can be used as a framework for integrating information about other socio-economics factors into the design and planning process.
The power of the technology and the knowledge base on which it can call make space syntax a unique tool to help in the creation of economic and social value through evidence based design and planning.