TY  - GEN
T3  - International Space Syntax Symposium (SSS)
PB  - Space Syntax Network
N1  - This version is the author accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher?s terms and conditions.
Y1  - 2024/06/28/
ID  - discovery10194321
TI  - Traversability in Spatial Configuration: Some Theoretical and Practical Aspects
AV  - public
CY  - Nicosia, Cyprus
A1  - Li, Chenyang
A1  - Psarra, Sophia
A1  - Hanna, Sean
UR  - https://cyprusconferences.org/14sss/
N2  - Traversability, a relatively new concept in the field of space syntax study, was introduced by Hillier
(2019) in his last paper, measuring the ease with which a layout can be traversed as a whole
without crossing the same space twice. In his preliminary comparison of the traversability value
of four structure types (a-. b-. c- and d-structures), Hillier argued that the understanding of
traversability in graph structures, regarding its functional effects and social meanings, will
contribute to the enrichment of space syntax theory. Taking Hillier?s work as a starting point, this
paper provides a more in-depth exploration of traversability in four dimensions. a. providing
mathematical evaluations of the traversability value in a-, b-, c- and d-structure with the number
of nodes ranging from four (the minimum number of nodes to form a d-structure) to n; b. conducting
experiments with how changes in local spatial relationships may affect the global value of
traversability in a configuration, thereby illustrating the architectural implications of the measure;
c. classifying distinctions in social meanings between spatial configurations with high and low
traversability values. This analytic is based on comparing traversability values with established
classifications of layouts in space syntax research using the conceptual/analytical pairs of high/low
integration and strong/weak programmes (Hillier 1996); d. measuring and comparing
traversability values of real-world layouts using a python programme developed for this study. We argue that these four dimensions of analysis highlight the significance of this new measure; we
also explain what they add to existing applications of space syntax analysis. The paper concludes
with directions for the future exploration of this new measure and possible applications in practical
fields.
KW  - Traversability
KW  -  Hamiltonicity
KW  -  spatial structure
KW  -  space syntax
ER  -