UCL Discovery
UCL home » Library Services » Electronic resources » UCL Discovery

The Spatio-Functional Role of Navigable Urban Canals in the City: Cases From London and Amsterdam

Alsavada, Merve Okkali; Karimi, Kayvan; (2023) The Spatio-Functional Role of Navigable Urban Canals in the City: Cases From London and Amsterdam. Urban Planning 10.17645/up.v8i3.6740. (In press). Green open access

[thumbnail of Karimi_The Spatio-Functional Role of Navigable Urban Canals in the City_VoR.pdf]
Preview
PDF
Karimi_The Spatio-Functional Role of Navigable Urban Canals in the City_VoR.pdf - Published Version

Download (4MB) | Preview

Abstract

Cities incorporating navigable canals have played a crucial role in global trade and provided a platform for a range of activities for people from various locations. This research aims to comprehend the role of inner-city canals, formed as branches of shipping canals, in the spatial accessibility and functional structure of two contemporary urban systems: London and Amsterdam. Both cities are major post-industrial hubs in Europe and their spatial development and socioeconomic conditions have been greatly influenced by waterways. While the canal network in Amsterdam was planned alongside street layout planning in the early 17th century, serving commercial purposes, canals were integrated into London’s pre-existing urban form mainly for transportation in the 19th century. The current situation in these cities is impacted by this disparity in three ways: (a) the potential use of canals in the urban transportation system; (b) the spatial accessibility of street networks; and (c) the correlations between street accessibility and land use patterns in canal neighbourhoods. The research employs analytical methods of space syntax, geographic information systems, and statistical techniques to create and apply integrated urban models, incorporating spatial network measures, retail density, and functional diversity for street segments, to compare various urban conditions. The research reveals the crucial finding that the incorporation of canals into the street system leads to a substantial increase in the mean values of street network accessibility in Amsterdam. Additionally, the study highlights the vital contribution of diagonal streets linked with canal networks towards retail density in this city. In contrast, the accessibility measures and spatial patterns of urban functions in London are predominantly influenced by proximity to canals.

Type: Article
Title: The Spatio-Functional Role of Navigable Urban Canals in the City: Cases From London and Amsterdam
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.17645/up.v8i3.6740
Publisher version: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/artic...
Language: English
Additional information: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The images or other third-party material in this article are included in the Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder to reproduce the material. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Keywords: Data-driven urbanism; navigable canals; space syntax; urban functions; waterways
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of the Built Environment
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of the Built Environment > The Bartlett School of Architecture
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10176180
Downloads since deposit
0Downloads
Download activity - last month
Download activity - last 12 months
Downloads by country - last 12 months

Archive Staff Only

View Item View Item