Turner, A.; (2009) Stitching together the fabric of space and society: an investigation into the linkage of the local to regional continuum. In: Koch, D. and Marcus, L. and Steen, J., (eds.) Proceedings of the 7th International Space Syntax Symposium. (pp. p. 116). Royal Institute of Technology (KTH): Stockholm, Sweden.

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Abstract

To date, space syntax models have focused typically on relatively small areas up to the city scale. There have been very few models that take into account the entire network up to the regional scale, so the cumulative effects of micro-scale connections on regional networks is unknown, and the performance of the regional network as a function of the local area cannot be assessed. As such, a complete understanding of the ways in which regional centres are co-dependent and cities relate to their surrounding sub-centres is lacking. This study models the entire road network at the regional scale, by dispensing with axial lines entirely and moving to a road-centre line model of the UK, the Ordnance Survey's Integrated Transport Network (ITN) layer. This layer includes the topological connections between roads, so that a complete topological model of the road network including the directionality of streets can be constructed quickly. A region of the North of England - including Manchester, Bradford, Sheffield and Leeds - is analysed. Regional level angular analysis is shown to correlate well with overall movement in the network, while local level metric analysis is shown to correlate with the population density. It is hypothesised that combined measures that link the global to the local will uncover discontinuities in the continuum of space, and that these disruptions to the network will correspond to social deprivation. However, although such discontinuities exist, experimental linkage of the analysis to deprivation indices by census areas shows little conclusive evidence. In particular, it is clear that the complex web of spatial factors uncovered need investigation with more sensitive tools and smaller units of aggregation. The study highlights the need for a set of combined measures using microscopic spatial, economic, demographic, and land-use data, in order to further understand the relationship of spatial factors with social activity, while reinforcing standard space syntax results at the regional level.

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