Accessibility of Two Urban Forms of the Inner Periphery. Configurational and Visibility Analysis

Isabel Ezquerra, Francisco Sergio Campos Sanchez. (2022).
Accesibility of Two Urban Forms of the Inner Periphery. Configurational and Visibility Analysis.
Revista Arquis

Isabel Ezquerra, Francisco Sergio Campos Sanchez. (2022).
Accesibility of Two Urban Forms of the Inner Periphery. Configurational and Visibility Analysis.
Revista Arquis

The construction of the first peripheries of many European cities between the fifties and seventies of the last century was characterised by the profusion of unitary actions based on the principles of functionalist urbanism -mass housing estates- and other forms that were produced in parallel to these as a result of gradual growth, more or less planned, and closer to the traditional system based on streets and blocks - "ordinary peripheries"-. In contrast to more specific approaches that delve into the original character of housing estate enclaves, without considering their current urban context, this research aims to demonstrate and morphologically compare the accessibility conditions of both types of urban growth. The study is based on an adaptation of the "Node and Place Value" model, developing a multi-scale configurational and visibility analysis in two housing estates in the city of Zaragoza and their corresponding "ordinary peripheries". The results show that the relative situation of the housing estates in the city has changed over time, moving in many cases from a position of isolation in the periphery to a "pericentral position". Both forms are well integrated into the overall urban network. However, at the intermediate scale the polygons show worse accessibility than the "ordinary periphery" fragments. At the action scale, the latter are also visually safer and more accessible. These analyses can be useful for planning to improve accessibility and dynamise these urban forms.

The construction of the first peripheries of many European cities between the fifties and seventies of the last century was characterised by the profusion of unitary actions based on the principles of functionalist urbanism -mass housing estates- and other forms that were produced in parallel to these as a result of gradual growth, more or less planned, and closer to the traditional system based on streets and blocks - "ordinary peripheries"-. In contrast to more specific approaches that delve into the original character of housing estate enclaves, without considering their current urban context, this research aims to demonstrate and morphologically compare the accessibility conditions of both types of urban growth. The study is based on an adaptation of the "Node and Place Value" model, developing a multi-scale configurational and visibility analysis in two housing estates in the city of Zaragoza and their corresponding "ordinary peripheries". The results show that the relative situation of the housing estates in the city has changed over time, moving in many cases from a position of isolation in the periphery to a "pericentral position". Both forms are well integrated into the overall urban network. However, at the intermediate scale the polygons show worse accessibility than the "ordinary periphery" fragments. At the action scale, the latter are also visually safer and more accessible. These analyses can be useful for planning to improve accessibility and dynamise these urban forms.

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