Sustainability Category
“7Ls” of urban planning & design
Posted on July 7, 2020 Leave a Comment
Location – where is the site and what’s around it Linkage – where are the principal ways into the site (can any new ones be established?) Layout – the pattern & hierarchy of streets Land use – more than housing? Landscape – the look and feel of the place (covers a lot eg materials, blue/green) […]
What are the physical & spatial characteristics of sustainable towns & cities?
Posted on July 4, 2020 3 Comments
First, the ability to walk to the place you buy your food. Second, the ability to walk to see friends, go to school, visit a doctor or dentist or catch public transport. ‘Walkability’ requires fine-grained spatial connectivity: simple radial routes from edge to centre to get people to the shops from every direction and then […]
Is physical distancing possible on city streets?
Posted on April 28, 2020 Leave a Comment
Until a vaccine is found for COVID-19, and perhaps beyond, it will be important to practise physical distancing in towns and cities. Whether this is possible will come down to the “carrying capacity” of the urban infrastructure: in particular, the relationship between Pedestrian Supply in the form of sufficiently wide footways and Pedestrian Demand in […]
Smart, green & sustainable future cities
Posted on March 20, 2018 Leave a Comment
Contribution at workshop on UK-China Future Cities Collaboration Programme, Beijing, China Organised by the British Embassy, Beijing 20th March 2018 I would like to address the first objective of this workshop, namely a framework for UK-China collaboration on smart, green and sustainable future cities. Let me begin by saying that our task is helped by the fact […]
Sustainability & resilience – a SMART approach
Posted on March 8, 2016 Leave a Comment
1. Aspects of sustainability/resilience: SMART outcomes Social – improvements in formation & retention of social connections Environmental – increases in renewable energy production and reductions in energy demand Economic – increases in land value creation Health – improvements in public health outcomes Education – improvements in achievements/qualifications Safety – reductions in offending & reoffending. Environmental […]
Sustainable cities of the future – sketch
Posted on February 9, 2016 Leave a Comment
Notes for keynote at UK Green Building Council Annual City Summit, Birmingham. 1. Spatial planning & human behaviour implications of sustainability – reduction of transport carbon through shift towards walking, cycling & public transport 2. A massive shift needed in transport + land use planning, urban + landscape design, architecture. Professional inertia. Turning the supertanker. […]
Integrated Urban Planning – balancing the multiple flows of the city
Posted on September 26, 2015 2 Comments
Notes for the UK-China Sustainable Urbanisation Conference in Chengdu, China on 24th September 2015 My job as an architect and urban planner is to design new towns and cities – as well as new parts of existing urban settlements. This means designing the multiple systems that make up a city. We often think about towns and […]
The spatial architecture of the SMART city
Posted on October 30, 2014 1 Comment
Download this presentation. Good morning. It is a pleasure and an honour to have been invited to give this presentation today at the Nikkei Smart City Week conference. The subject of my talk is architecture – not only the architecture of buildings but, also, the architecture of public space: the space that we move through […]
Building a Smart City modelling team
Posted on July 4, 2014 1 Comment
. Cities planning their future are increasingly turning to the production of Integrated Urban Models. These are tools that bring together various datasets on different asoects of urban performance, from the behaviour of people to the flows of energy, water and other utilities. The aim is to better predict the future of cities by better understanding […]
From cities of movement to places of transaction
Posted on June 4, 2014 1 Comment
Summary of Tim Stonor’s talk at the World Cities Summit, Singapore, 3rd June 2014 From cities of movement to places of transaction – a new mobility focus for city leaders, planners and everyday users Key responsibilities for cities 1. Imagining the future of cities and mobility. 2. Designing integrated, people-focused planning to sustain cities. 3. […]
Centres and Cities
Posted on April 24, 2014 Leave a Comment
I’m sure you’re right about the link between street morphology and attractiveness to business. Centres seem to do one of three things through time. They either: 1. consolidate and grow (London, Paris) 2. move (Jeddah) 3. implode (Sunderland). Oh, and some places: 4. never have a functioning centre (Skelmersdale, UK New Towns) because they were […]
New blog for Faversham Yellow Lines campaign
Posted on April 13, 2014 Leave a Comment
Information on the campaign against the painting of yellow lines across Faversham town centre has moved to a new blog. Thank you for all the support so far!
UK Spatial Infrastructure Model
Posted on February 13, 2014 Leave a Comment
This is a model of the spatial infrastructure of Great Britain (and will soon include Northern Ireland to become a model of the United Kingdom). It allows us to zoom in and out on cities, towns and villages as well as the connections between them. It also lets us understand the hierarchy of connections at […]
Spatial Layout as Critical Infrastructure
Posted on January 14, 2014 Leave a Comment
Stub…notes for an upcoming conference talk Key issue to be addressed: – Urban-Rural development – Urban Regeneration – Smart Cities. When a network of streets is laid out, planners and designers build in an enormous amount of “embedded potential”: the pattern of movement land use potential safety land value social interaction public health carbon emissions. […]
Spatial Planning and the Future of Cities
Posted on October 24, 2013 2 Comments
How might cities be planned in the future? This is not only a question of how they might look but also, and more importantly, about how they might be laid out as patterns of buildings and spatial connections. Laying out a city means answering two key questions: “what goes where?” and the “how does it all connect together?” […]
Smart City Planning & Design Principles
Posted on October 17, 2013 Leave a Comment
Smart Cities are smart in two ways. First, they harness technologies to improve the way that urban places are led and managed. Second, they create better outcomes for the people that use them. This two-pronged approach applies to all aspects of Smart Cities. When it comes to the planning and design of Smart Cities, technology […]
UrbanRural: one system, many tensions
Posted on September 20, 2013 2 Comments
Notes from a meeting with the Beijing Institute of Agriculture and Forestry at Space Syntax London, 18th September 2013. Common themes Production The rural landscape is a place of production. So is the city: production of goods and production of ideas. Protection Protection of natural assets in the rural landscape. Protection of historic buildings in […]
Integrated Urban Modelling – Space Syntax’s approach
Posted on September 2, 2013 4 Comments
I’ve written before about the benefits of using science-based models in the planning and design process. I’ve raised concerns about the frequent lack of objective analysis in urban and building projects, and the risks this creates in decision-taking. Basing important decisions on gut instinct and experience, then willing on success with little more than hype, […]
Darwin CBD – Workshop 1 – Transcript of Tim Stonor’s presentation
Posted on August 21, 2013 Leave a Comment
Given by audio link to Darwin CBD Masterplan Workshop 1 on 21st August 2013. Download the presentation, including voiceover “Good afternoon, everybody. My name is Tim Stonor. I’m the Managing Director of Space Syntax and unfortunately I’m not able to join you for the workshop today. But my colleague Eime Tobari is with you and […]
Smart Cities World Expo – speaking notes
Posted on November 5, 2012 Leave a Comment
Spatial layout influences Human behaviour: 1. Movement 2. Awareness 3. Interaction 4. Transaction. Spatial layout benefits 1. Economy – productivity – innovation – building & campus performance 2. Health – active travel – access to healthcare – building & campus performance 3. Social cohesion – the spatial network creates the social network 4. Safety – property theft – personal attack […]
The power of the network 