Creating awareness of an evidence-based approach to urban design

Urban Design is a framework of urban studies that helps to understand the behavior of a city and, thus, the reasoning of its formation in a multidisciplinary way. Appropriate design policies help to attain solutions to urban problems by minimizing development impacts and by optimizing socioeconomic values of inner-city environments. However, development impacts and socio-economic values of an urban built-environment have a strong relationship with its spatial and organizational characteristics. That is, the pattern of the space organization itself helps to understand how the space is being used, and perhaps, what changes will make the space more interactive, usable, and environment-friendly. This study explores the spatial and organizational characteristics of urban morphology in evaluating urban development impacts by using the theory of space syntax. Conclusions suggest that space syntax simulates the likely effects of urban development solutions and, consequently, helps to evaluate urban design policies with data-based evidence before making recommendations for capital investments.