Hierarchy and the Distribution of Frontage Uses

Ziyu Chen Supervisor: Stephen Marshall MRes Inter-disciplinary Urban Design Bartlett School of Planning Background and Research Topic • Modernist planning broke the relationship between • Classical land use theories provide a basic understanding of the movement and urban place by setting up a new urban model where economic mechanism driving the distribution of land uses. However, free-flow highways are separated from buildings and public spaces. the treatment of street network is either absent or simplified. • Street-based urban design approach uses the street as the • Street configuration may influence the land use pattern through the fundamental building block of urban structuring. It requires the movement economy process or spatial cognition. Several indices knowledge of the relationship between street network and land use have been found of great explanatory power in the distribution land distribution in existing cities. uses.

The main hypothesis: Street Hierarchy may contribute to explain the Distribution of Frontage Uses Methodology • Five study areas are selected. • The official hierarchy: based on the UK official classification, classifies into primary,A, B, C, and unclassified road. • The transit-oriented hierarchy: based on the number of bus routes along a street, classifies streets into 5 and more bus routes, 2 to 4 bus routes, 1 bus route and no bus route. • All types of frontage uses on both sides of the streets are studied. Findings

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Residential

Case Study 1 Retail Commercial Case Study 2 Education and Case Study 3 culture Community and Case Study 4 religious Open space

Case Study 5 Industrial Figure 2 The overall frontage use distribution of each case study Figure 1 Mapping frontage uses (excluding parking/no frontage use) 40.00% 100.00% 35.00% 30.00% 80.00% 25.00% 60.00% 20.00% 15.00% 40.00% 10.00% 5.00% 20.00% 0.00% Primary Road A Road B Road C Road Unclassified 0.00% 40.00% Road Primary Road A Road B Road C Road Unclassified Road 35.00% 100.00% 30.00% 25.00% 80.00% 20.00% 15.00% 60.00% 10.00% 5.00% 40.00% 0.00% 5 and more bus 2 to 4 bus routes 1 bus route no bus route 20.00% routes 5 and more bus 2 to 4 bus routes 1 bus route no bus route routes Case Study 1 Case Study 2 Case Study 3 Case Study 1 Case Study 2 Case Study 3 Case Study 4 Case Study 5 Case Study 4 Case Study 5 Figure 3 The relationship between street hierarchy and the proportion Figure 4 The relationship between street hierarchy and the proportion of residential use of retail use There is tension between a street’s link and place function. Street hierarchy can be a vital factor in explaining the distribution of residential and retail frontages. The findings can inform street-based urban design practice. Figure 5 Three types of primary Figure 6 Attractions and through