THESIS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Suburban Navigation Structural Coherence and Visual Appearance in Urban Design ANNA-JOHANNA KLASANDER Department of Urban Design and Planning School of Architecture CHALMERS UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY Göteborg, Sweden 2003 THESIS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Suburban Navigation Structural Coherence and Visual Appearance in Urban Design ANNA-JOHANNA KLASANDER Department of Urban Design and Planning School of Architecture CHALMERS UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY Göteborg, Sweden 2003 Suburban Navigation Structural Coherence and Visual Appearance in Urban Design ANNA-JOHANNA KLASANDER ISBN 91-7291-389-4 © Anna-Johanna Klasander, 2003 Doktorsavhandlingar vid Chalmers Tekniska Högskola Ny serie nr 2071 ISSN 0346-718x ISSN 1650-6340, 2003:13 Publikation – Chalmers Tekniska Högskola Sektionen för Arkitektur Department of Urban Design and Planning School of Architecture Chalmers University of Technology SE-412 96 Göteborg Sweden Telephone: +46 (0)31 772 10 00 www.arch.chalmers.se Reproservice Chalmers Göteborg, Sweden 2003 Suburban Navigation Structural Coherence and Visual Appearance in Urban Design ANNA-JOHANNA KLASANDER Department of Urban Design and Planning School of Architecture Chalmers University of Technology Abstract This thesis is written within the field of architecture and urban design. Its main subject is the morphol- ogy of housing estate suburbs that were built in Sweden from the 1940s to the 1970s. With the issue of environmental legibility as point of departure, structural and visual properties of urban settings are studied. The transformation of relationships between the basic urban elements streets, buildings, and open space during the investigated period is illuminated, as well as changes in spatial configuration. While the ideals for urban growth were the same during the period, the gradual changes of principles for layouts of urban elements led in the end to fundamentally different conditions for urban life. The thesis argues that these morphological transformations among other things resulted in a loss of leg- ibility. Orientation is more difficult in the latter areas of the period, where patterns of buildings are not coherent with patterns of movement networks. The thesis is based on three empirical studies: the first one a historical account of the morpholog- ical transformations with examples mainly from Göteborg; the second one a space syntax study, which highlights the particular spatial and functional conditions in the housing estate areas; and the third one a study where cognitive maps are used to compare points of reference for orientation in three urban typologies. In a wider sense, the central theme of the thesis is connected to general urban qualities, under- stood as spatial potentials for encounters and exchange. The findings of the thesis can be used in archi- tectural and urban design to address issues of urban qualities in suburban settings, and thus to improve spatial conditions for everyday life there. Keywords: urban design, legibility, orientation, urban morphology, housing estates, suburbs, urban ty- pologies, environmental cognition, space syntax, cognitive mapping Preface Urban planning and design is a fascinating field because the result of it has a profound influence on life for us all. For me, the performance of urban space has to do with democracy and equal rights. In that sense, I share the concerns of the functionalist planners of the mid-1900s: it is a beautiful thought that the built environment can contribute to a bet- ter life for people – although we must always accept that it can never create it. It is a long way from the first ideas to a completed thesis. Along mine I have been helped and encouraged by a number of people, all of whom deserve my heartfelt thanks. My supervisors, professors Hans Bjur and Claes Caldenby, have been critical readers and patient listen- ers, and I appreciate the support they have given. Professor emeritus Björn Klarqvist introduced space syntax theories in my undergraduate years, and supervised my own studies in the field, both deeds equally important and valued. I am indebted to Dr. Lars Marcus, who exam- ined my work at the final seminar and gave me things to think about; Professor John Peponis agreed to read my draft, and I highly appreciate the comments he gave me. At the School of Architecture, I have been helped forward in many different ways by many different people. I am grateful to them all, and I particularly wish to mention: Kaj Granath, long time collegue; Bertil Malmström, Carina Listerborn, and Gabriella Olshammar, my roommates and fellow doctoral students; Katarina Nylund and Ola Wetterberg, senior researchers in the Urban Peripheries programme; Mir Azimzadeh and Matts Heijl, researcher and teacher at the depart- ment of UD&P. Through their contributions at seminars and informal meetings they have all made me understand my own work better. I have also enjoyed help from outside Chalmers. I wish to thank GöteborgsLokaler AB for letting me use the company’s survey data. I am grateful indeed for help from both staff and students at the four schools of my cognitive map study: Internationella skolan in Gårdsten, Tynneredskolan in Tynnered, Karl Johanskolan in Majorna, and Bikupan in Lessebo. Gerd Bloxham Zettersten, University of Copenhagen, gave me valuable support and advice at a late stage of writing. John Krause iv Suburban Navigation has revised my English, which I am thankful for; remaining mistakes are entirely mine. For help and encouragement and for rewarding dis- cussions about urban design I wish to thank Karin Ahlzén at White Arkitekter in Uppsala. On the private side, my parents and parents-in-law have been invaluable during these years, and their support is vastly appreciated. Special thanks go to my mother, who is always willing to help when needed. Finally, I want to express the most deeply felt gratefulness to my husband Fredrik and our sons Adrian and Albin. In a double sense, they have (each in their own way) put my work in perspective. Acknowledgements The work with this thesis has been carried out at the School of Architecture at Chalmers University of Technology in Göteborg, Sweden, with full-time funding from the faculty, as part of the greater research programme Everyday Life and Places in the Urban Peripheries, led by professor Hans Bjur. To cover costs for field trips and conferences I have received grants from Adlerbertska forskningsfonden and Chalmersska forsk- ningsfonden. I am also the proud receiver of a grant from Stiftelsen Markussens studiefond in the county of Kronoberg. For this finacial support I am very grateful. v Contents Preface................................................................................................................................ iv Acknowledgements............................................................................................................ v INTRODUCTION Legibility as a design quality .............................................. 1 Legibility.and.urban.orientation:.the.problem................................................................. 2 Hidden.and.visible.properties.that.guide.orientation..................................................... 4 Urban orientation and urban navigation ..........................................................................6 A model of basic components in spatial design .............................................................8 Meaning and use ..............................................................................................................11 The.Swedish.housing.estate.suburbs.............................................................................. 13 Previous research on Swedish urban morphology .........................................................14 Disposition.......................................................................................................................... 16 THEORY Environmental cognition and urban navigation................... 19 Urban.elements.and.urban.structures............................................................................. 20 Classifications and relations ...........................................................................................21 Point, line, and area ................................................................................................................22 Space ......................................................................................................................................24 Spatial relations and configuration .........................................................................................28 Criticism of space syntax analysis..........................................................................................34 Environmental.communication......................................................................................... 35 Legibility, architecture and urban design ........................................................................36 Differences in interpretation of the urban environment .........................................................37 Cognitive mapping ...........................................................................................................39 Mapping the mind and the environment.................................................................................40 Criticism of Lynch and cognitive mapping ............................................................................42 Spatial orientation