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The edge and the center in neighborhood planning units: assessing permeability and edge attractiveness in Abu Dhabi

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Abstract

Sustainable urban form research brought with it a renewed interest in neighborhood planning units (NPUs). While there is some insightful historical and qualitative research on the location of nonresidential uses in NPUs, quantitative analysis of the accessibility of nonresidential uses in NPUs has received minimal attention. This article uses Multiple Centrality Assessment to understand the accessibility of nonresidential land uses in NPUs designs. Using NPUs in Abu Dhabi as a case study, the paper analyzes different patterns of street networks across different scales and proposes new concepts and models for understanding accessibility. A framework for accessible NPUs focuses on three elements: street layout design, permeability, and edge attractiveness. Permeability is defined by high levels of Gravity and/or Betweenness at an NPU’s center at a global scale. On the other hand, the edge attractiveness that provides strong “seams” between NPUs is defined by high values of Gravity and/or Betweenness at an NPU’s edges and perimeter locations at a global scale. Findings suggest that a well-designed NPU must be characterized by both permeability and edge attractiveness. Results also indicate that nonresidential areas should be located according to their functions and level of intensity. Findings stress that at a local scale, NPUs should be designed to have high accessibility and low permeability for daily nonresidential facilities at the center. However, to promote the interconnection between adjacent NPUs, the street networks should have high accessibility and high edge attractiveness for nonresidential facilities located along the edges at a global scale. This research presents a conceptual approach and practical implications for planning NPUs’ nonresidential land uses and it contributes to the debate and practice on accessibility in an NPU.

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Notes

  1. The importance of using open-source software and open data lies in its guarantee of transparency and accountability in geographical and spatial research as addressed in Brunsdon and Comber (2020). For computing Gravity and Betweenness, ArcGIS software and the UNA toolbox developed for Rhino have been used. UNA is developed by Andre Sevtsuk (2012) from the City Form Lab. The GIS data in this study (street networks and plots) are well prepared as inputs for Rhino’s UNA toolbox. For more transparency, the data and procedures for computing Gravity and Betweenness are shared in Figshare. Readers are encouraged to use this link to explore the method and data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16697875.

  2. Authors did not use normalized values in this paper due to the following reasons:—1) The studied samples are of equal sizes and consist the same number of plots (i.e. same number of destinations and origins). Previous studies have recommended that certain centrality measures need to be normalized only when different-sized samples are compared (Porta, 2006). Therefore, the non-normalized values are comparable among different NPUs; 2) The trend followed by the non-normalized and normalized Betweenness values of the NPUs do not differ notably; and 3) When normalized, Betweenness values are not easily readable especially at the global scale- fifth decimal place is required to distinguish results from Scenario 1 (core location) and Scenario 2 (perimeter location). However, for transparency purposes, tables that show both non-normalized and normalized Betweenness values can be accessed by using the link below.

    https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16697875

    For Betweenness, raw values can be normalized by dividing the betweenness of each plot by Reach values of the observers in the concerned NPU as shown in the formula below. This method of normalization is referred from the work of Porta et al. (2006).

    $$Normalized \,Betweenness{[i]}^{r}=\frac{\sum Betweenneess{[i]}^{r}}{\left(Reach{[i]}^{r}-1\right)*(Reach{[i]}^{r}-2)}$$

    where i is the origin, r is the search radius, Reach is the Reach values of observers in UNA.

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Funding

Khalifa University of Science & Technology—Competitive Internal Research Award, CIRA-2019–053, Project number: 8474000184. This work was supported by the [Khalifa University] under Grant [Number 8474000184].

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil Infrastructure and Environmental Engineering, Sustainable Critical Infrastructure Program, Khalifa University, Abu Dhabi, UAE

    Khaled Alawadi, Ngoc Hong Nguyen & Mariam Alkaabi

  2. The University of Danang-University of Science and Technology, Danang, Vietnam

    Ngoc Hong Nguyen

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  1. Khaled Alawadi
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Correspondence to Khaled Alawadi.

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Alawadi, K., Nguyen, N.H. & Alkaabi, M. The edge and the center in neighborhood planning units: assessing permeability and edge attractiveness in Abu Dhabi. Transportation 50, 677–705 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11116-021-10257-6

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