Developing a Quantitative Method for the Measurement of Public Life-Supportive Urban Form: Eight Test Sites and Applications in Seattle, WA and Copenhagen, Denmark

Abstract

Urban design theorists have developed a body of knowledge about the characteristics of places that support public life. More recently, researchers have developed quantitative methods for measuring certain aspects of urban form. However, little work has been done to apply quantitative methods to urban design theory. This thesis proposes a new metrics for representing urban form attributes of urban areas that support public life. These are organized as the Lively Urban Form (LUF) framework. The attributes measured were identified based on a review of influential urban design theorists dealing with urban form. The analytic framework was applied to eight study sites in Copenhagen and Seattle in order to test its ability to express urban form differences among these sites which affect their support for public life. Discussion of results, limitations, and potential applications of the method follow.