The architecture of behaviour and the new urban beauty Destinazione Italia 2020 Tim Stonor Architect & Town Planner

The architecture of behaviour and the new urban beauty Tim Stonor Architect & Urbanist Destinazione Italia 2020 Torino, 30th January 2009

I am delighted to have been invited to this important conference on Italian tourism, to share my experience as an architect, working on the design of tourist destinations in the United Kingdom and overseas. I hope to show how this experience might be relevant in planning and designing the relaunch of Italian tourism.   Of course, 150 years ago, at the beginning of the new Italian nation, Italy was the ultimate destination for the British, for whom a “Grand Tour” that did not include Italy would have been unthinkable. Today, Italy’s brand value remains high. But times have changed – the UK has become a prime global destination and, like Italy, has recognised the need to retain its appeal by exploiting the historic and contemporary cultural assets that help to define the national identity. One of the three projects I will show you is the renaissance of the most important public space in England, Trafalgar Square. From there, we will move to the English seaside to look at the regeneration of the once booming tourist destination of Margate. Then, we will travel overseas to the Middle East and the replanning of an entire city, Jeddah.   In taking this tour, I would like us to focus not on buildings but on people, who are the basic building blocks of societies, cultures and of economies. I hope to show that there is a great deal to be learned by studying the behaviour of people and designing with the “architecture of behaviour” in mind.     Evidence-based design methods

Evidence-based design methods Analyse existing flows Forecast future flows

Harnessing technology & focusing on people

Nottingham, England Old Market Square

Trafalgar Square, London In 1996, most of the space was empty for most of the time.

Trafalgar Square In 1996, there were pockets of activity on the south side of the square.

Trafalgar Square Tourists cross dangerous roads

We followed people and found that most walked around the edges.

Trafalgar Square Views from the heart of the space are limited.

Elephant & Castle Southern Crossing Views from the south side are extensive, providing valuable information.

Trafalgar Square We constructed a Pedestrian Movement Model, based on spatial accessibility.

© Crown Copyright. All rights reserved. Licence number: LA100032379 To Leicester Square & Covent Garden To the South Bank To Buckingham Palace & St James Park To Leicester Square, Piccadilly & St James © Crown Copyright. All rights reserved. Licence number: LA100032379 1996 Movement was pushed around the edges of the Square by the physical design of the space – indirect staircase links. Design strategy The design strategy, developed with architect Norman Foster, was to bring movement through the heart of the Square via a new, central staircase. Trafalgar Square Strategic flow diagrams

Trafalgar Square The new central staircase

Trafalgar Square Pedestrian Movement Forecast Model

Trafalgar Square First day of opening

Trafalgar Square The new Central Staircase

Millennium Bridge, London

Margate, Seaside town, England New town Old town

Margate Unique collection of historic buildings

Margate 24% of the buildings are vacant Many are historically significant

Margate EXISTING disconnected movement PROPOSED simple, fluid routes New town Old town New town Old town

Margate Spatial accessibility analysis EXISTING poor accessibility PROPOSED spatial integration

Margate Spatial masterplan

Margate Spatial masterplan

Margate Creative re-use of historic buildings

Urban movement modelling

Beijing

Tokyo s

Regional movement modelling

National movement modelling

Suppressed movement economy. Enhanced movement economy. Main street, mixing global & local movement. Fast highways, separating global & local movement. Key problem The disconnection of local places

الرؤية تراث تاريخي عريق Jeddah Global location

الرؤية تراث تاريخي عريق Jeddah Historic centre

51 km Jeddah Rapid urban expansion

التحديات معاناة المشاة Jeddah Weaknesses Dividing streets Crumbling history Polluted waterfront

Jeddah vision The core of the city central area الرؤية قلب المنطقة المركزية

Party walls Privacy/shading screens Continuous facades Shading structures/ privacy screen Shared surface/ Pedestrian priority Building height ranges Vertical land use distribution Accessible roof space Plot coverage ranges On street parking Infrastructure routed below parking areas Active frontages Ground floor setback for shade Overlooking uses Floor to floor heights Plot widths Jeddah Re-creating local, street-based movement

Jeddah Planning Code Primary boulevards

The Jeddah Plan Creation of a local movement economy

New footbridge Al Bay’ah Square Historic Core New Waterfront Development Jeddah Waterfront

مشروع المركز المدني لجدة تحليل الموقع مكونات الخطة الرئيسية Components of the masterplan Composite

Old local plan The Jeddah Plan Creation of a local movement economy

Methodology 1. Analysing existing patterns of tourist movement. 2. Forecasting future movement patterns. Value 1. Designing successful destinations. 2. Generating evidence to demonstrate the effectiveness of ideas. 3. Helping people take decisions about the transformation of places. Summary Space Syntax technology

In conclusion, my experience from practice is that the Space Syntax approach offers three key benefits: First, a creative benefit – the technology helps planners and designers create better ideas. Second, the evidence-base approach allows the impact of proposed ideas to be measured in advance so that plans can be amended and refined to make sure they will work when they are built. Third, the process provides support to decision-takers, giving them greater confidence in supporting or, as may be the case, opposing proposed plans. In giving this presentation, I hope I have demonstrated how tourism strategies can be informed by technology that focuses on people, their behaviour and the social and economic outcomes of that behaviour. Space Syntax techniques allow existing patterns of tourist behaviour to be recorded and analysed. From this, the predictive ability of the technology allows future patterns of movement and public space use to be forecast in a more robust way than has ever been possible. At the beginning of this conference, Bernabo Bocca challenged us to define the new urban beauty. For my part, I hope to have persuaded you that the architecture of behaviour is one of its cornerstones. The architecture of behaviour and the new urban beauty

Tim Stonor Managing Director Space Syntax t.stonor@spacesyntax.com www.spacesyntax.com