Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 7
Quantifying Urban Diversity: Multiple Spatial
Measures of Physical, Social, and Economic
Characteristics
Timothy Rosner and Kevin M. Curtin
Abstract With long-standing trends of rural-to-urban migration, and resultant
increasing urban growth, the role the built environment plays in creating a livable
urban space will only increase in importance. This research examines Jane Jacobs'
four generators of urban diversity, as presented in The Death and Life of Great
American Cities , and attempts to quantify those concepts in a meaningful way.
This chapter presents a methodology for assessing each of the four generators -
dwelling density, block length, mix of building age, and mix of uses - as well as
a new composite Urban Livability Index that combines all four generators. The
resultant values are examined with measures of spatial autocorrelation to determine
areas within a city that could benefit from investment in one or more parameters of
livability. The methods presented here are intended to create a framework that may
be applied to any city in order to assess the built environment and provide useful
information to city planners and policy-makers. The District of Columbia is used as
a case study for the application and testing of this methodology.
Keywords Urban geography ￿ Diversity ￿ Livability ￿ Jane Jacobs ￿ Geographic
information analysis
7.1
Introduction
Urban structure is complex and multifaceted. With increasing urban populations,
the effect that the built environment has on the “livability” of urban spaces deserves
an increasing amount of consideration. Among some city planners, the concept of
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