Measuring Building Adaptability and Street Vitality

Abstract

A long-standing urban design principle is that successful places exhibit vitality, being vibrant and diverse. This vitality depends on levels of economic and social success that sustain over time urban diversity including cafes, restaurants, delicatessens, bakeries, cinemas and galleries, grocery stores, pubs and clubs of varying sizes and types to suit individuals of varying taste, preference and socio-economic status. Accordingly, a successful public realm includes a complex 'transaction base' of activities. Since vitality occurs in physical, primarily human-made built forms and spaces, the qualities of physically permanent urban places influence vitality. However, the built form may event..