Analyzing spatial evolution of Yildiz Technical University Davutpasa Campus with space syntax methodology

The environment, in which people live, affect people's way of life. The most important part of the living environment is space. Space can be thought of as a structure that is perceived and perceived as an abstract and visualized in the human mind. Thus, space is one of the most important factors shaping people's lives concerning social, economic and physical aspects. Many disciplines perform spatial studies aiming to understand the space and the effects of space. Especially, architecture, urban design, urban planning, archeology, transportation, geography, and informatics are some of these disciplines. These disciplines can benefit from the space syntax theory when examining the relationship between space and social structure. Space syntax includes a set of techniques supported by theory, which can be used in spatial spaces of different scales, ranging from an office plan to a city plan. In this study, it is aimed to examine the spatial structure of the Davutpasa Campus of Yildiz Technical University (YTU) and the spatial change of this structure using the space syntax method. Another aim is to determine the current pedestrian activity in the Davutpasa Campus and to investigate the relationship between the pedestrian movement and the spatial structure and to produce solution suggestions for the problematic regions of the campus. In the first part of the study includes the aim of the thesis, the literature study and the hypothesis of the study. Most of the studies cited in the literature section evaluate the space and its relation with the pedestrian movement according to specific space syntax measurements. In this study, it is aimed to be able to explain the spatial change of the campus by looking at the location or dimensions of the YTU Davutpasa Campus, which is chosen as the study area, by affecting the actual situation. In the second part, the concepts of space syntax, graph theory, space syntax theory, space syntax measurements, and statistical concepts are explained. The mathematical model of space syntax theory is based on graph theory. According to graph theory, in a dual graph, streets of an urban area are represented as nodes and the relationship between streets are represented as lines. However, in a primal graph, streets of an urban area are described as line and junctions are represented as nodes. A graphical representation is necessary to apply space syntax methods. Thus, spatial components of an urban area are indicated in the graphical representation. There are lots of space syntax measures. All of them inform about spatial characteristics of an area. Mainly, integration, local integration, choice and connectivity measures are used in studies in the literature. Besides, integration measure is the fundamental measure for space syntax analysis, and it is generally used to predict pedestrian movement in an area. Moreover, intelligibility measure of an urban area gives information about characteristic features such as wayfinding. Intelligibility refers to the correlation coefficient between integration and connectivity measures. In the third part of the study, axial analysis and visibility graph analysis which are the methods of space syntax analysis are explained. An axial analysis is carried out using axial maps of an area. An axial map consists the least and the longest axial lines. Furthermore, Visibility graph analysis (VGA) determines the proportion of mutually visible spaces in a spatial network. In a visibility graph analysis, visibility polygons that are visible from the points defined within the system are calculated, and their characteristics are determined. We can interpret how a new structure added to the field can change the flow of movement or how its impact on the perceptibility and accessibility of the space can be seen by the results of the visibility graph analysis. Statistical analysis methods are also explained in this section. These statistical analyzes are used to describe the relationships between space syntax analyzes and pedestrian density of the campus, which are bivariate and multivariate regression analysis. Also, correlation analysis was carried out, since multicollinearity among the independent variable has to be checked. Besides, the number of pedestrians are defined through the counts at the observation points based on the gate count method for determining the pedestrian density. In the fourth chapter, space syntax techniques were applied to the YTU Davutpasa Campus. Before the space syntax analyzes have been performed, data sets were prepared to be used in space syntax analysis. These datasets consist of the axial map and the convex map, showing the open areas, of the campus. From the axial and visibility graph analysis, the spatial configuration of the Davutpasa Campus was explained. Pedestrian counts were performed according to the gate count method to determine the current pedestrian mobility of the campus. Pedestrian densities were assessed in this way at 22 observation points in the campus. Statistical analyzes were performed with pedestrian counts obtained from the observations made on the campus and the results of space syntax analyzes. In the statistical models, both the measurements from the visibility analysis and the measurements from the axial analysis were used. The results of space syntax analysis consist of sixteen measures. The six of these measures obtained from axial analyzes and the others are derived from visibility graph analysis. The results of these statistical analyzes were used to explain the relationship between the existing pedestrian mobility in the campus and the spatial configuration of the campus. Bivariate and multivariate regression analyzes were performed for statistical models. As a result of regression analyzes, visual integration (Teklenburg) measure, integration, and visual mean depth measurement were found to be the most effective measures. Based on these measures, both the spatial configuration of the campus and the master plan were analyzed. The results of the analysis are interpreted, and the spatial change of the campus from past to present is explained. The fifth part of the thesis study is the conclusion part. When the effects of spatial network dimensions on walking behavior were examined, it was concluded that the visibility analysis in the space syntax would be more appropriate to explain the spatial change of the campus. The results of the statistical models show that most of the space syntax measurements significantly affect pedestrian movement and pedestrian density. Furthermore, the low intelligibility of the campus shows that the campus can be challenging to wayfinding on the campus and that the campus is not a spatially easily perceived campus. Also, according to the space syntax analysis of the master plan, it was seen that the newly added axial lines decreased the intelligibility of the campus. It means that, if any master plan for the campus is made without considering spatial analysis, intelligibility will get lower than today. For this reason, spatial deficiencies have been determined for today and solutions to these deficiencies have been presented. In the light of all these results, some suggestions were made to create a more integrated campus which would provide physical pedestrian links between the parts separated from each other in the campus area. To conclude, space syntax analysis is suggested for campus design for a better and more livable campus.