The role of urban pattern indicators for sustainable urban forms in the developed countries: a pragmatic evaluation of two sustainable urban contexts

Since cities are constantly changing, their new forms activities are developed according to their patterns and physical arrangements. Sustainable urban form is currently a widely discussed topic in the concept of urban sustainability. The physical built form of cities can be conceptualised as two interlocking planes. The first is the spatial distribution of activities and buildings. The second element is the pattern of streets, parks and the public realm. Sustainable integration between these layers lead to a compatible built environment. This paper intends to formulate sustainable urban form indicators as a conceptual framework model which provides a comprehensive understanding of how sustainability can be evaluated and measured according to the pattern of any built environment. This framework consists of eight indicators: Accessibility, Connectivity, Compatibility, Diversity, Nodality, Density, Identity, and Adaptability. Accordingly, two of the most significant sustainable urban district has been chosen as a field study. The first is Hammerby residential district in Stockholm of Sweden, and the other is Vauban residential district in Freiburg of Germany. The research concludes that the high quality performance of urban pattern indicators in the developed communities may motivate, inform and improve the design strategies in order to achieve a more sustainable urban context