Planning codes and the design of the street interface: Reading the impact of spatial configuration on street life using micro-scale tools

This contribution is part of a PhD research. The study investigates the factors related to the vitality of street life in Brazilian cities. To what extent play urban form a part in forging the vitality of street life and why? What is the impact of the urban planning regime on the relation between urban form and vitality? That second factor will be further explored in this paper. Our research question is: to what extent have space syntax contributions been extensively identified and classified so that planning codes of a city can make practical use of them? In other words, is it possible to have a shared language between space syntax and urban planning codes? The initial case study in this research is the city of Recife in the northeast of Brazil, a city that has been extensively discussed in previous space syntax symposia. The first part of the article reveals the spatial parameters commonly regulated in the planning instruments of Recife. In a second part, space syntax theory and methods developed for microscale analysis are used to describe the transformations in the urban environment. That part investigates the impact of the utilisation of the current municipal rules and the possible effects related to urban vitality. Once again, this study will focus on the building frontage and nearby spaces. Finally, a discussion to what extent the space syntax research results and convergences can be decoded into the language used in planning instruments is appropriate. As it turns out, there is a need to develop an operational conceptual framework accessible for planners. In short, this study presents contributions to the formulation of urban norms.