The spatial core of urban culture

Author(s): J. Peponis, E. Hadjinikolaou, C. Livieratos and D.A. Fatouros

Source: Ekistics , JANUARY/FEBRUARY–MARCH/APRIL 1989, Vol. 56, No. 334/335,
Space Syntax: Social implications of urban layouts
(JANUARY/FEBRUARY–MARCH/APRIL 1989), pp. 43-55
Published by: Athens Center of Ekistics

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/43622102

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 The spatial core of urban culture

J. Peponis, E. Hadjinikolaou, C. Livieratos and D.A. Fatouros

John Peponis, Associate Professor of Architecture teaching at The article supports two general theoretical claims:
the Doctoral Program of the College of Architecture, Georgia • First, that one essential key to urban spatial typology
Institute of Technology, Atlanta, USA, received his Ph. D at Univer- is the description of the way in which each space is
sity College London where he worked as a researcher and lec- accessible from all the other spaces in the system, not
turer. He has consulted on the application of space syntax in in terms of metric distance but rather in terms of the
the design of communities and other urban areas in London
and in Athens, where he also runs a small architectural practice.
number of changes of direction necessary to move from
His current research interests include the extension of descrip- one place to another. In particular, what matters from
tive theories and methods referring to the intelligibility of built a theoretical as well as an empirical point of view are
form and its aesthetic properties. His published articles deal the properties of the "urban core": this comprises the
with cases such as museums, factories, health centers and spaces which are more easily accessible, or best in-
other building types, focusing on the way in which architecturetegrated into the urban layout as a whole.
becomes entailed in the implementation of cultural, administrative • Second, that the structure of accessibility and integra-
or social policy.
tion of an area is strongly associated with, and seems
Eleni Hadjinikolaou obtained her degree in Architecture from to determine, the distribution of pedestrian movement.
the National Technical University of Athens and completed her One of the major dimensions of urban typology con-
postgraduate training at the Bartlett School of Architecture,
cerns the relation of local layout patterns and overall
University College London. She was recently involved in the
development of the town plan of the Eleusina-Aspropyrgos area
global patterns. From this point of view the article
distinguishes three types of layouts: continuous,
near Athens, and she is currently working at the European Cultural
Centre at Delphi, and also in collaboration with G. Candilis regionalized and polarized.
on planning in support of the Greek application for hosting • Continuous layouts have a diffused pattern of centrali-
the Olympic Games in 1996. ty reaching towards all the parts of the system depen-
Costas Livieratos has a degree in Planning from the Polytechnic ding of course on the degree of integration.
of Central London and postgraduate degrees in Regional Develop- • Regionalized layouts are of two kinds:
ment and Geography for which he studied in Athens and at - those whose parts converge towards a common
the University of Paris IV. He worked as a planner from 1976
center; and,
to 1980 and as a member of the Centre for Adult Training and
Self-Education in Athens from 1982 to 1987. He recently co- - those whose parts diverge towards distinct sub-
centers.
founded the Alexandria publishing house in Athens.
Dimitris A. Fatouros has been Professor of Architecture at the • Polarized layouts superimpose a large scale urban grid
University of Thessaloniki, Greece, since 1959 and was Provoston a deformed small scale urban fabric in such a way
of the University from 1984 to 1988; his publications includethat the two principles of organization cannot be
geographically separated in a non-trivial way.
the books Systematic Theory of Architecture (2 vols), Architec-
tural Organization and Expression, The Organization of Space
The article also presents some findings which are
and Geometrical Organization, and many articles on issues rang-
characteristic of Greek urban culture. The major finding
ing from the appropriation of space to aesthetics.
concerns the formation of sub-areas, a theme which is
often taken up in the urban literature. According to the
Introduction research findings in all six cases, the formation of sub-
areas within the urban system as a whole, as diagnosed
The present paper on the basis of the pattern of movement, is not about
This article adopts the basic concepts and methods of containment and enclosure, but about the differential
the descriptive theory of space developed at the Unit orientation of the sub-areas towards the larger urban
for Architectural Studies, University College London, and scale. Thus, identity is combined with openness.
presents some of the findings of a research program1 The merit of syntactic analysis is to allow the develop-
which has extended and applied these concepts and ment of urban typology in cases where the global con-
methods to study the morphology of Greek towns and tinuity and openness of the urban fabric is the overriding
their patterns of pedestrian movement. The study is,fact. In this sense, our consideration of sub-area forma-
however, also informed by a wider but methodologically tion differs radically from the more common definition
less developed concern with the properties of spatial of sub-areas in terms of discontinuity and enclosure alone.
continuity and discontinuity as the formative properties Finally the article demonstrates that a descriptive theory
of architecture, over and above geometrical order (HILLIER of urban space is more powerful if it can provide not
and HANSON, 1984; FATOUROS, 1979). only an accurate and sensitive model of the differences

Ekistics 334, January/February 1989 ao

335, March/April 1989

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between one type of urban layout and another but also ly observable local connections (HILLIER et al., 1987b).
relate the description of morphological properties to some
• The density of movement on a given space is express-
empirically observable and pertinent consequence which ed in terms of numbers of people per hundred meters
they may have with regard to the use of space. length. The presence of people is recorded by moving
observers only at right angles to the direction of move-
Definitions
ment. No attempt is made to count everybody visible
In order to help the reader refer back as frequentlyasasthis is in any case impracticable.
necessary, we provide hereunder definitions of a number
of analytical and technical ideas used in the article.
Analysis
• The axial map is the basis of layout analysis. This of layout plans
represents how far observers can have an uninterrupted
Basic to our argument is the physical container. Our
impression of visibility and permeability as they move
research, therefore, has proceeded in two directions:
about town and look at a distance, towards the various
directions. The map is derived by drawing the fewest• the development of ways to deal with the typological
and longest lines of uninterrupted permeability which variability of urban layouts; and,
• the identification of the specific characterization of
are necessary to cover the public open space of an area.
When reference is made to particular "spaces" we inthe selected towns of our sample.
fact mean "linear spaces," or simply lines on this map.
The sample
The size of a system is measured in terms of the number
Of lines (HILLIER and HANSON, 1984). Six Greek towns are compared (fig. 1): four near the sea,
• The integration of a space is a function of the mean each with a port (Kerkyra, Mytilini, Nauplion and
number of lines and changes of direction that needThessaloniki),
to and two on the mainland (Larisa and Kypseli,
be taken to go from that space to all other spaces in an extended residential area in Athens).
the system. Integration is therefore about syntactic not • The old part of Kerkyra (fig. 2), on the Ionian island
about metric accessibility and the word "depth" rather of Corfu (Kerkyra), bears the marks of its Venetian
than "distance" is used to describe how far a space occupation and combines a large number of narrow
lies. It is measured in terms of Real Relative Asymmetry fragmented lanes with a few major streets planned to
(RRA) values - an expression used to indicate a complex connect the newer wall gates to the town center and
mathematical index of depth - which permit comparisons the older fort.
across systems of different sizes (HILLIER and HANSON, • The old part of Mytilini (fig. 3) - chosen to correspond
1984). Smaller RRA values indicate greater integration. to the area covered by a map drawn by Koldewey in 1890
The integration of a system as a whole is indexed by - on the island of Lesbos (Mytilini) in the North Aegean
the mean RRA value of all its lines.
sea has a very segmented and labyrinthine urban fabric
• The choice value of a space indexes how many of which bears the marks of its Ottoman occupation,
the most direct paths connecting each of all the possible especially in the formation of large and irregular urban
pairs of other spaces go through that particular space blocks penetrated by numerous cul-de-sacs. The town
(HILLIER et al., 1987b). An integrated space does not is traversed by a major artery spanning the distance from
necessarily have a strong choice value. For example, the north to the south port and covering an ancient narrow
a cul-de-sac may be centrally located within a pattern strait which split the island and divided the ancient city
of connections but it does not lead anywhere. when it expanded from the western to the eastern side.
• The core of a system consists of the 10 percent - • Nauplion (fig. 4), the first 19th century capital of Grqece,
a conventional percentage applied uniformly in the in- is a small town which comprises the older city - today
terests of comparability - of the total number of spaces
which take the strongest values along one of the measures
of integration and choice (HILLIER and HANSON, 1984) of
which the most important is the integration core as it
can be treated as a representation of syntactic centrality.
• The integration and choice values describe each space
from the point of view of how it features in an urban
system as a whole. Thus they are called global variables.
Particular spaces are also described in terms of local
properties. The most obvious local properties are the
metric length and the number of connections of each
line. A third local measure, the control value , indexes
the extent to which each space is the only connection
or one out of many connections of its neighboring spaces.
In order to characterize systems as a whole in terms
of local properties we will refer to the mean connectivity
and the mean number of blocks per line.
• The syntactic intelligibility of an area is defined as
the degree of correlation between the connectivity and
integration values of each line. The term intelligibility
is used because the stronger the correlation, the more
we can infer the global position of a space from its direct- Fig. 1: Map of Greece showing location of the 6 towns.
Ekistics 334, January/February 1989
44 335, March/April 1989

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 Fig. 2: Kerkyra. Fig. 3: Mytilini.

Fig. 5: Thessaloniki.

Fig. 4: Nauplion.

Fig. 6: Larisa. Fig. 7: Kypseli area, Athens.

Figs. 2-7: Diagrammatic plans of the cities in the sample.

Ekistics 334, January/February 1989 45

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stretching only outside the walls which contained the The spread and strength of syntactic centrality
older settlement - the 19th century town center and
Comparing the distribution of the integration core -
a few suburbs, including Pronia which was planned. In
one of the basic syntactic properties of towns - of Mytilini
Nauplion, geometrical grids of different sizes are combined
and Thessaloniki for example (figs. 8 and 9), one can
with parts whose fabric is irregular, especially in the
easily see that Thessaloniki (Mean RRA .480) is more
upper part of the old town.
integrated than Mytilini (Mean RRA 1.030) as in the
• Thessaloniki (fig. 5) is the second largest Greek town integration core of Thessaloniki no space is more than
whose very old center occupies the area within the old two steps (axial spaces) away from the core, while in
walls but whose layout has changed significantly with Mytilini axial spaces away from the core can be up to six.
the implementation of a plan by Hébrard after the
The question is whether the differences in the extent
destruction of a great part of the city by a fire in 1917.
to which the core reaches out towards the parts of the
• Larisa (fig. 6) is not near the sea but in the plain of
town are simply a consequence of the overall degree
Thessalia. It is one of the largest Greek towns with a of integration or whether any additional property is
center in which the opening-up of major streets bisects involved. We notice that in Thessaloniki the core is almost
a more irregular and fragmented urban fabric.
uniformly distributed over the area of the town while
• Kypseli (fig. 7), near the center of Athens, was included in Mytilini a great proportion of the core spaces are
in the sample as a large city context in which we could clustered in one particular area, the "oil market." We
study an ordinary area. Here we have a juxtaposition propose that the extent to which the core is distributed
of geometrical grids which intersect each other at varying or clustered is an interesting syntactic property of urban
angles and which are occasionally deformed according layouts in its own right and we therefore further propose
to older road patterns. the quantitative variable of the spread of the integration
These six cases were selected to illustrate seemingly core to deal with this property and define it as the ratio
different urban morphologies which have evolved under of the average integration of the rest of the town from
different historical circumstances. The aims we had in the nearest core space divided by the average integration
selecting the sample were twofold: of the core spaces into the town as a whole. In other
words the spread expresses numerically how far the depth
• to give ourselves the widest possible variety of urban
of of
morphologies in order to assist in the development the town beyond the core is great as compared to
a typological model of some wider relevance; and, ondepth from the core. In Mytilini the spread is 2.868
the
while in Thessaloniki it is 7.357.
the other hand,
• to use this variety to test a finding which had previouslyFurther to the above, sometimes the mean integration
been established by a study of areas of London, namely, of core spaces is much stronger than the mean integratio
that the density of moving people in urban spaces is of the town as a whole, and sometimes it does not differ
correlated very strongly to the degree of integration much. The greater the difference, the more the core wil
of these spaces into their wider urban context (HILLIER stand out as the syntactic center of the town. In orde
et al., 1987b). to deal with this property we propose the following

Fig. 8: Integration core of Mytilini. Fig. 9: Integration core of Thessaloniki.

40 Ekistics 334, January/February 1989

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definition of a relevant variable: the strength of the tion of sub-area formation. To check for the formation
integration core is the ratio of the average integration of sub-areas we propose to ask two questions:
value of an area divided by the average integration value • First, how far the integration cores of the parts coincide
of the axial spaces of the core. with the integration core of the layout as a whole: the
In Mytilini, the core seems to acquire strength by virtue more the coincidence, the less distinct the sub-areas.
of the amount of depth which grows from it in different• Second, how far the mean integration of the part is
directions. However, as the overall fabric is so fragmented greater than the mean integration of the overall layout:
and as the core itself comprises linear sequences of if the part is more integrated than the whole, then it
spaces, there seem to be no spaces from where the parts appears more autonomous.
of the town really become easily accessible. In
Thessaloniki the core seems to acquire strength by virtue
of comprising long spaces which traverse the whole town
and are well connected to several local areas. While the
two towns differ more sharply in terms of average
integration and spread, they have about the same strength,
1 .4 and 1 .493 respectively. However, the range of possible
strength values seems to be more limited and Thessaloniki
has a significantly stronger core than Mytilini (we deal
with this, in more detail, later in this paper).

Decomposition and the extent of differentiation

of local areas
The comparison between Thessaloniki and Mytilini also
raises the question of the formation and articulation of
sub-areas. In Thessaloniki, since the core is well spread
and the integration is high, we can plausibly say that
the town is structured as a single whole. In Mytilini,
however, since both spread and integration are weaker,
we may suspect that the town is decomposed into distinct
sub-areas. In fact the core practically divides the town
into a western and an eastern half. Can we arrive at
a consistent way of dealing with the possible formation
of sub-areas?
We deal with this question by proposing
• first, a procedure by which the layout of a town can
be decomposed into parts; and,
• second, two variables by which we can measure the
extent to which these parts constitute distinct sub-
areas.

The difficulty with finding some criterion for decompos-

ing an urban layout arises from the fact that there usually
are several alternative connections between any two parts.
Fig. 10: Choice core of Mytilini.
Any attempt to decompose in a non-trivial way is soon
frustrated by the difficulty of deciding how to make sense
of the relationship between the proportion of spaces that These questions are dealt with by two variables defined
as follows:
must be removed in order to achieve decomposition, the
number of parts thus created, and the relative sizes of • The proportion of the integration core spaces of a local
those parts. We can overcome this difficulty by agreeing area which also belong to the integration core of the
to "cut" the layout along the consecutive lines of the global area to which the local area belongs is called
highest possible Choice Value which, taken as a set, the overlap. The greater the overlap, the less distinct
traverse it from one edge to another. The explanation the parts.
for this is straightforward: a high Choice Value means, • The ratio of the mean integration of a global area divid-
by definition, that a high number of connections between ed by the mean integration of a local area that forms
the possible pairs of spaces go through a particular space. part of it is called the definition of the local area. The
By cutting along the high Choice lines, one is in fact greater the definition, the more distinct the parts.
cutting at the seams of connectedness of the layout. Overlap and definition refer to the properties of local
Where the choice core bifurcates we always cut so as areas as embedded in global areas. When we want to
to maximize the total Choice Value while minimizing the describe the properties of global areas we can use the
total number of necessary cut-lines. Figure 10 gives the average overlap and the reciprocal of the average defini-
Choice core of Mytilini to illustrate the basis of decom-tion of their parts respectively. In Thessaloniki, to return
position in one case. to our examples, the overlap is .930, while in Mytilini
This decomposition procedure can be applied to any it is .620. Thus Mytilini has more distinct sub-areas. Yet,
layout, and its results are not, in themselves, an indica-in both towns sub-areas have no strong independent in-

Ekistics 334, January/February 1989 47

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tegration. Thus, the towns are better defined as a whole, Table 2
with definition values 1.031 and 1.058 respectively. The correlations between the syntactic variables used in the
analysis of towns
Typological characteristics of the urban layouts Correlation Matrix for Variables: Xļ ... Xi 2

Trends within the sample as a whole: The decomposition Lines RRA Spread Strength Overlap Definition Intelligib... RelSpread

technique was applied in each of the 6 towns and some, Lines J

but not all,sub-areas were analyzed independently in each

RRA -32 1

Spread -.017

case. Thus the sample of 6 towns gave a further sample Strength -.41 3 -.75 -445 J

of 25 sub-areas, 5 in Kerkyra, 4 in Nauplion, 2 in Mytilini, Overlap

Definition
. 1

-.034
3

-.197 -.086 .023 -.157 1

9 in Thessaloniki, 3 in Larisa and 2 in Kypseli (Athens). Intelligibi... -.614 -.738 .416 .783 .091 .084 1

In Kerkyra, Thessaloniki and Nauplion, the number of RelSpread .232 .1 1 .706 -.095

RelStren... -.263 -1.02E-4 -.01 .661 -.012 -.188 .347 -.019

.193 -.31 -.1 19 J

sub-areas includes second order sub-areas resulting from Rellntel. -.56 -1.92E-7 -.042 .34 -.344 -.092 .674 -.056
Blocks/Li... -.221 -.864 .693 .669 .363 .121 .702 .12
further decomposition of the results of the first decom- Connecti -.045 -.859 .685 .565 |.473 |.05 |.623 1.122
position of the town into parts. The complete set of 31
complexes, whose numerical profile is given in table 1,
was analyzed to detect any general trends and to help
identify the typological characteristics of each town. Correlation Matrix for Varlablea: Xļ ... X-j 2

In the process of examining whether there are any RelStren.. . Rellntel. Blocks/... Connecti. ..

significant correlations between the different syntactic

RelStrength J

Rellntel. -514 1

measures (table 2), we found a strong negative correla- Blocks/Lines .032 .096

tion between connectivity and RRA suggesting, in accor-

Connectivity -.12 -.017 .919

dance with common sense, that the more connected

systems tend to be more integrated (cor. -.859). We
also found a strong negative correlation between in-
telligibility and RRA which suggests that more integrated
towns are also more intelligible (cor. - .738). This finding 2

confirms a previous similar finding reported by Hillier

et al. (1987b).
In order to help the comparison of towns we also com- tw
puted the residuals of the correlation between integra- ty.
tion and intelligibility, in other words the differences be- ty."

Table 1
The syntactic characteristics of 6 towns and 25 sub-areas

I Area I Lines RRA Spread Strength Overlap Definition Intelligibility RelSpread RelStrength Rellntel. Blocks/Lines Conn

T KERKYRA 381.000 .850 2.641 L400 7500 7951 7450 7041 125* 133 7507 2.131
3 NorthKerkyra 209.000 .860 2.863 OĪ0 7530 385" .580 .298 -.1 10 -.091 355" 2.120
3 ČentralKerkyra 109.000 .890 2.629 170 7500 355" 370 7750 133 -.144 383 77890
4 SouthKerkyra ""587000 .700 3.153 1.470 .570" 1.214 ~ .580 ~ -.158 -.037 ~ -.182 .691 2.059
5 Antivouniotisa 108.000 . 890 2.530 1.240 0 .§66 .710 .061 -.163 .056 .463 2.028
5" AgioiPateres 68.000 .860 1.874 77390 7740 Ī7033" ?740" T593 130 359" 300 Ī13T
7 NAUPLION 252.000 .860 2.388 77470 7TSÜ" 7875" 7590 ITS" 7050 7070 .833 37330
S" ÔldNauplio U8.00Ô .790 2.554 1 .430 7250 1.089 .790 -.473 T03S" .079 7788" 37373
9 ironia 75.ÔÔÔ .720 2.516 77540 7730 7T79T 350 T573" .144 399" 7783 5337
10 LowOldNauplio 38.000 .550 1.963 77370 3ÜÖ" 77435" .910 -2.718 -.119 35T 77784 5337
11 HighOldNaupfiõ 63.000 .870 2.241 77450 7770 7908" 330" -.291 335" -.036 .508 77778"
~~ Ī3" MYTILINI 348.000 1.030 2.868 1.400 330" 77058" .540 .746 373" T035" .287 Ī390"
~~ 73 WestMytìlini 133.000 1.070 1.905 1.380 330" .963 .540 -.143 .075 -.012 .338 7355"
14 EastMytìlini 127.000 1.110 3.491 T300" 330" .928 .630 1.510 .017 .101 .260 77380
15 THESSALONIKI 289.000 .480 7.357 77493 7930" 1.031 .760 1.556 -.135 -.127 1.118 37975"
13 NorthThess 131.000 .490 5.200 1.561 7930" 380" .700 -.411 T05T -.182 1.053 37580
17 SouthThess 150.000 .500 5.250 1.561 7930" 350" .850 183 -.056 -.026 1.233 37033"
18" NWThess 44.000 .550 2.375 Ī7530" .750 .891 .860 -2.306 7030" .013 7854 37383
13 NCThess 32.000 .480 5.737 Ī773S" 370" 1.021 7950" T05T .130 373" Ī738Ī 37533
10 NEThess 69.000 .600 4.387 1.530 .570 .817 .820 378" -.032 .001 .797 37390
21 SWThess 59.000 .600 3.648 1.556 7830" .833 .860 157 T003 .041 .712 37390
22 SCThess 46.000 .530 7.595 1.623 7500 343 .900 37539" .022 .041 1.457 37833
13 SEThess 60.000 .500 5.738 T75Ī7 7570 1.000 7900 7303 0 .024 1.167 37783
24 Ladadika 24.000 .580 2.335 Ī77Ī3 .500 7703T .930 -1.985 .142 .100 .625 37T33
25 LARISA 218.000 .580 4.029 1.584 7700 0 33 .770 193 .011 -.060 313" 37393
13 WestLarisa 84.000 .850 4.164 1.579 7530 7583 380 T7353 .154 7303 7953 37503
17

IS"

19 KYPSELI, ATHENS 244.000 .520 5.486 173 380 7988" /790 7380 13T T074" 053 3173
10 AgiosGeorgios 43.000 "330 3.055 1.745 .500 353 350 T750 7750 7Ī03 1.140 37339
IT AgiasZonis 57.000 190 9.179 1.679 .670 77057 340 37358" 3555" 158" Í737T 375IT
33 1 Average! 1Ž1.Ž39I .5951 3.8l8 1 1-539 1 .562 1 .995 1 .765 1 -.016 1 -.Ò

48 Ekistics 334, January/February 1989

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 We also found a strong correlation between spread
and the square of the reciprocal of RRA (cor. - 71) and
between strength and RRA (cor. - 75). This suggests that
we cannot treat spread and strength as typological dimen-
sions independent of integration. Thus, in our characteriza-
tion of the towns we have also taken into account the
residuals between their spread and strength values and
the values we would expect on the basis of their RRA.
These residuals, which we call Relative Spread and
Relative Strength, were independent of RRA and unrelated
to each other.
While there seemed to be consecutive correlations
which linked connectivity to integration and integration
to intelligibility as well as to the spread and strength
of the core, no variable seemed to correlate powerfully
with either the core overlap or the definition of sub-areas.
While definition seems an independent variable, overlap
is correlated with spread (cor. .517). Thus, the degree
of sub-area formation does not seem to depend strongly
on any of the basic syntactic variables. In fact, the extent
and nature of sub-area formation seems to be the most
powerful typological dimension arising from our analysis
of the sample.
Properties of the individual cases: Given the preliminary
presentation of trends within the sample as a whole,
we now turn to a brief examination of the distinctive
properties of each town. Though we are dealing with
a small sample we believe that our analysis allows us
to identify certain typological features of wider relevance.
• Kerkyra has a fragmented urban fabric as indicated
by the poor connectivity and small number of blocks
per line. The strength of the core is low - even lower
than expected according to the degree of integration,
but the core is slightly more spread than expected. In
fact, visual inspection shows that though there is a bias Fig. 11: Integration core of east Mytilini compared t
towards the large open space, known as the Spianada, integration core. It is evident that most of the lines w
on the east, the core reaches into the three main parts to the local core also belong to the global, thus turni
of the town, the northern, central and southern, which into a good example of less accessible parts convergi
a common center.
are defined by the two main streets running in an east-
west direction. It also connects the entrances of the town
to the interior. Nevertheless, there are still substantial the local cores. Furthermore, while the global core ru
local areas which are not penetrated by the core. Two
along the middle of the town, the local cores of the west
of these areas were analyzed and were found to have and eastern areas are biased towards those external
cores which did not overlap with either the main core spaces which coincide with the global core. In fact local
or the cores of the three main parts. By and large, however, cores grow inwards only very marginally. And if the local
the global core is stronger than most of the local cores cores of the two halves are superimposed, we get prac-
and the internal integration of the parts is weaker than tically all the significant spaces of the global core of
the integration of the whole. The only criterion by which the town. We can therefore say that in Mytilini weak
the parts are well distinguished from the whole is their
integration is coupled to a strong convergence towards
stronger intelligibility. We therefore propose that the layout a common center which remains external to the parts.
of Kerkyra unfolds according to two principles: Figure 1 1 gives the integration core of one of the segments
• the continuous interweaving of parts around a common to illustrate this principle.
integration structure which penetrates into them; and, • In Nauplion the fragmentation of the layout mainly
• the segmentation of local areas away from the common results from the juxtaposition of grids of varying sizes
core.
and directions. Its distinguishing feature, however, is the
The first principle dominates over the second. very poor This
overlapcon-
of local cores with the global core.
clusion suggests that previous studies which have
At the same inter-
time, the integration core is stronger than
preted the layout in terms of local epicenters expected. only need
Both characteristics apply to the old town as
to be reconsidered (AGOROPOULOU-BIRBILI, well as 1977).
to the town as a whole. Each time, the cores
• Mytilini is distinguished for having the most seem to cover the geographical center of the correspon-
fragmented
layout as indexed by poor connectivity and ding areas. Thus,
a small numberwe cannot talk of convergence, as with
of blocks per line. It also has the less integrated layout
Mytilini. Furthermore, local areas tend to be more in-
of the sample. However, its core is much more
tegrated spread
than the larger areas. Nauplion exhibits strong
and strong than expected and overlaps considerably regionalization intowith sub-areas, but regionalization occurs

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around a strong common center; cores lead to one another
as if in successive "layers." To some extent, these layers
correspond to the stages of an urban growth which has
been marked by attempts to plan and regularize the town
at various stages of its evolution (KALAFATIS, 1984;
DOROVINIS, 1984). Figure 12 gives the integration cores
of the old town and of the upper part of the old town
to illustrate the layered regionalization.
• Thessaloniki is distinguished by the strongest overall
integration and a very spread core. This is partly the
result of the supergrid created by the streets which were
opened according to Hébrard's plan after 1917. The cores
of the parts tend to be stronger than the overall core
although most cores are weaker than expected. In
Thessaloniki, we can talk of neither segmentation nor
convergence. The main source of differentiation is the
co-presence of older deformed parts within the supergrid. probably require the analysis of properties which cannot
Taken individually, these deformed parts are never
substantial enough to constitute distinct sub-areas.
However, their collective effect is not to regionalize the metric properties. Such extension of syntactic analysis
town but to act as catalysts which pull the core in all
directions so as not to allow it to shrink towards its
geometrical center. Thus, we may describe Thessaloniki
as an example of polarization.
• The Kypseli area of Athens is well integrated. Its core, Let us now explore how far the properties described above
while well spread, is not characterized by strong overlap have empirically detectable consequences with regard
with the local cores. The distinguishing feature of the
area, however, is the contrast between the very strong
local cores and the rather weak global core. This com-
bines with the fact that local areas are more intelligible Continuous paths were selected in each of the towns
than Kypseli as a whole. We see here the effects of the
deformation of the urban grid, without the layering and
regionalization that we had in Nauplion. From this point
of view, Kypseli is similar to some of the areas analyzed
by Hlllier et al. (1987a; 1987b), in which the deformation
of the urban grid also acted as a principle of local area
differentiation. And the rule which was detected in Lon-
don also applies in Kypseli, much as it applies in the
other towns of the sample: the same line can take a
very different integration rank compared with other lines,
depending on whether it is set in a local or global context.
Thus, integration rank differentials are already an indica-
tion of differentiation of local and global parts. We hope,
however, that the new concepts we have used in this
article help to set this rule in the context of a more firm
model of typological differences.
• Larisa seems to be another case of a deformed grid
which raised no new questions.
So the review of the five towns is sufficient to introduce
all the dimensions of variability and the comparative types
which arise in the sample. The discussion has illustrated
how syntactic analysis can describe the relation of local
and global urban areas by elaborating on the analysis
of the properties of integration. Further progress would
be represented in terms of graph-relationships, to deal
with other aspects of configuration, including shape and
is beyond the scope of this article.
Analysis of pedestrian movement
to the distribution of pedestrian movement.
Distribution of movement density
so as to include quiet and busy spaces, small lanes and
main streets, residential streets and commercial ones.
A moving observer recorded the numbers of different
categories of people as they passed by him along his
path. These numbers were then expressed as densities
per 100 meters. Observations were made separately dur-
ing the times of the day when shops are open as well
as during the times when they are closed. In Kerkyra
and Nauplion two sets of observations were made, one
during the winter and one during the summer, in order
to explore the consequences of the presence of large
numbers of tourists in the latter period.
The density of moving people - with which we are
only concerned in this paper - is of particular interest
in the sense that movement requires some conception
by those moving of the urban layout as a relational system.
By studying how people move we can infer how they
understand the layout in practice, as a usable morphology
of their everyday life, regardless of whether they can
translate that understanding into words. In fact we can
analyze the distribution of the density of movement so
as to infer the extent of its "area of reference" and also
its "orientation."

In order to permit such inferences data have been

Fig. 12: Integration cores of the Old Town of Nauplion and of
the Upper Part of Old Nauplion compared. It is evident that
the two cores are quite disjoint, thus making Old Nauplion a
good example of the regional differentiation of parts over and
above the overall integration of the urban fabric.
organized in the following way. In every town the path
was chosen so as to have a large enough sample of
observed spaces within at least one particular sub-area
to complement the overall sample which was more dispers-
ed over the town as a whole (fig. 13). In fact in Nauplion
the focus was on two sub-areas - the old town and
the suburb Pronia; in Thessaloniki the focus was on the
south-eastern segment which is a representative exam-
ple of the modern grid, as well as on the area Ladadika
which is an example of small scale deformed urban fabric

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 area" and "sub-area embedded."

General trends: The first question we asked was which

Fig. 13: Observation paths in the six towns under study: a) Kerkyra,
b) Mytilini, c) Nauplion, d) Thessaloniki, e) Larisa, f) Kypseli, Athens.
of the syntactic variables is more strongly correlat
with the density of movement. We reviewed 126 sets of
correlations by considering "whole area," "sub-area" and
"embedded sub-area" correlations, with shops closed
or open, or according to the overall average for each
space, during summer and during winter. The reciprocal
RRA Values produced the best correlations in 70 sets,
Choice Values in 23 sets, Length in 21 sets and Connec-
tivity in 12. In most cases it was found that correlations
were better when we considered the square root of the
movement density.
We also proceeded to inspect visually the scattergrams
associated with the correlations. Very frequently, the cor-
relations with Choice Values seemed to rest on less even-
ly spread scattergrams than those with RRA Values. And
in most cases RRA Values gave the second best correla-
tion when they did not give the first. This is illustrated
by an example given in figure 14. Thus, our overall conclu-
sion is that integration (reciprocal RRA) is the most fre-
quent and the most reliable predictor of the density of
movement in any particular space.
In view of the importance of the above result for our
argument we want to give the reader an impression of
the strength of the correlations involved. Table 3 presents
the correlation data for all the towns and areas, but may
be too cumbersome to follow in the context of this article.
The reader may perhaps be assisted by figures which
give a coarser picture. The average correlation between
1/RRA and (Moving Density) for "whole towns" is .64;

currently under conservation; in Larisa observation of

all three main sub-areas was possible; in Kypseli the
focus was on two distinct areas, loosely centered around
the churches of Aghios Georgios and Aghia Zoni.

The spatial predictability of movement

This allowed the computation of three sets of correlation
coefficients between densities and the syntactic
characteristics of spaces:
• In the first set, all observed spaces were taken into
consideration and their syntactic properties calculated
by considering the layout of the town as a whole.
• In the second set we took into account only the spaces
observed in a particular sub-area and calculated their
syntactic properties within the boundary of that sub-
area.

By comparing these two sets we could examine whether

the distribution of density could be explained better with
reference to limited sub-areas or with reference to the
town as a whole.

• The third set of correlations was computed by taking

into account the spaces observed within a particular
sub-area while calculating their syntactic properties
with refèrence to the town as a whole.

By comparing the second and the third set we could

ask whether people moving in a sub-area orientate
themselves towards the larger context or towards the Fig. 14: The correlation between^ CH and^ Moving compared
smaller system of reference. to the correlation between 1/RRA and 'T Moving in south-eastern
For the sake of convenience we refer to the three sets Thessaloniki. Here, as in most cases, the correlation with 1/RRA
of correlations by using the terms "whole town," "sub- is based on a more evenly distributed scattergram.

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the average for "sub-areas" is .50; and the average for
"sub-areas embedded" is .70.
The second question we asked was which of the three
sets of correlations, "whole area," "sub-area" and "sub-
area embedded," produced better results. We checked
this over 13 areas and 57 comparisons (depending on
the time of observation). In 29 cases the best correlations
were produced by a sub-area embedded in the town as
a whole. In 22 cases the best correlation was produced
by considering the town as a single whole. And only
in 4 cases were the best correlations given by the sub-
area considered as an independent system. On the con-
trary, the sub-areas treated as independent systems pro-
duced the weakest correlations in 32 cases. These find-
ings have important theoretical consequences: If cities
function more like differentiated wholes than like uniform
systems , their parts are not differentiated according to
a principle of enclosure and self-reference, but according
to their distinct orientation towards the larger system
as a whole.
The fact that this conclusion contradicts the belief
that neighborhoods are to be understood as self-contained
entities, calls for some additional comments. Of the cases
examined, the more independent local areas were the
Ladadika of Thessaloniki, the north-eastern sector of
Larisa and the area of Aghia Zoni in Kypseli. Ladadika,
a rather decaying area with some commercial and some
office activity, functions as an independent system more
strongly when shops are closed. This is a time when
most visitors are attracted by the fact that Ladadika
becomes a "red light district." The north-eastern part
of Larisa included the main vegetable market. Thus, there
too, people come from a distance to search around for
a particular service. Only in the case of Aghia Zoni do
we have a residential district acting like an independent
sub-area. On the other hand, Kerkyra - where the occur- "sub-area" when shops are closed. And only in 2 cases
rence of large numbers of small squares and local chur-
ches has led students to think that the town is broken
up into distinct territories (AGOROPOULOU-BIRBILI, 1977)
- is a case where movement is most strongly orientated
towards the town as a whole and where the town seems
to function like a single integrated system. Thus,These
our findings allow us to clarify an important
evidence challenges the ideology which associates the
methodological point. While the presence of shops has
traditional city or the good city with the creation of ter-
ritorial demarcations and enclosed neighborhoods. The
distinguishing characteristic of the areas we studied is
their global orientation and by implication theiropenness
to the outside.
• We now come to a third issue, the effect of shops
upon the spatial predictability of movement densities.
We have pursued several separate questions.
• The first question is whether shops improve or weaken
the correlations. Out of 42 relevant pairs, correlations
were stronger with shops open in 26 cases. But in this
regard, the sample was split between areas where cor-
relations tended to be better with shops open and areas
where the opposite is the case.
• The second question we pursued is whether shops af-
fect which variable produces the best correlations. In
21 cases there is no change in variable depending on
shops. But in 13 cases, when shops are closed, local
variables produce better correlations than the global
ones. Thus, while shops do not produce a clear and
consistent effect with regard to the spatial predictabili-
ty of movement density, we might argue that the general
effect of their functioning is to make correlations
stronger and to privilege the prediction power of global
variables, in particular RRA, over the local ones.
• The third question we pursued is whether shops affect
the order of inequality between the "whole town," "sub-
area" and "sub-area embedded" sets of correlations.
Out of 19 pairs of inequalities, in 6 cases there is no
change and in 5 cases there is no change concerning
the strongest correlations set. In 4 cases the "whole
town" and the "sub-area embedded" exchange their
rank order when shops are closed. In 2 cases "sub-area
embedded" and "whole town" took precedence over
did a "sub-area" take precedence over "whole town."
Thus, it is clear that the open orientation of sub-areas
towards the town as a whole is not affected by shops
and persists equally when they are closed as when
they are open.

Table 3
Correlation coefficients between syntactic variables and moving
people densities.

Time of Obs. Period of Obs. Syntactic VariaElē Nauplioñ" Old NaupHõõ Old N.Emb Pruni a" Pron.Emb" Kerkyra North Kerk" North Kerk. Emb Myrilini West Myt. West Myl. Emb. South Thessaloniki S Th.Emb. SETH. 5E Th.Emb.inTh.ļSE Th.Emb.inS Tit!

~"T shops"ūpēir Wm» (I7REXT !7T .42 .76 TT 8T 3<S - ~ .30 ¿1

7 Shops Opēn" yjn>er Connectivity" ' .70 ~ .62" ~ .62" .47 ~ 77 .43 .36 j .47 7

3 Shops Opēn" Winter Choice Vtluc ' .54 ~ .23 ~ .12 TT ~BT .41 3T 30 ~ •"

3 Shops OpēīT WuüF Length TT ~~5T 37" .82 82 34 3T" .TT

5 Shops Open Summer (1/RRA) .66 .43" .84 .61 .78 .71 .40" TT T5 IT ~ T3 ~ ~ 7 r

5 Shops Open Summer Connectivity TT 37 T7 33 TT TT TI TJ 35 53 54 : : ; : 7

7 Shops Open Summer ^ Choice ; Value TT ~TT TT 53" .74 .50 .40 1~ ,3B" TT TT TT

S Shops Opēn" Summer" Length TT ~7T ~TĪ .58 58 .55 TT .53" TĪT TT TT

9 Shops Closed Winter (1/RRA) 39" TT TS" TT "TT TT TT TT

10 Shops Closed Winier Connectivity TT T T TT T3 TT TT TTl 3ö 7 7

"TT ~" Shops Closed Winter Choice Value T9" TT TS" TT TI T9r TTļ TT ~ 7 7

~" IT Shops Closed Winter Length ' Tö" TT TT TS" TS" T9" TT TT ~ 7

"TT Shops ClošēT Summer (1/RRA) ' .51 ~ .64 ~ .71 TT ~33 TT TTļ T8 TT TT TT r

~T3 Shops Closed Summer Connectivity T3 37 37 T3 TT 3ST 3T 33" TT 31 57l 7

15 Shops Closed Summer Choice Value Tö" .34' .50 TT TB" 33 3T 39" Tö" 3T 5B"|

IT Shops Closed Summer Length TT TB" TB" TT TT T3B" TT TT TT TT TT

~~T7 All Observation ff»"» _ (1/RRA) TT ~~T3 TT .39" .66 33 TB| .49 »

18 All Observations Winter Connectivity _ TT 39" 39" TT TT TI TI Tö" • 7 7 57

~T9 All Observations" Wintěř Choice Ý3ěe .5l~ .24 .41 TT .82 T9"

Tö All Observations' Winter' LengtF" .63 . 64 64 .81 TT TT TT TT • 7 7

TT All Observation Summēt (1/RJEāT .65 .59 .83 .55 .74 .71 T9" TT T3 TT TT 7

22 AU Observation Summer Connectivity T3 TT T5 33 Tö" 3T TB 3T Tö TT TÌ 7 7

23 All Observation Summer Choice Value .37 ,2T T9 T9 Tö 3T T3 3T 39" 35 T9" 7

24 1 AU Observation I Summer | Length .37 .74 .74 .47 TT .59 62 TT Tl' .16 " lT •

52 Ekistics 334, January/February 1989

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clear effects upon the spatial predictability of movement • The global orientation of sub-areas also suggests that
density, we were able to come to conclusions about such the inhabitants of a town are interchanged in the roles
predictability, without mapping the precise location and of inhabitants and visitors as they move about. Thus,
distribution of shops. This suggests that layout is the the addition of visitors from the outside does not
key variable involved in determining the distribution of qualitatively change the situation, it merely has an
movement, over and above the distorting effect of any impact on the "center of gravity" of the town.
particular attraction. This corroborates the findings in • No evidence was found to suggest that strangers move
London (hillier et al., I987b). Given this, we can also about so as to invade what would otherwise be an
say that the distribution of shops, which in Greece is enclosed local community. Where strangers aggregate
quite diffused, is compatible with and reinforces the syn- in large numbers in a previously quiet space, this is
tactic organization of the towns. because a local has provided them with a facility such
The final question we wished to pursue is the extent as a restaurant or bar.
to which the logic of movement changes depending on Our findings confirm that, irrespective of their particu
the presence of large numbers of visitors. Among the programs and itineraries and the activities in which they
6 towns, Kerkyra and Nauplion have large numbers of engage, people can build up the expectation that wh
visitors during the summer period. This gave us an they move in public space they will be in the presen
opportunity to compare separate observations made of others; that the density of this presence will vary fr
during the winter and dtiring the summer. We have reported space to space; but that it will be probabilistically
the results of the analysis in more detail elsewhere predictable on the basis of an understanding of the syntax
(LIVIERATOS et al., 1988). What should be noted here is of the urban layout. It is precisely on the basis of such
that the presence of visitors in these two cases was an understanding that the urban layout is not only usable
associated with an increase in the spatial predictability and explorable for narrowly defined purposes but also
of movement and with a stronger predominance of RRA provides some background knowledge and awareness,
as a prediction-variable. But the presence of visitors explicit or tacit, about other people and other activities,
changed the relationships between "whole town," "sub- about relations of sociality, reciprocity and mutual
area" and "sub-area embedded" correlations. By and large visibility. This wider awareness makes it habitable as
overall movement tended to gravitate towards the areas a cultural artifact. The term virtual community has been
frequented by visitors. But the overall persistence of the used to describe this fundamental social fact: that in
structure of movement with and without the presence urban space, people are co-present in consistent ways,
of visitors suggests that the physical openness we have over and above any individual intentions, any active
described previously is coupled to a social openness. exchange or communication and any shared membership
To sum up, we can make the following three more of particular communities - whether based on propinquity
precise claims: or not (HILLIER et al., 1987b).
• Given the orientation of movement in the sub-areas The combination of uncertainty and expectation -
towards the town as a whole, we suggest that the levels
which we might describe as the probabilistic predictability
of movement density depend not on the numbers of of
the density of movement per space according to the
way in which the spaces feature in a particular layout
people who use a space as the origin or destination
of a journey, but on the numbers of people who -passseems, therefore, an important feature of urban culture.
What we further want to explore is whether the differences
through. This openness towards the passer-by facilitates
the assimilation of visitors who promenade aroundbetween
the layouts as a whole have any bearing on the
town. density and the distribution of movement.

TV Superflr. rn.Supe^r.Emb.lnUļl'h.SupcrtSr.Emb.lnS TŅ tt.Ladadlka rrh.Laj.F.mb.inTn.pii.Lad.Ěmb.lnS Th.ļ Larisa |WUrlsa |W U.kmb.ļ Mb Lansap lar.Emb. |SE I^ns«|SE Lar.Emb.j Kypscli Ag.Gcorgios jAg.Gcor.Emb.j Ag.Zon.s |Ag.Zon,»Emb.

S ^

■ ■ ■ a A . # • • • •

33 .33 ^ ■ 1T ■ ■ 14? .24 a A

3T .47- .3T

33 TT TT

=« 33

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• The first question we asked is whether the morphology suggests a "recompensation" logic once again, whereby
of layouts has a bearing on the actual densities of moving movement becomes more extrovert precisely where local
people themselves, over and above the obvious influence areas are more integrated in themselves than they are
of the size of the inhabitant population and the daily within a larger context.
influx of people from the surroundings. There may be several explanations for our inability
In each of the towns and sub-areas we felt compelled to account more firmly for the differences in the "sub-
to determine three density figures: area embedded" correlations. One explanation is that
all these correlations are quite high and there is a lesser
• the average density of all spaces observed;
margin of variation. Another explanation may be that
• the average density of exceptional spaces; and
the outward orientation of movement is an independent
• the average density of ordinary spaces.
cultural feature which articulates itself to the properties
We called "exceptional" those spaces with unusually of the layout but is not generated by them. The resolution
high densities, which stood out from the rest of the spaces, of this dilemma has to await further progress with the
the "ordinary" ones; technically, a space was considered analysis.
exceptional if its density was greater than the sample
mean by twice the standard deviation of the sample.
Only one morphological variable was consistently related Conclusion
to all three density averages, whether we considered the
towns observed during the summer or those observed This paper presents evidence to support the claim that
during the winter. That variable was the overlap of local the properties of syntactic integration of urban layouts
and global cores. Thus, it seems that systems which have empirically observable consequences regarding the
cohere more strongly in a single whole generate more distribution of pedestrian movement. Thus, the typological
movement than others. model of urban layouts which is introduced in the early
part of the paper holds some interest, not only as a
• The second question we asked is whether any syntactic
descriptive tool which can be applied in the study of
variables have a bearing on the degree of difference
urban plans, but also as a model of how these plans
between the exceptional and the ordinary density levels.
generate their own cultural effects. At least two of the
Two variables seem to be involved, both relating to
dimensions of the model, the overlap of local and global
the degree of regularity of fragmentation of the urban grid:
cores, and the spread of cores are seen to have their
• the number of connections; and, own direct effects on the generation and distribution
• the number of blocks per line. of movement density.2 However, our analysis remains
Systems with a more fragmented and irregular layout fundamentally two-dimensional. While this echoes the
tended to generate a greater polarization of density fact that people move essentially in two dimensions,
towards the exceptional spaces. We see this as a case further development of the model may allow us to
of urban culture working towards the recompensation encompass more explicitly the third dimension.
of spatial effects. Where the fragmentation of the urban Interestingly, this will in turn enable us to explore whether
fabric into lines which give access to only a few other the properties which have been described here find a
lines or blocks is excessive, people will congregate in powerful but special realization in towns built on sites
those spaces which afford them the awareness of each and in ways which make three-dimensional visibility
other which is denied by the rest of the urban fabric. crucial. The more explicit inclusion of the third dimension
This finding offers another powerful way of characterizing will also allow us to discuss more thoroughly the
Greek urban culture, and may also be more widely relationship between the structure of space and the
applicable to other cultures. structure of architectural experience (FATOUROS, 1979).
• The third question we asked is whether the overall The model itself has dealt with two fundamental
morphology of a layout influences the predictability of questions:
the density of movement of particular spaces. We
• the spatial constitution of centrality; and,
considered separately the predictability during the hours
• the differentiation and articulation of local parts in their
when shops are closed and when they are open as well
as the average predictability for each town. Only the spread global context.
of the core was consistently related to predictability. These are the fundamental spatial questions of urban
The more the core of an area is spread, the more the analysis. Centrality creates a collective destination, a
density of people per space is predictable on the basis point of convergence. The integration core is where people
of the integration of the space into the area. can expect to meet other people as well as find goods,
The above result holds for the "whole town" and the services or information. In other words, the core constructs
an encounter interface and a search interface. But the
"sub-areas" correlations. However, we were unable to
differentiation and articulation of parts seems to be as
give a consistent account for the variation in the critical
"sub-areas embedded" set. We were only able to ascertain critical in giving towns their particular identity. Because
some trends during some time periods (mainly winter parts are continuously and yet differentially interwoven
observations), but not during others. Areas with greaterinto the urban fabric, urban space can embody both the
overlap generated less difference between "sub-area particular and the general, both relations in space and
embedded" and "sub-area" correlations; on the other relations across space, both the definition of inhabitant
identities and the assimilation of visitors.
hand, areas with stronger definition tended to generate
much greater predictability in the "sub-area embedded" The application to our model in the study of Greek
than in the "sub-area" sets. The first finding seems to cities has confirmed some of thé earlier conclusions of
confirm intuition but the second is counterintuitive. It other researchers but it has also helped to identify some

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properties which are characteristic of Greek urban culture,
though they are not necessarily exclusive to it.
The intensification of the encounter field, as indicated
both by the outward orientation of movement in the sub-
areas, and by the recompensating tendencies whereby
people congregated in certain key spaces more when
the urban fabric seemed to break up and separate the
KALAFATIS, E. (1979), «H noAeoõopía ir|ç Enaváaiaoriç: NaúnAio
ordinary spaces, is perhaps the most obvious 1822-1823» ("Town planning during the Revolution: Nauplion
characteristic of Greek urban culture. This suggests that 1822-1823," Ta Historika, 2 (December).
in Greek towns, space acts generatively - it creates
the conditions of encounter and exchange - rather than
conservatively - it neither separates nor insulates local
identities. However, our analysis shows that the generative
functions of space derive not only from the mere
concentration of uses and people, but also from a very
definite morphological structure. It is this structure that
we need to recognize and bring to the center of urban
design knowledge.
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FATOUROS (1988), «H a<|>0|ioía)or| tou Çévou» ("The
spatial integration of the alien," Synchrona Themata, no.
34 (May), pp. 32-40.
Notes
1. The research reported in this article was funded by the Greek
Ministry of Industry, Energy, Technology and Research, through
the University of Thessaloniki. The research program in ques-
tion was entitled Organization of Space and Social Structure
in Six Greek Towns.
2. Data iqclude one further interesting confirmation of the
relevance of typological analysis. In Thessaloniki we were
able to ask whether the supergrid made sense independently
of the locally deformed and fragmented secondary spaces.
This was particularly tempting, because the large numbers
of daily visitors to the town center might be expected to
recognize the main streets but not to be familiar with the
local ones. However, whether considered on its own, or embedd-
ed in the town, the supergrid gave less strong correlations
between its syntactic properties and the density of people
moving on it as compared to the geographically continuous
areas - either the town as a whole, or the south-eastern
sector. This confirms our definition of polarization, where we
argued that the supergrid functions in relation to the sub-
areas in order to generate the overall properties of the core.

Ekistics 334, January/February 1989 55

335, March/April 1989

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