Urban Form and Human Behavior
The research work around this theme primarily seeks to understand how the urban form and the dynamic processes that compose our cities and places shape urban experience.
The challenge of this work is to develop methods and theoretical frameworks to bring together the analysis of urban structure from a normative and explorative perspective with a broadly qualitative investigation of individual and community perceptions, experiences and narratives. The concept of place is closely connected to urban form and has a direct link to social life; therefore, the relationships between characteristics of the physical environment and the humans using it, between the context and human responses will be examined in detail. The research will evolve a knowledge base for urban design decisions and a unique collection of urban codes and patterns for understanding the city.
The Center is interested in exploring how form & meaning, physically, socially and virtually is perceived and communicated and what implications these impacts and consequences have on peoples behaviors. Previous studies in different fields akin to urban planning and design, such as sociology, geography, architecture, environmental psychology, economics, etc. have explored people’s social behavior and relationships with urban space. However, the focus and research concern here will be about the matter of spatial tools, frameworks and models by which changes in urban form and human behavior can be better understood, visualized and worked with.