ABSTRACT

This chapter focuses on the development of a toolkit based on the case studies of community formation in the city of Liverpool. It outlines a set of computational tools, written in the R programming language that might help to describe community formations. The challenge for a new wave of design thinking around urban community formation stems from the difficulties of imaging their real or potential inter-dependencies within their spatial settings. Design research seeks to observe, analyze and understand the contexts in which habitable forms take shape. The configurational approach of space syntax also allows design researchers to consider the affordances of network structures and their potential to fulfil their design function. Potential affordance in the shaping of townscapes is, arguably, an under-utilized notion in design research. Each urban community, whether in city, town or village, has the potential to offer something unique: something they do particularly well, whether due to historical accident, environmental advantage, well-honed craft or otherwise.