Vidal Domper, N.; Hoyos-Bucheli, G.; Benages Albert, M. Jane Jacobs’s Criteria for Urban Vitality: A Geospatial Analysis of Morphological Conditions in Quito, Ecuador. Sustainability2023, 15, 8597.
Vidal Domper, N.; Hoyos-Bucheli, G.; Benages Albert, M. Jane Jacobs’s Criteria for Urban Vitality: A Geospatial Analysis of Morphological Conditions in Quito, Ecuador. Sustainability 2023, 15, 8597.
Vidal Domper, N.; Hoyos-Bucheli, G.; Benages Albert, M. Jane Jacobs’s Criteria for Urban Vitality: A Geospatial Analysis of Morphological Conditions in Quito, Ecuador. Sustainability2023, 15, 8597.
Vidal Domper, N.; Hoyos-Bucheli, G.; Benages Albert, M. Jane Jacobs’s Criteria for Urban Vitality: A Geospatial Analysis of Morphological Conditions in Quito, Ecuador. Sustainability 2023, 15, 8597.
Abstract
Urban vitality, understood as a key factor for the achievement of cities’ sustainability, shows a strong relationship with urban morphology. The city theorist Jane Jacobs suggested morphologi-cal aspects to promote vital cities already in the 1960s, which remain valid in the present. How-ever, few studies in the Andean region quantitatively exemplify this. This paper aims to test the measurement of urban vitality in a neighborhood of Quito, Ecuador, called La Mariscal, inte-grating Jacobs’ approach. In particular, three urban vitality indexes are evaluated with the appli-cation of GIS software using cadastral data obtained from the municipality and field data col-lection. Results show that the context-based previous knowledge and the scale of analysis are es-sential factors in the configuration of dimensions, indicators, and spatial representation of any urban vitality index. In the study area land use mixture, contact opportunity, and accessibility dimensions are fundamental. Regarding indicators, the incorporation of the informal small-scale commerce, the quality of sidewalks, the street slope, and the good-conditioned street furniture is recommended. Finally, a hybrid representation (raster and vectorial) is suggested to precisely measure urban vitality at a block scale. Altogether, by providing a comparative approach, we in-tend to bring a useful framework for researchers and planners to study urban vitality in Andean cities.
Social Sciences, Geography, Planning and Development
Copyright:
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