Urban Design
THE HIDDEN URBAN DESIGN FIXES THAT CHANGE EVERYTHING
Author: Leon Della Bosca Urban Developer
cent glazing for street-level shopfronts, the study found that 50 per cent glazing creates more engaging spaces. “It can be counterintuitive,” NH Architecture communications manager Amy Snoekstra tells The Urban Developer. “You sort of think transparency must be good, that the wider and more open it is at street level, it’s got to be more engaging. But we found it’s almost the opposite.” The research identified specific measurements that create optimal conditions for urban vitality. Laneways 4m to 8m in width achieve the greatest density of activities. Beyond 14m, spaces become more like town squares, changing how people interact with them. Block sizes also play a crucial role. The study found that 70m by 70m blocks provide ideal subdivision measurements, allowing for multiple pedestrian connections that encourage movement through spaces. These principles have already proven successful in major developments. At Commercial Bay in Auckland, NH Architecture convinced developers to reduce a proposed 12m corridor to 6m based on their research. “They tested it with pedestrian modelling, and it still worked. We think it’s made a huge difference for that human-scale experience,” Heide says. The research also examined how people engage with spaces psychologically. The team discovered a “four-second rule” of engagement, measuring how visual stimuli affect pedestrian behaviour.
Urban design is failing our cities and the people living in them, and a Melbourne architectural practice can prove it. Because, after measuring hundreds of laneways, documenting countless pedestrian movements and analysing decades of urban development, NH Architecture believes it has cracked the code. The firm’s extensive research conducted over five years with RMIT University has revealed specific measurements and ratios that consistently appear in Melbourne’s most successful urban precincts. These findings offer developers a mathematical framework for creating vibrant, profitable spaces. “We wanted to understand what makes spaces work and what doesn’t,” NH Architecture principal Martin Heide tells The Urban Developer. “We kept coming back to the question of vibrancy and trying to unpack the physical properties that contribute to social activation.” The research challenges conventional wisdom about urban design. For instance, while many council guidelines mandate 70-80 per
NH Architecture principal Martin Heide.
22 – February / March 2025
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