IsoChronic City | Masters Design Thesis on Urban Revitalization

Information

Project Name: IsoChronic City
Student Name: Prakriti Srimal, Shuyao Li, Siyang Zheng, Sonali Bordia
Awards: World Champion Gold Medal at WASA-WLS 2022 | Media Architecture Biennale Award 2023 – Equitable and Sustainable Media Architecture | Published in ArchDaily
Softwares/Plugins: QGIS , ArcGIS , Rhinoceros 3d , Grasshopper , Enscape , Lumion , Adobe Creative Suite , SketchUp , Autodesk , AutoCAD , Python , DepthMapX , Space Syntax , Unity Game engine , C-sharp , V-Ray , Microsoft Office

Year: 2022
Discipline: Urban Design
Level: Masters Design Thesis
Institute: Bartlett School of Architecture - UCL
University: University College London
Location: London
Country: United Kingdom

Excerpt: ‘IsoChronic City’ is an urban design thesis by Prakriti Srimal, Shuyao Li, Siyang Zheng, and Sonali Bordia from the Bartlett School of Architecture – UCL that explores the 15-minute neighbourhood concept to create a sustainable, inclusive, and accessible city through urban revitalization. The project proposes three strategies that can be implemented in any location by altering the site’s spatial characteristics and physical aspects. Its goal is to establish a neighbourhood that enhances the quality of life for its residents.

Introduction: IsoChronic City is an urban response to the current dilemma of what the post-pandemic re-urbanization process in cities will entail. It is based on the 15-minute neighbourhood concept, which comes from earlier notions of accessibility and walkability. In order to achieve a city that repeats itself at regular intervals, the proposal calls for reorganising the existing network’s centrality and creating responsive public spaces using topo-geometrical interventions to change the physical aspects and spatial characteristics. The design seeks urban revitalisation in the context of London by altering physical aspects and spatial characteristics to achieve a sustainable, inclusive and accessible city.

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Site Context

Prior to 1950, the total world population comprised 34% of the urban population. Industrialization caused a rapid increase in urbanisation, which by the 21st century had raised the percentage of people living in cities to 55%. Urbanisation gave rise to counter-urbanization as a result of major socioeconomic issues brought on by the rate of population growth, a lack of infrastructure, and careless development.

London is one of the prime examples of urbanisation. The city experienced counter-urbanization at the start of the 1940s, when people moved to the suburbs, which fueled the city’s growth. However, the city experienced re-urbanization in the 1970s, meaning that the inner city’s population increased relative to the functional urban region’s population decline, which continued until the present. London has suffered greatly both during and after the Covid-19 Pandemic on a number of fronts. Along with people returning to the suburbs, there has been a sharp increase in the use of green spaces and a decline in foot traffic for retail and commercial establishments. Nowadays, it’s essential to have facilities nearby.

The selected site is disparate due to the drastic differences in built fabric, crossing of overground rail lines, and concentration of the user group along with poor living environment score and lack of amenities required for social interaction. Evolutionary and genetic algorithms along with agent-based simulations are applied to select the area of focus in the selected site.

Design Process

The subjective nature of the definition of a 15-minute city stems from the multitude of needs that individuals may have and how those needs evolve over the course of a lifetime. The pandemic has had a significant impact on the lives of the “Commuter group,” more especially those in the 25–30 age range, whose busy lifestyle has given way to work from home and an increase in outdoor activities.

The project employs a grading system to assess the city according to three criteria: commutability, spatial qualities, and accessibility to amenities. The London High Streets are the focus area for this system’s application in the Dense Urban Neighbourhood Spatial Layer. The areas are given point scores based on the data, and the areas with the lowest scores are designated as sites of interest.

The sites are further examined using machine learning and neural network algorithms, such as angular step depth, Principal Component Analysis, and K-Means, and a site is selected for prototyping. Next, a variety of spatial features were used to analyse this selection, such as geographic influence, visual analysis, image segmentation, analysis of pedestrian and vehicular traffic, sound analysis, analysis of the facility, and analysis of the residential environment.

Final Outcome

In order to achieve the 15-minute neighbourhood, the project aims to propose three distinct strategies: elevated segments, void segments, and mobile segments. Elevated segments are dotted throughout congested intersections and streets in an effort to increase the distance covered in 15 minutes. In residential neighbourhoods with subpar conditions, void segments serve as extensions of public areas and foster a feeling of community.

In order to meet the needs of the populace, the project has also proposed mobile markets, which are made out of temporary structures and containers that can be moved by road, rail, or water. Real-time data is used in the design of each of the three interventions to provide contextual design proposals.

The three strategies that have been proposed can be implemented in any location to create a sustainable, inclusive, and all-access 15-minute neighbourhood given that they are adaptable and modular. IsoChronic City is a proposal that impacts the site’s spatial characteristics in addition to its physical aspects. Its goal is to establish a neighbourhood that enhances the quality of life for its residents.

Conclusion: ‘IsoChronic City’ is an urban solution that addresses the current conundrum of what the post-pandemic re-urbanization process in cities will require. The project is based on the 15-minute neighbourhood concept and seeks to create a sustainable, inclusive, and accessible city by modifying the spatial and physical aspects of the urban network in the context of London.

[This Academic Project has been published with text submitted by the student]