Urban Typologies Essay

3.3 The simulated urban forms
Three archetypal urban typologies are examined: the perimeter block, the slab and the pavilion (Martin & March, 1972; Ratti et al., 2003). The variations of the geometric parameters described below generate an array of distinct cases (Figure 3):
Number of floors (4, 6, 8 and 10 floors): Building height in each model is treated as uniform. The maximum height of 10 floors (30m) adheres to the limit of 32m imposed by the Greek building code (Greek Government Gazette, 2012).
Open space width (6, 12, 18, 24 and 30m): This parameter refers to the width of streets and, in the case of blocks, to the depth of internal courtyards. Open space width is held constant in each model in order to be easily related to building height. The minimum width of 6m roughly corresponds to a narrow right-of-way, while the maximum width of 30m to a wide urban artery.
Orientation (declination of model axis from the E-W axis: 0o, 45o and 90o): For convenience these orientations are also referred as E-W, NE-SW and N-S respectively. All examined models are symmetrical along their main axis (see ‘perimeter block shape’ rule below) and the

The W/H and S/V ratio scatterplots are separated by block length in the case of blocks and side distance in the case of slabs and pavilions. Point shape denotes orientation, while colour visualises the S/V ratio values in the W/H ratio scatterplots and vice-versa. This visualisation became possible by clustering these values in six classes using Jenks’ (1967) natural breaks algorithm which minimises in-class variances. Additionally, the SRRC indices are again calculated for data subsets created by splitting the block and slab/pavilion datasets by orientation (Table 2) in order to reveal more detailed relationships between the examined parameters and energy