Spatial models of local identity

Abstract

Abstract The strive for local identity is an expected public request and a challenge for urban planners. The basic topology of settlements reflects archetypes of places that had stand the test of time and change of fashions. The spatial structure of the city is the complex shape of relationships, functions, symbolic meaning, time, experience, and other features of a particular place. The proposed macro-space is a model of the urban territory that embraces several places under conditions of pedestrian proximity, circulation, and identification. In the article we discuss spatial factors affecting the local identity of urban spaces that are composed of three groups. First, the layout of streets and urban landscape. Secondly, the social characteristics of the urban environment: crowding, liveliness, connectivity, and behavior of residents. Thirdly - virtual, semantic and symbolic factors: events, myths, etc.