Theory of the Urban Web

This paper identifies fundamental processes behind urban design. Rules are derived from connective principles in complexity theory, pattern recognition, and artificial intelligence. Any urban setting can be decomposed into human activity nodes and their interconnections. The connections are then treated as a mathematical problem (here in a qualitative manner). Urban design is most successful when it establishes a certain number of connections between activity nodes. Mathematics itself depends upon establishing relationships between ideas; this ability being a central component of the intelligence of human beings. The creation of the built environment is driven by forces analogous to those that lead us to do mathematics. • Introduction • Structural principles of the urban web • Connections in architecture and urban design o Connecting nodes of human activity o Connective paths are multiple and irregular o Stability against loss of connections o Avoiding channel overload o The "toy model" from evolutionary biology • Organized complexity versus empty purity • Some applications of the theory o Paths connect complementary nodes o Human scales and piecewise connections o Hierarchy and fractals o The success of retail areas and plazas o A path as the edge of a region o Priority for creating pedestrian paths o Guaranteeing the functionality of individual paths o The pattern of roads as an organizing principle o Necessary discontinuities and separation • Conclusion