**5.2 Definition of concepts**

#### *5.2.1 Spatial balance*

According to Rowe and Koetter and Krier, spatial balance can be considered as a lasting interaction between mass and space, in which there is a balance between open space and the density of buildings [5].

**Concept Items Criteria Indicators**

*Toward Practical Criteria for Analyzing and Designing Urban Blocks*

Land subdivision patterns

The form of block corners

Ground space index

Block and access network ratio

Public, semipublic, and private spheres

Homogeneity Similarity Block orientation

collective memory

Memorability Translation into

Deployment patterns of buildings in the block

Geometric shapes of blocks (regular, nonregular)

Block edge size

One side to the street Two sides to the street

Enclosure The distance among buildings inside the block

total area of the block Open space ratio The ratio of unbuilt area to the total area of floors

Floor area ratio The ratio of total floor area of stories to the area

surrounding streets

Block elongation Block area

gravity

Adaptability Land uses Investigating the matrix of adaptability of

uses overtime

amount of shading

Proximity The distances among the blocks' centers of

dimensions and functions

Climate Deployment and orientation of the blocks based on the sunlight angle

Simple, beveled, setback, projected

The distance between the blocks The ratio of block height to path width

(the amount of open space in the block)

The ratio of block area to total surface of

Buildings setback distances (distance from the street border and the first line of the plot) Definition of block sides (back and front)

The existence of buildings with special semantic

different land uses with each other in a block Adaptability between the building and new land

The distance between the blocks based on the

The amount of frontage of buildings

The ratio of plot area (build areas) to the total

The distance between inside the block and the

Back to back

street

Access The number of access points Density Floor space index The ratio of total floor area of all stories to the

block area

of the plot Density of dwelling The ratio of the block's population to its residential area

Configuration and arrangement

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.90504*

Spatial balance

Spatial continuity and integration

Longevity and durability

**195**

Spatial hierarchy

**Figure 7.** *The second step: grouping factors into three categories and the classification of the factors of each category.*

## *5.2.1.1 Configuration and spatial arrangement*

Spatial configuration in architectural and urban studies investigates the relationships among properties of spaces regardless of the assessment of these properties in isolation [24]. Arrangements deal with "where" [10] and are closely related to factors such as dimension and the size of the block and the functions of the buildings in the block [25]. In fact, spatial configuration deals with the way the blocks are arranged next to each other, the configuration of the edge of the blocks [10], and the resulting spatial effects.
