Integrated Research Tools in Urban and Spatial Planning

In working with urban projects, we are usually faced with the need to study the design object, regardless of its scale, significance and value in the city and the functions it performs. The larger the scale of the research object, the more voluminous our research becomes and, accordingly, requires a clear division into different layers and gradation in order of importance to simplify the conduct of the research itself and the ability to predict the expected results. A classic way of analyzing large territorial, urban and spatial objects is a comprehensive urban planning analysis. However, today's urban and spatial studies go beyond urban planning analysis and require a synthesis with the methods of other social and humanitarian disciplines, going beyond mono-discipline into multidisciplinarity and complexity. Also, changes in values in urban and spatial design, when attention is focused on reuse, mixed use, programmatic design, sustainability and consideration of climate change, the importance of public spaces in the life of the city led to the use of another format of urban studies. For urban objects of different sizes, such as a fragment of the city within the boundaries of the streets, a block, a combination of blocks, an undeveloped part of the city, a post-industrial area that is being revitalized, the author has created a list of seven layers necessary for analysis, which include physical, morphological, social and historical and cultural aspects of the study: 1) territory in the structure of the city, 2) functions and content, 3) accessibility and mobility, 4) morphology and buildings development, 5) inhabitants and stakeholders, 6) open spaces, 7) history and identity. The characteristic features of this urban planning and spatial analysis are, firstly, a proposal at all levels of analysis to fix proposals for changes that will be detailed at the design phase. Secondly, at each layer of research, it is suggested to interact with residents and users and capture their feedback for each layer of analysis. These layers of analytical urban research can be supplemented depending on the complexity and specificity of the research object. And also depending on the direction and requests of the research, the expected results.