SPACE SYNTAX THEORY IDENTIFIES THE ETHICAL REVERSAL TREND OF THE OVERWHELMED MĀDINA OF AL-DJAZA’IR URBAN MORPHOLOGY

Abstract

A fundamental aspect of well transforming cities into better places is to integrate urban morphology ethics. For centuries, understanding these places has been limited to reductive rules of economic rationality and mod-ern tabula rasa. This study proposes a novel methodology to analyze citywide, isolated urban spaces using Space Syntax method and urban narratives. Through superposition of social ethical rules and behavioral char-acteristics of the spatial setting, this work aims to expose clear correlations between the ethical design of the city and the behavioral patterns of its users. The ancient city of Al-Djaza’ir Kasbah is a case study that UNESCO classified as a national historic site and a protected sector. According to urban narratives, the French occupation reversed its urban structure. A clear formal antonymy is observed. The ethical diagnostic tool was used to identify and evaluate the ethical trend. The correlation between syntactic measures and ethical principles showed that changes in spatial configuration affect the ethical trend. Intelligibility, integration, and connectivity control the ethical values. Previous urban studies shown that integrated spaces are spaces of organic solidarity. However in this study, urban narratives described segregation. Mapping ethical values revealed anti-values in French colonial urban forms. The results showed that the reversal of the ethical trend of Algerian cities represented one tool of alienating Algerian society. Ultimately, this study suggests a “re-versed urbanism” methodology: an evidence-based approach to urban design, planning, and decision-mak-ing, in which ethical values are implanted as a foundational design tool for inferring the success rates of ethical urban places.