Investigating the Social Impacts of High-Density Neighbourhoods Through Spatial Analysis

Studies argue that higher density areas incur social problems such as lack of safety [1], while other studies provide evidence for the positive impact of high-density urban areas, for instance opportunities for social interactions and equal form of accessibility [2]. This paper argues that design factors can mediate the impacts of density on social aspects. Therefore, this study explores the extent to which design factors can be correlated to the social outcomes of different density areas. To do this, data from an empirical study conducted in the UK, which identified the relationship between density and social sustainability through cases of fifteen neighbourhoods, have been utilised. This paper has conducted further analysis based on these cases using a mixed method with spatial analysis tools. Outcomes show that some of the social results in the UK study such as safety are correlated with spatial factors like normalised angular choice. Moreover, the regression model created from the spatial indices can be used to predict the overall social sustainability index reported by the UK study.