Measuring Symbiosis and Synergy in the Urban Structure of Main Streets in Central Areas of the City as an Element of the Urban Design Method

• Published in: Architecture, Civil Engineering, Environment Vol. 18; no. 2; pp. 117 - 135
• Main Author: GACHOWSKI, Marek
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Gliwice Sciendo 01.07.2025; De Gruyter Poland
• Subjects: 21st century; Cities; City centre; Civilization; Consciousness; Parameters of urban structure; Postmodernism; Symbiosis; Symbiosis and synergy; System theory; Urban design; Urban planning; Europe
• ISSN: 2720-6947; 1899-0142; 2720-6947
• DOI: 10.2478/acee-2025-0023

The symbiosis and synergy of the activities of city users are crucial for the quality of the urban system. Particularly important for the functioning of the city is the symbiosis and synergy of use of urban places in the central areas of the city. For the efficient studying and planning of urban structures, it is required and necessary to develop objective methods of measuring the parameters of this structure, especially in the aspect of assessing the connections between the elements of this structure, and, above all, urban places and their uses. One of the critical issues is the development of tools and measures to study the level of symbiosis and synergy, especially for central urban areas. This article proposes a method of assessing the level and the intensity of symbiosis and synergy in central areas using the Sym_Syn method, which can be used to examine both the existing state of the urban structure and to plan directions for the improvement of this structure, if the study of the existing state indicates significant deficiencies in the occurrence of symbiosis and synergy of uses of urban places.