This article seeks to advance understanding of urban space that enables the emergence of “life between buildings,” that is, urban environments capable of acting as appropriate settings for caring for the communities that inhabit them.To this end, the study focuses on the analysis of in-between spaces, understood as the spatial realm located between the private sphere of the dwelling and the public sphere of the city, encompassing both physical and social dimensions. This article specifically aims to deepen the quantitative understanding of the social dimension. Accordingly, the goal is to develop an objective model capable of identifying the degree of in-between character present in urban space.The proposed model consists of two steps that enable the identification of in-between spaces. The first step comprises an activity-mapping methodology aimed at identifying the social and use-related characteristics that define in-between spaces. The second part consists of a set of indicators that allow the in-between character of a space to be determined based on the data collected through the mapping process.This tool enables the assessment of in-between character within urban space. Measuring the level of in-between character of a given space is useful for identifying the types of settings in which relationships that enrich community life are generated. Understanding the contexts in which these interactions occur facilitates the definition of spatial planning strategies capable of generating appropriate gradients in the physical environment, as well as the improvement of existing residential developments through a more suitable provision of public space.

This article advances the understanding of urban spaces that enable the emergence of “life between buildings”, understood as South European environments capable of supporting care, social interaction, and community life. The study focuses on in-between spaces, defined as spatial realms located between the private sphere of the dwelling and the public sphere of the city, and characterized by both physical and social dimensions. Specifically, the article addresses the quantitative assessment of their social dimension by developing an objective model to identify the degree of in-between character present in urban space. The proposed model comprises two complementary stages. The first consists of an activity-mapping methodology designed to record the social and use-related characteristics that define in-between spaces. The second establishes a set of indicators that determine the in-between character of each space on the basis of the data collected through this mapping process. By measuring the level of in-between character, the model helps identify the types of urban settings in which relationships that strengthen community life are generated. This knowledge can support spatial planning strategies aimed at producing appropriate privacy gradients and improving existing residential environments through a more suitable provision of public space and enhancing the everyday habitability of nearby urban fabrics.

Los espacios urbanos con carácter intermedio fomentan las relaciones comunitarias, la cohesión social y los cuidados. Son espacios intermedios aquellos que se encuentran en el umbral entre lo privado y lo público; los que abarcan un ambiente entre el carácter público y privado, independientemente de la propiedad. Son espacios en los que se genera un gradiente de privacidad que permite hacer sentir a las personas como en su casa y por tanto desarrollar junto con otras personas de fuera de su familia un sentimiento de comunidad que contribuirá a hacer sentir bien a las personas y proporcionará alma al espacio. Este tipo de espacios pueden rastrearse en asentamientos bien antiguos. Podíamos encontrar estos espacios en las casas patio romanas (Hales 2003), los espacios entre chozas en algunos pueblos pastores de Zambia (Rudofsky 2020), los Siheyuan o los Tulous de China (Zhang 2013, Katayama 2011), o los espacios entorno a los lavaderos en muchos tejidos urbanos medievales. Sin embargo, en los tejidos más planificados es más difícil encontrar este tipo de espacios urbanos de carácter intermedio, lo que se considera que ha podido conllevar a la pérdida de oportunidades para fomentar las relaciones entre las personas en los tejidos urbanos. Dentro del marco de una investigación cuyo objetivo es el de fomentar el carácter intermedio de algunos espacios urbanos para potenciar las relaciones humanas en la regeneración urbana, se han diseñado un conjunto de indicadores que permitirán analizar el grado de carácter intermedio de los tejidos urbanos. Esta comunicación presentará la aplicación de los indicadores diseñados en el análisis de cuatro tipos de tejidos urbanos (medieval, ensanche clásico, movimiento moderno y ensanche del siglo XX) para identificar el grado de carácter intermedio de cada uno y así poder identificar las características formales que permiten ese carácter intermedio que luego podrán extrapolarse a otros espacios urbanos sin alma.