Plot systems (also referred to as “property”, “parcel”, or “lot”) are generally recognised as the organisational framework of urban form that contributes to the economic performance of cities. However, studies that link the spatial form of plots to economic data are limited. The paper builds on the theory of Webster and Lai, which argues that the process of urbanisation is aligned with increased subdivision of property rights (increased division of land into plots, for example) due to the process of economic specialisation that is typical of cities. The aim of the paper is to test this theory by analysing whether there is a correlation between: (a) the shape and structure of plot systems, which are classified as types based on three plot metrics (size, compactness, and frontage index) and b) economic activity, measured as the concentration of retail and food activities per plot. The paper will use statistical analysis to relate plot types to economic activity in three European cities (London, Amsterdam, and Stockholm). The results provide empirical support for our initial hypothesis and Webster and Lai’s theory, which states that plots of smaller size, more regular shape, and smaller frontage generally correspond to a higher concentration of economic activity in cities.

Cities consist of 20-30% streets, a gigantic infrastructure that must be maintained and developed. As such, they have the potential to contribute to tackling contemporary challenges as the increasing urbanization and climate change which place higher demands on urban environments, from quality of life, health and safety to environmental sustainability. Multifunctional streets are introduced as an answer to these challenges, as they can fulfil this multitude of functions. This paper presents a state-of-the-art, quantitative systematic review of scientific literature on the theme of multifunctional streets. Scientific papers were filtered from Web of Science and Scopus. Only scientific papers of the last 10 years were included. We will first present a survey of the field and then focus on the empirical papers that help us identify the physical factors which have been proven to support and improve the different functions of streets, from the social and ecologic to the economic and technical. The empirical studies represent 24% of the scientific papers selected, where the social function is the one most frequently studied, followed by the ecologic and the economic function. Within the social function the empirical papers in relation to health (39%) and safety (21%) dominate, followed by the ones studying liveability (9%). We will focus on empirical studies on the themes of Liveability and Safety, two important variables of the Social function, interrelating yet often conflicting.

Recently, the European Union adopted a Nature restoration law that aims to stop the ongoing decline of biodiversity and even bring back nature to cities. This is challenging as urbanization is an ongoing process that thrives for more land and densification. In this paper we describe a new Open-Source GIS-tool that automates habitat network analyses and simultaneously generates several maps that can be used for assessments, targeting species survival in urban environments. One result of particular interest is the habitat functionality map that combines values of habitat quality and connectivity. We tested the tool’s ability to predict habitat functionality using amphibian occurrence data observed from the city of Gothenburg in Sweden. Our evaluation shows that habitat functionality was generally a good predictor of amphibian distribution. However, the predictability was sensitive to the cartographic representativity of the input biotope map used. Also, predictions of habitat functionality improved when estimating dispersal probabilities using the Cost-distance algorithm, compared to when using Euclidean distance from reproductive habitats. This finding supports the need to use connectivity models that are responsive to variation and changes in roads, traffic volumes and buildings when performing effect analyses on biodiversity in cities. Finally, we demonstrate how the tool can be used to easily identify areas where restoration measures can effectively increase habitat functionality for target species. This can help planners to find efficient solutions for increasing biodiversity within urban areas.

This study evaluates the extent to which fully automated street network modelling can reproduce the analytical outcomes of a hybrid (automated–manual) approach for centrality and accessibility analysis across four morphologically distinct cities: Nicosia, London, Gothenburg, and Madrid. Results show that the geometry-preserving segmentation logic of the automated workflow systematically increases network granularity relative to the continuity-merging rules applied in the hybrid model, producing higher node densities and shorter street segments, particularly in cities with irregular, historically layered street patterns. Despite these geometric differences, angular integration exhibits strong to near-perfect rank correlation between hybrid and automated models across all cases, with agreement increasing at larger spatial radii. This indicates that global configurational structure is robust in automated simplification. Angular betweenness displays lower, though still moderate to high, correspondence, especially at smaller radii, reflecting its sensitivity to over-segmentation and local geometric variation. Spatial autocorrelation analysis reveals that ranking differences are strongly clustered in footpaths in open green spaces and detailed paths in residential areas. However, the differences are more locally confined and diminish at larger radii. Accessibility results further demonstrate scale-dependent divergence: short-range attraction reach and attraction distance estimates align closely between models, whereas discrepancies increase at larger thresholds due to the cumulative effects of finer-grained connectivity and additional pedestrian paths in automated networks. Overall, the findings indicate that automated street network models reliably capture large-scale integration and accessibility patterns across diverse urban contexts, while local, flow-sensitive measures remain more affected by network granularity and path representation. These results support the use of automated workflows for scalable and comparative urban analysis, with targeted manual refinement reserved for contexts requiring high local precision.

A central challenge for sustainable urban development is balancing the trade-offs of high urban density. We examined whether biodiversity can be supported within dense or compact urban areas by analyzing bird species richness and composition across 30 sites in Gothenburg, Sweden, representing three urban form types (two compact and one dense) and reference areas with abundant vegetation. Results showed that species richness was significantly lower in the three urban form types than in the reference areas, and species composition differed significantly between the two groups. However, there were no significant differences in species richness or composition between the individual urban form types themselves. Across the three urban form types, nevertheless, sites with larger local natural habitat area and/or better connectivity to surrounding natural habitats had higher species richness, whereas variation in species composition was associated primarily with local habitat area. This highlights that increasing habitat area remains the most effective strategy for supporting avian diversity, even in dense or compact urban areas. Species that are less common in urban areas were also recorded at sites within the three urban form types where suitable conditions existed. These results not only suggest that biodiversity can exist within dense or compact urban areas but also that it can be supported through both site-level interventions and broader-scale planning for habitat connectivity.