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A. Psenner:
"Researching the Urban Street-Level Environment - StadtParterre©";
Talk: Research Group of Landscape Architecture and - Urbanism: World in Denmark - Nordic Encounters: Travelling Ideas about Open Space Design and Planning Conference, University of Copenhagen, Dänemark (invited); 2014-06-12 - 2014-06-14.

One interesting feature of Copenhagen is that it is a `one-storey city´. (...) Everything important happens at ground-floor level, which helps concentrate urban activities. (...) This streets carter to a great variety of functions: small shops, restaurants, galleries, workshops and more. In sum, the network of little streets is one of the most charming features of central Copenhagen.
Jan Gehl (1996): New City Spaces, Copenhagen, pg: 11, 27

There is a strong and direct relationship between urban street space and the structures and uses of the buildings´ ground floor. When addressing urban development issues the necessity to consider the street-level-environment-a holistic urban zone of public, private, and semi-private spaces-must therefore be emphasized. In consequence the spatial representation of the street-level environment¬ 3D ZPA is covering both built-up and non-built-up areas, it includes the street as well as the adjacent houses and courtyards.
Vienna´s ground floor crisis is a key focal point for city administration: Although the rapid population growth (around 23.000 people per year) has created an urgent need for additional (living) space, ground floor vacancies are still spreading. On the other hand the environmental impact generated by individual motorized traffic has become so critical that it can no longer remain a secondary debate. The current mono-structural form of street space use-while understandable in terms of its historical evolution-does not do justice to urban space with respect to the public and cultural good.

3D ZPA, pilot study, © Psenner
Since urban maps usually end at the building perimeter, little is known about the concrete interrelations between built-up structures, ground floor use, and street use. Therefore the objective of the study is to both retrieve and generate data that helps understanding the (historically altered) relationship between public space and the life inside buildings. Based on the morphological analysis of the StadtParterre-by developing and applying the three-dimensional comprehensive street-level model 3D ZPA-the study intends to provide a strong argument towards a radical rethinking of street space and ground floor use.


pilot study: images of the 3D ZPA showing different street views in Vienna´s 9th district, © Psenner
While having been developed for a special street in Vienna, the analytical instrument 3D ZPA will be applicable in different contexts and cultures. Thus the study aims to evolve a methodology transferable to any urban situation.

Urban Street-Level Environment (StadtParterre); Urban Space Research; 3D model of Virtual Visualization