Big Data for Urban Design The impact of centrality measures on business success

This paper investigates the role of spatial parameters in relation to the economic dynamic embedded in the urban fabric. The key element explored in this study is the role of the urban configuration and accessibility on the success of different business sectors in Switzerland. The underlying hypothesis is that economic markets are constant forces of change influencing the development of cities and functions on all scales. Markets are institutions that reduce people's choices based on a myriad of factors to a single number, the price. Accessibility is a resource for each business that yields multiple values of benefits and transactions in terms of economic properties. This project explores the interaction of multiple measures of accessibility, calculated by Space Syntax analysis, with the success of different markets represented by employment by business sector. 828548 business locations and 44 spatial measures were used to derive associations between them. The results show that the measure of 'Choice' correlates highly for smaller radii and 'Integration' for larger radii with the total number of jobs. The result also shows each sector has a specific set of accessibility measures that allows them to thrive.