Urban vitality in Granada
Urban vitality
Urban vitality indicates the capacity of the built environment to foster activities in public space. The JANE index, based on the theories of Jane Jacobs, is used to measure vitality.
Granada is a vital city. Vitality is located in different areas of the city.
The highest values are found in 23% of the urban core and correspond to the central neighborhoods (Figares, Centro-Sagrario and Zaidín). In contrast, isolated urban areas (e.g., Alquería del Fargue), low-density residential areas and areas with a greater preponderance of industrial uses have low vitality.
What does urban vitality depend on?
The degree of urban vitality is the result of various variables that make up the JANE index: spatial concentration, functional diversity, contact opportunities, building diversity, accessibility, and distance to boundary elements.
Spatial concentration
Granada is a city that concentrates a large number of residential, commercial and equipment activities. The highest values are concentrated in the southwest of the city, in the neighborhoods of Centro-Sagrario, Figares and Zaidín-Vergeles. The lowest values are found in monofunctional areas (mountainous, residential and industrial areas) in the periphery.
Functional diversity
Granada is a functionally diverse city. Eighteen percent of the urban core has a high functional diversity. The historic center registers the highest values. High values are also found in the peripheral neighborhoods. There are several nodes in the north and south of the city where there is a wide variety of uses of the built environment. The urban periphery is not very diverse.
Contact opportunity
Granada has a polycentric distribution in all the city’s neighborhoods. All neighborhoods have high contact opportunity nodes.
Opportunities for contact and interaction on the streets of Granada are high. Contact opportunities are high in 25.5% of the urban core. The highest values are found in the historic center and in Zaidín, in the south of the city.
Diversity of buildings
Buildings from very different periods coexist in Granada. In the Albaicín, San Matías-Realejo and Centro-Sagrario, with an urban fabric of medieval origin, is where the most diverse buildings coexist, with a difference in the time of construction of the buildings that exceeds 200 years.
Accessibility
Border elements
In Granada, the elements that act as a border to social interaction are road infrastructures and river courses. The GR-30 ring road in the east, the Córdoba highway in the north and the A-395 highway in the south stand out. The Genil and Monachil rivers also act as border elements.
Location map
¿What does urban vitality depend on?
The degree of urban vitality is the result of the different variables that make up the JANE index: spatial concentration concentrationThe degree of urban vitality is the result of the different variables that make up the JANE index: spatial concentration, functional diversity, opportunity for contact, building diversity, accessibility, and distance to border elements.
