The opportunity

Through an international competition, the City of Ljubljana awarded the masterplanning project ‘Smartinska Partnership’ to a multidisciplinary team led by Hosoya Schaefer Architects. Space Syntax provided the design team with an evidence base, which helped the team understand the opportunities and constraints of the complex site. Based on this study, Space Syntax helped to develop the masterplan layout, provide urban design guidelines and support stakeholder negotiations.

Our contribution

Space Syntax built a Spatial Accessibility Model of the city of Ljubljana to highlight the spatial hierarchy of the movement network and the current connectivity of the site at different urban scales of movement and in relation to the city centre. The model was then used to simulate and optimise spatial strategies as well as to develop specific urban design guidelines for key components within the masterplan. This evidence-based approach was powerful in bringing together a large and diverse group of stakeholders behind a unified vision for the area.

The outcome

The resulting masterplan is a specific response to the local conditions of the site and its future impact has been tested and demonstrated through detailed evaluation. The key organising element is the urban armature, a boulevard through the site connecting the Kolinska Cultural Quarter, a new urban park and mixed-use development around the park. The resulting masterplan layout is overlaid with a network of visually interconnected open spaces and public transport provision. Care has been taken to create a distributed and walkable urban grain with appropriate block sizes and a land use strategy aligned to the likely distribution of movement. The spatial accessibility analysis has also been used to optimise phasing strategies.