Lay out one neighbourhood's block pattern, then defend it at desk crit against a single question: what is it actually like to walk here?
1 March 2027
What to bring#
Bring the untouched <student ID>-w01 archive and a working copy with the
1.2 km Halstead Reach–Dunthorpe spur and an unzoned Brayhurst quarter. Lay the
quarter out at either 80 m or 160 m spacing and be able to state that dimension.
Bring the Hessel Row path-count table, frontage inventory, road-length reading,
and the close-one-link before-and-after route counts. There is no unzoned
traffic-volume overlay: an empty network has no local origins, so it has no
honest volume to show.
Bring the numbers, not a description of the numbers. A student without the path-count table starts on paper and misses the first desk-crit rotation.
What happens in the room#
At 13:10, each student has two minutes to show the unzoned layout and path-count table, name the block dimension, and identify the least certain decision. The room then tests redundancy on three projected layouts by counting independent routes and reachable frontage.
At 14:20, load the issued populated pair: kerrow-ref-w02-80 and
kerrow-ref-w02-160. Both use the same 480 × 480 m block on Hessel Row, the same
residential zoning and the same population target; only street spacing differs.
Use this pair for the controlled walk-share and upkeep comparison instead of
trying to delete, rebuild and settle two quarters inside the session.
Four small groups rotate through the walkability desk crit. The final board records each committed dimension, the matching reference walk share and road metres per dwelling. Before leaving, zone the personal quarter low-density residential and commit one dimension in the save notes.
Then pick one dwelling in that quarter, write its address in the save notes beside the dimension, and say it out loud at the desk so the room has a witness. This is the fixed point every commute figure you quote for the rest of the semester is measured from — Week 3 starts by measuring from it — so it has to be one address, chosen now, and not re-chosen later to flatter a number.
The paired test#
At 80 m spacing, the tested Hessel Row block has a 38% reference-scenario walk share. At 160 m it has 24%. Short blocks let a pedestrian turn every 80 m, so a walked route can approximate the straight line; long blocks force the same trip around the perimeter.
The finer grid lays more road. Normalised against the same population, it costs ₡310/month more per 1,000 residents in road upkeep. Record road length and occupied dwellings separately, divide them to derive road metres per dwelling, and keep the economy-panel upkeep line as its own monetary reading. The comparison is mobility bought with a recurring cost, not a preference between two drawings.
What the readings said#
The worked reference district reaches 1,180 residents in 460 households. Its monthly balance is −₡1,900, its timed 08:00 route is 4.2 minutes, transit is 0%, district walk share is 31%, happiness is 68%, and the normalised land-value score is 17. Do not confuse the district’s 31% with the tested block’s 38%.
Fiscal down, mobility up. The deficit narrowed because residents now pay rates; that is growth, not evidence that the fine layout costs less. The layout cost is the ₡310/month counterfactual carried per 1,000 residents. A plan claiming all three metrics improved has not been read carefully.
The one question#
What is it actually like to walk here? Answer with one named front door, one walked route and a number. If you propose a one-way conversion, another lane or a new junction, bring the before-and-after reading that would justify it. A layout defended as a picture is not ready for the desk.
What you leave with#
Save <student ID>-w02 with the restored network, the chosen dimension and the
zoned quarter. Keep the alternative block as a sandbox. Leave with the paired
test, the frontage inventory, one named dwelling address, the readings sheet
and the agreed screenshots; bring all of them to Week 3.
The spec
The session contract: what must be ready, recorded or defended. Each line is written so a reader can tell whether it has been met without asking you.
- One residential quarter is laid out in your Week 1 save at a block dimension you can state in metres.
- You bring the unzoned path-count table for the tested 480 × 480 m block: independent routes between two named corners and the frontage metres the zoning tool can reach — there is no unzoned traffic-volume overlay, because an empty network has no local origins.
- You bring the close-one-link redundancy test as two route counts: independent routes between the same two corners before the busiest topological link is removed on paper, and after.
- You bring the road length and occupied-dwelling count you divided to derive road metres per dwelling, plus the road upkeep figure from the economy panel as a separate reading.
- You can state the block dimension you chose in metres and say what you were trying to buy with that number.
- You bring a frontage inventory with the count of road-reachable cells and its counting method, and establish one named dwelling address for Week 3.
Teaching team
- Idris Fenn — tutor