Urban vitality

{{Short description|Intensity of use of an urban area}}

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| image1 = Barcelona_-_La_Rambla_04.JPG

| caption1 = The Plaça Reial of Barcelona has a high vitality, with pedestrian spaces and a variety of establishments in its vicinity.

| image2 = Plaça_dels_Països_Catalans_P1170975.JPG

| caption2 = Comparatively, Plaça dels Països Catalans has a low vitality, with fewer establishments and large, surrounding streets which inhibit pedestrian movement.

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Urban vitality is the quality of spaces in cities that attract diverse groups of people for a range of activities at different times of the day.{{cite journal|title=Built environment, urban vitality and social cohesion: Do vibrant neighborhoods foster strong communities?| journal=Landscape and Urban Planning| date= December 2020|doi=10.1016/j.landurbplan.2020.103951 |last1=Mouratidis |first1=Kostas |last2=Poortinga |first2=Wouter |volume=204 |page=103951 |s2cid=224862850 |doi-access=free | bibcode=2020LUrbP.20403951M|hdl=11250/2823395 |hdl-access=free }}{{cite journal |last1=Kang |first1=Chaogui |last2=Fan |first2=Dongwan |last3=Jiao |first3=Hongzan |title=Validating activity, time, and space diversity as essential components of urban vitality |journal=Environment and Planning B: Urban Analytics and City Science |date=2021 |volume=48 |issue=5 |pages=1180–1197 |doi=10.1177/2399808320919771|s2cid=218914835 }} Such spaces are often be perceived as being alive, lively or vibrant, in contrast with low-vitality areas, which may repel people and be perceived as unsafe.{{Cite AV media|url=https://www.rtve.es/play/videos/la-aventura-del-saber/aventura-del-saber-indice-vitalidad-urbana/4973798/ |title= Índice de vitalidad urbana. |website= La aventura del saber. RTVE. |date= 7 February 2019}}{{Cite AV media|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKxny_0GZwI |title=Jane Jacobs y la vitalidad urbana en Barcelona|website=TEDxBarcelona |date=8 September 2021}}

The urban vitality index is a measure of this quality and has become a fundamental tool in urban planning, especially in interventions for spaces with low vitality.{{cite journal|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/320951239 |title= La importancia de la vitalidad urbana| journal= Ciudades |date= November 2017}} The index is also used to assist the management of spaces that already have high vitality. However, the success of high-vitality spaces can sometimes lead to gentrification and overtourism that may reduce their vitality and initial popularity.{{cite journal|url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0264837717314175 |title=Looking at Barcelona through Jane Jacobs's eyes: Mapping the basic conditions for urban vitality in a Mediterranean conurbation |journal =Land Use Policy|date= June 2018|doi=10.1016/j.landusepol.2018.04.026 |last1=Delclòs-Alió |first1=Xavier |last2=Miralles-Guasch |first2=Carme |volume=75 |pages=505–517 |bibcode=2018LUPol..75..505D |s2cid=158995589 }}

The concept of urban vitality is based on the works of Jane Jacobs, especially her most influential work, The Death and Life of Great American Cities. In the 1960s, Jacobs criticized the modern and rationalist architecture of Robert Moses and Le Corbusier, whose work centered private cars. She argued that these forms of urban planning overlooked and oversimplified the complexity of human life in diverse communities. She opposed large-scale urban renewal programs that affected neighborhoods and that built freeways through inner cities. She instead advocated compact and mixed-use development with walkable streets and “eyes on the street” to deter crime.{{cite book|title=The Death and Life of Great American Cities |author=Jane Jacobs}}

The concept of urban vitality is important in Mediterranean urbanism and its history, in which public space, walkability and squares are valued as centers of social interaction and cohesion, in contrast to the Anglo-Saxon urbanism of large, car-centric infrastructures with greater distances between conveniences.{{cite journal|url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S026427511830698X |title=The urban vitality conditions of Jane Jacobs in Barcelona: Residential and smartphone-based tracking measurements of the built environment in a Mediterranean metropolis| journal=Cities|date=March 2019|doi=10.1016/j.cities.2018.09.021 |last1=Delclòs-Alió |first1=Xavier |last2=Gutiérrez |first2=Aaron |last3=Miralles-Guasch |first3=Carme |volume=86 |pages=220–228 |s2cid=158254925 |url-access=subscription }}