Urban Form and Activities as Complex Spatio-Activity Patterns: A Constructive Approach Using Urban Big Data and Machine Learning Towards Dynamic Design Patterns

Tantoush, Mahmud (2025) Urban Form and Activities as Complex Spatio-Activity Patterns: A Constructive Approach Using Urban Big Data and Machine Learning Towards Dynamic Design Patterns. Doctoral thesis (PhD), Manchester Metropolitan University.

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Abstract

The increasing availability of geolocated digital traces, such as tweets, offers new possibilities for extending and advancing foundational theories in architecture and urban design. One of the most influential is design patterns theory, originally developed by Christopher Alexander to provide repeating solutions to recurring design problems. While the original theory focuses on stable and idealised design knowledge, the integration of new data and methods presents an opportunity to develop an alternative approach for capturing dynamics and adaptability towards an evidence-base for design. This PhD thesis addresses the absence of a design-based analytical framework and tool capable of capturing and relating patterns of urban form and human activity using Urban Big Data and machine learning. Through the theoretical lens of complex spatio-activity patterns, the research reinterprets patterns as dynamic relationships between form typologies and activity patterns. This interdisciplinary framing draws on pattern language, Complex Adaptive Systems (CAS), urban morphology, and digital geography to develop and demonstrate a design-based research construct. The research adopts a constructive research methodology consisting of two main phases: construction and evaluation. In the construction phase, a bespoke analytical framework and prototype tool are developed as a research construct to capture complex spatio-activity patterns. The evaluation phase demonstrates the functionality of the construct through an exploratory case study in Greater Manchester, and evaluates it against theoretical, functional, and discriminant validity criteria. By adapting a constructive research approach, theoretical, methodological, and domain-specific contributions are made. This PhD research advances architectural and urban design theory by integrating temporality, adaptability, and relational complexity into pattern theory; develops a bespoke analytical framework and tool for capturing complex spatio-activity patterns; and contributes to design practice by supporting an evidence-base for context-specific interventions and adaptive design strategies.