Visualizing Density (Phase 2), Text (Working Paper)

Author(s): Campoli, Julie and Alex S. MacLean
Publication Date: April 2004

19 pages; Inventory ID WP04JC1a; English


Visualizing Density (Phase 2), Text	262 KB

Abstract

Note: The figures accompanying this paper are located on the Lincoln Institute website in three separate PDF files:

http://www.lincolninst.edu/pubs/pub-detail.asp?id=900 (Lincoln Institute Product Code: WP04JC1b)
http://www.lincolninst.edu/pubs/pub-detail.asp?id=901 (Lincoln Institute Product Code: WP04JC1c)
http://www.lincolninst.edu/pubs/pub-detail.asp?id=902 (Lincoln Institute Product Code: WP04JC1d)

In the realm of community planning and land development, "density" is an often used but rarely understood term. The physical density of a development project can be measured in numerical terms, but such a measurement fails to convey the look and feel of density. Measured density is often very different than perceived density. This difference causes confusion in the community planning process and in the review of development proposals.

Visualizing Density, a catalog of aerial photographs, helps bridge the gap between measured and perceived densities. It includes hundreds of photographs of old and new neighborhoods around the country, and conveys both the measured and perceived density of each. These photographs help viewers translate density numbers into mental images. They also demonstrate how site design affects the perception of density. Neighborhoods at similar densities are juxtaposed to show how various design approaches can create places with dramatically different physical character.

This Phase 2 version of the Visualizing Density catalog updates the 2002 working paper previously disseminated by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy.