  thumb|250px|map of axis lines in brasÃ­lia. the colors show the global integration of the different streets, measuring the accessibility of a topological line for the entire system according to the spatial analysis of the space syntax. created with mindwalk 1.0 the term space syntax encompasses a set of theories and techniques for the analysis of spatial configurations. it was conceived by bill hillier, julienne hanson and colleagues at the bartlett, university college london in the late 1970s to early 1980s as a tool to help architects simulate the likely social effects of their designs. ==thesis== the general idea is that spaces can be broken down into components, analyzed as networks of choices, then represented as maps and graphs that describe the relative connectivity and integration of those spaces. it rests on three basic conceptions of space: * an isovist (popularised by michael benedikt at university of texas), or viewshed or visibility polygon, the field of view from any particular point * axial space (idea popularized by bill hillier at ucl), a straight sight-line and possible path * convex space (popularized by john peponis and his collaborators at georgia tech), an occupiable void where, if imagined as a wireframe diagram, no line between two of its points goes outside its perimeter: all points within the polygon are visible to all other points within the polygon. the three most popular ways of analysing a street network are integration, choice and depth distance. * integration measures how many turns have to be made from a street segment to reach all other street segments in the network, using shortest paths. if the number of turns required for reaching all segments in the graph is analyzed, the analysis is said to measure integration at radius 'n'. the first intersecting segment requires only one turn, the second two turns and so on. the street segments that require the fewest turns to reach all other streets are called 'most integrated' and are usually represented with hotter colors, such as red or yellow. integration can also be analyzed in local scale instead of the scale of the whole network. in the case of radius 4, for instance, only four turns are counted departing from each street segment. theoretically, the integration measure shows the cognitive complexity of reaching a street, and is often argued to 'predict' the pedestrian use of a street: the easier it is to reach a street, the more popular it should be. while there is some evidence of this being true, the method is biased towards long, straight streets that intersect with lots of other streets. such streets, as oxford street in london, come out as especially strongly integrated. however, a slightly curvy street of the same length would typically be 
Architectural_theory Environmental_psychology Urban_studies_and_planning