Abstract:
In this paper I have used some methods developed in the framework of the spatial syntax to analyze urban areas located in the Bulgarian cities Sofia and Plovdiv. Topological measures of depth and integration were applied to axial maps of contrasting areas: Roma ghettoes with deteriorating public space and a lot of illegal construction and shanty housing, peripheral but well-planned neighborhoods and orderly and prestigious central parts of the two cities. Expectations that the topology of detached ghetto areas would be deeper and more poorly integrated were confirmed with the exception of part of the historical center of Plovdiv. The old grid of small winding streets proved to be as deep as parts of the Roma neighborhood, though the measures of integration were unmistakably good at distinguishing the two areas.
From a broader philosophical point of view, spatial syntax provides a fresh perspective on the interaction between the human-made urban environment and its inhabitants. The closed topology can be part of the explanation for urban and social decay. Ghetto inhabitants seem to be literally trapped in poverty and bad living conditions as part of what may be a process of complex interaction whereby people, social groups and their milieu on one hand and the physical environment on the other are shaping each other.
