b'Guan & Rowe (2016) apply it to various types of buildingscircumstances, in different cultures and based on local building codes or land-use regulations. countries.The basic idea driving this application of the index is theChurchmans main point, forming the title of his paper, notion that the greater the number of different buildings,is that the concept of density needs to be disentangled and the more equal is their proportional abundance inbefore it is made useful to planners and designers.the collection of buildings, the more difficult it will be toThis also applies to other density-related concepts, but correctly predict what type of building will be the nextin the desired disentanglement the connection to the in the collection.Hence, the set is considered to bepeople living in or using the area to be designed (or re-diverse in the sense that it cannot be easily subjecteddesigned) must not be lost.Do neighbourhood residents to predictable patterns.It is not evident however, whatfeel more comfortable with a diversity of buildings advantages are afforded by such diversity in design andor with a diversity of educational opportunities and how any such advantage can factor in harmonisation ofleisure activities?He suggests that it is always easier designs as well as in generating building assemblagesfor planners and designers to directly affect density, that contribute positively to a form of urbanas well as perceived density, than to indirectly affect intensification that is desired by those who populate thethe subjective experiences that residents or visitors to relevant spaces.a neighbourhood acquire as they proceed with their normal urban activities.Multiple design solutions may Biological sciences frequently ask three types oftherefore be required to suit a multiplicity of human questions in reference to phylogenetic relationships: experiences. how much, how different and how regular (Tucker 2017).These questions reflect three dimensions of aInsights for such solutions can emerge from social phylogenetic tree: richness, divergence, and regularity. science, as it is regarded as a systematic study of They are particularly relevant to the accumulatedhumans and their activities (McLean 2018).Much of differences among plant species and this, in turn,Churchmans 1999 paper on disentangling the concept opens the possibility of explaining or predicting specificof density is devoted to a typology of broadly defined biological or ecological processes.But the evolutionarygoals of urban density that effectively represents the path of buildings is entirely a function of the architects,benefits of density, including social, environmental working with urban planners and owners or developers. and economic benefits.He also examines potential The mixture of the three dimensions therefore occursdisadvantages, which reflect the cost of increased by agreement, not by processes of nature that havedensity.Though less formalised that the typical cost-not yet been fully resolved.Borrowing concepts frombenefit analysis of economists, it can be said to have quite dissimilar configurations of entities may confusecomparable implications.Similarly, increased emphasis to a much greater extent than it edifies.Similarly, whileis being placed on social sustainability, which is a the four numerical measurements mentioned abovecatchword for a focus on quality of life, access to public (compactness, diversity, density and connectedness)facilities and the promotion of social interaction and may have design relevance individually, a compositesocial cohesion (Wang 2018).score that is ultimately presented in the study by Guan & Rowe (2016) has no obvious meaning other than asRecent literature indicates a heightened awareness a weighted average of a set of dissimilar averages,of social sustainability in Chinas urban intensification correlations and deviations from arithmetic means. (Wang 2018; Chen, H. 2016 and Chen, M. 2016).This presumably, can be at least partly attributed to the global If Urban Intensity is Mainly Urban Vitality financial crisis that began in early-to-mid 2007 with an adverse effect on property prices and government fiscal In his extensive examination of the concept of density,deficits in order to fund the stimulus package that was Churchman noted the following (1999, p. 390):adopted by the central government of China.Prior to Perceived density and crowding are basedthe crisis, urban design has been adopted by local on the principle that the same density cangovernments and developers as place promotion or be perceived and evaluated in very differentan image-building tool.In a neo-liberal context, this ways, by different people under differentserves the purpose of enhancing a citys regional and 21P1-20200229-FOLIO INTRO.indd 24 2020/3/6 22:11:01'