A better tool for designers and planners in neighbourhood design

The quality of a neighbourhood is the degree to which it meets the needs of its residents. Many Canadian neighbourhoods are less than ideal quality due to environmental, transportation, health, safety, and social issues related to their physical form. An evaluative tool is needed for both design and post-construction evaluation of neighbourhoods in order to improve existing places and aid in the design of new neighbourhoods. The purpose of this study is to create and calibrate such a tool.; Previous research has identified, from the literature, a list of physical features that relate to neighbourhood quality. Based on this research, a checklist of physical features has been created and applied in three qualitative case studies.; For the purpose of comparison, three post-WWII (1950--1975) neighbourhoods from Kitchener and Guelph, Ontario, were selected to calibrate this neighbourhood evaluation instrument.; It was demonstrated how data gathered from case study analyses using the evaluation instrument can be used to generate recommendations for neighbourhood design improvement. The evaluation instrument can also be used as a standardised case study method for the purposes of comparison, education, and research.