This thesis develops and investigates Mixed Reality Architectures (MRA), dynamic shared architectural topologies, which span physical and virtual spaces. A theoretical framework is developed to describe the field of possible architectures. As the result of a first pilot study, this is then extended with the concept of the Mixed Reality Architectural Cell (MRACell). MRACells consist of one physical and one virtual space, linked by a two-way video and audio connection. The video of a real physical space is rendered on an MRACell, which can move within the virtual environment. A projector and screen in the real space renders an image of the virtual environment from the point of view of that MRACell. Inhabitants can move their MRACell in relation to all others within the shared virtual environment, allowing ad hoc as well as planned remote social interaction. In this sense MRACells can be described as novel architectural interfaces extending real physical space, via a shared virtual environment to link to other real spaces. An in-depth study lasting one year and involving six office-based MRACells, used video recordings, the analysis of event logs, diaries and an interview survey. This produced a series of ethnographic vignettes describing social interaction within MRA in detail. The study found that the MRA was effective at supporting remote social interaction between users. Usage patterns appeared to be motivated by awareness and communication or conversely privacy requirements. This usage maintained and strengthened social ties. Social interaction was both visible to others and part of the everyday activities at the respective office spaces. It resulted from the virtual adjacencies introduced by MRA that allowed the ‘spatial’ integration of remote locations. However, the virtual spatial framework making this possible, introduced new topological limitations on the number of concurrent connections that were available. Overall, it was found that the dynamic architectural topology directly affected social interaction, while social interaction itself re-shaped the topology. These findings are of direct relevance to current developments, which aim to use communications media to overcome the spatial dispersion of work groups in modern organizations. Finally, the differences in use that were observed between groups of inhabitants suggest that spatial cognition in Mixed Reality is affected both by the interface technology and by the social practices surrounding it. In response, it is suggested that in order to investigate the new generation of mixed physical and virtual technologies, cognitive science should take into account their affordances as ‘virtual extensions’ to both our bodies and to our environment.

The aim of this work is to question the notion of space that underlies the claimed ‘spatial turn’ in geographical and social theory. Section 1 examines this theoretical literature, drawing heavily on Soja as the self declared taxonomist of the genre, and also seeks parallels with more populist texts on cities and space, to suggest, following Williams, that there is a new ‘structure of feeling’ towards space. Section 1 introduces two foundational concepts. The first, derived from Soja’s misunderstanding of Borges’ story The Aleph, argues for an ‘alephic vision’, an imposition of a de-materialized and revelatory understanding of space. This is related to the second, an ‘ecstatic vision’, which describes the tendency, illustrated through the work of Koolhaas and recent exhibitions on the experience of cities, to treat spatial and material experience in hyperbolic and hallucinatory terms. Section 2 offers a series of theoretical reconstructions which seek to draw out parallels between the work of key theorists of what I term the ‘respatialization’ literature (Harvey, Giddens, Foucault and Lefebvre) and the work of Hillier et al in the Space Syntax school. A series of empirical studies demonstrate that the approach to the material realm offered by Space Syntax is not only theoretically compatible but can also help to explain ‘real world’ phenomena. However, the elision with wider theoretical positions points to the need for a reworking of elements of Space Syntax, and steps towards this goal are offered in section 3. In the final ‘speculative epilogue’ I reopen the philosophical debates about the nature of space, deliberately suppressed from the beginning, and suggest that perhaps the apparent theoretical and empirical versatility of Space Syntax, based upon a configurational approach to space as a complex relational system, may offer an alternative approach to these enduring metaphysical debates.

This thesis deals with the urban phenomenon of minority clusters, which are invariably referred to as 'ghettos'. A review of the literature on 'ghettos' suggests that the clustering of identifiable minorities is commonly associated with segregation - be it physical, economic, social or linguistic - although it is the physical segregation which tends to be most frequently noticed. Moreover, one type of segregation, such as physical - is believed to lead to another type, such as economic. Through studying Jewish settlement in Leeds and Manchester in the 19th century, two key questions are addressed in this thesis: The first is whether there is a link between spatial clustering and spatial segregation and the second is whether spatial clustering is linked to other forms of segregation, such as economic, occupational and social. Another two questions arise from the analysis: whether Jewish settlement patterns are distinctive in their own right, and whether it is possible to identify a pattern in the process of formation of Jewish settlement that may have broader implications for immigrant/minority settlement in general. The techniques and theories of 'Space Syntax' are used here to analyse the settlements in question by using detailed street-level mapping of census data on the entire Jewish population of Manchester and Leeds and of all non-Jewish individuals in the key Jewish districts of each of the cities (the key Jewish districts are generally referred to as 'ghettos'). This enables a multi-level socio-spatial comparison to be made: between Jewish families and their immediate neighbours; between Jewish families and the population of the city as a whole; and between the initial and secondary stages of Jewish settlement. In order to investigate questions relating specifically to immigrant settlement, non-Jewish people born outside of Britain are also considered as a separate group, although they are not the main subject. The analysis suggests that spatial clustering does not necessarily lead to spatial segregation and that spatial clustering may also be associated with some types of segregation, such as occupational but not with others, such as economic. It also suggests that Jewish settlement patterns are distinctive and that they are identifiable for a longer period than expected after immigration, when compared with other immigrants. This thesis also sheds light on the process of the formation of Jewish settlement, proposing a pattern whereby after establishing a core of settlement, streets already established become more densely populated, whilst new streets are settled more slowly. Analysis of the key districts of Jewish settlement also suggests that certain areas of cities are especially prone to settlement by the disadvantaged, due to characteristics that make such areas firstly, tend to be economically unsuccessful due to their spatial segregation and secondly, less attractive to those who have the means to move elsewhere and that such areas are not so much defined by their immigrant constituents, but by their long-standing inhabitants that cannot move elsewhere.

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