Security Assessment for Indoor Spaces: A Framework Based on 3D Space Syntax and BIM

Fine-grained spatial information is critical when conducting spatial security assessment, as people’s spatial cognition is derived from specific images of space. Spatial cognition guides people’s behavior in space, and these behaviors pose a hazard to space security, indicating that the assessment of space security should be three-dimensional. Space syntax has played a significant role in studies of the spatial distribution of burglaries as a tool for linking spatial correlation and human activity. However, these studies remain at a two-dimensional neighborhood-level, unable to adapt to increasingly complex spatial structures. In this paper, a framework of indoor space security assessment model considering semantic information is proposed. The new model takes into account neglected spatial semantic information (e.g., opening windows, air conditioning ducts, floor height), all of which have a decisive influence on human behavior patterns and are available in the Building Information Model (BIM). The results show that lobbies, rooms with low floors and with windows, open corridors have a higher integration and connectivity value, which differs from the 2D results, but is closer to reality. This study contributes to the quantitative assessment of interior spaces in complex buildings and helps to rationalize surveillance arrangements and police configurations.