# Circulation **Domain:** Architecture / Urbanism / Operations **Doc Type:** Bridge Concept **Maturity:** Developed ## Definition **Circulation** is the planned topology through which people, goods, services or vehicles move within and among buildings and sites. It includes routes, junctions, vertical transitions, capacities, directionality and alternate paths. ## Governing Variable Circulation governs flow: who or what can reach a destination, in what sequence, at what rate and through which encounters. ## Material and Institutional Manifestation Corridors, stairs, elevators, ramps, service routes, streets and egress paths form circulation systems. Institutions often separate public, staff, secure and logistical movement, turning role into topology. ## Computational Analogue Routing graphs, queues and workflow engines also allocate paths and capacity. The analogy is rigorous where both domains can be described through nodes, edges, constraints and failure routes, but human circulation also contains dignity, perception and bodily variation that a pure flow model can omit. ## Relation to Governance [[wiki/Architecture as Policy|Architecture as Policy]] uses circulation to distribute encounter and access. [[wiki/Wayfinding|Wayfinding]] makes the topology legible to participants. [[wiki/Building Code|Building Code]] imposes minimum safety conditions on capacity and exit. ## Constitutional Question and Failure Modes Optimizing throughput can erase accessibility, privacy or the right to linger. A route can be technically available yet practically unusable. Legitimate circulation design must preserve safe egress, intelligibility, accommodation and alternatives when a preferred path fails. ## Related Ontology [[wiki/Lobby|Lobby]] · [[wiki/Corridor|Corridor]] · [[wiki/Wayfinding|Wayfinding]] · [[wiki/Public Space|Public Space]] · [[wiki/Access Geometry|Access Geometry]]