Journal - Abstracts vol.12 nr.2 (2008)

Tony Hall, The form-based development plan: bridging the gap between theory and practice in urban morphology
The format of local development plans and site-specific guidance tends to be based on land-use allocations rather than physical form. This approach has serious limitations, especially when dealing with urban design issues. A solution is available in a format that takes the outline of physical form as its starting point with land use as a subsidiary consideration. This approach can be incorporated into spatial planning policy. Furthermore, urban design principles imply perimeter block structures whose approximate sizes are largely predetermined and can be incorporated in site-specific guidance. This paper draws attention to innovation in planning practice in Britain and a particular example is described in detail. Local spatial policy for the town of Chelmsford made physical implications explicit. Planning briefs identifying both the perimeter block form and the location and character of the urban spaces were successful in improving the standard of design of new development.
K. Gu, Y. Tian, J. W. R. Whitehand and S. M. Whitehand, Residential building types as an evolutionary process: the Guangzhou area, China
The idea that an evolutionary process is inherent in the sequence of building types that characterizes an area has been pursued in Euro-America, especially by Italian architects. It has hitherto attracted comparatively little attention elsewhere in the world. Findings on the history of residential building types in the Chinese city of Guangzhou and its environs are examined in relation to this idea. Though the history of building types is very different in China from that in Euro-America, an evolutionary process is shown to have occurred in the Guangzhou area. The principal rural building type in the nineteenth century – the sanjian lianglang house – and an early urban building type – the zhutongwu – are steps in the development of a number of later building types.
D. Krajnik, M. O. Šƒitaroci and B. B. O. Šƒitaroci, City fortifications and the form of European cities, with special reference to Croatia
Developments on the sites of bastion fortifications are often welldesigned expansions of city cores with mainly public buildings, representative residential buildings and public spaces. The transformation of bastion fortifications in the Croatian towns of Karlovac and Osijek in the earlytwentieth century resulted in the creation of urban landscapes that can be compared in their characteristics with similar areas in major cities such as Frankfurt, Hamburg and Copenhagen. Developments in these two towns are comparable to those in the nineteenth century in many parts of Europe. They are inner fringe belts forming boundary zones between historically and morphologically distinct housing areas.