2017 Volume 21.2
Editorial comment
How we view cities: a green-space enigma?
Articles
Morphological processes and the making of residential forms: morphogenetic types in Turkish cities
T. Ünlü and Y. Baş {+}Abstract [Full paper, PDF, 6MB
]
ABSTRACT: Changes to the characteristics of the urban landscape as a
result of morphological processes are investigated. The effects of change to
individual plots are considered. Particular attention is given to the
residential district of Çamlibel in the city of Mersin, Turkey. Conzen’s
conception of the burgage cycle provides a basis for recognition of a
development cycle. This comprises initial, interim and ultimate phases that
gave rise respectively to generation, degeneration and regeneration.
Individuals, government, planning practice and legislation contributed to
this cycle. Attention is drawn to the value of the concept of morphogenetic
type in understanding plot pattern development and building repletion and
replacement processes.
Urban coherence: a morphological definition
O. Çalişkan and B. Mashhoodi {+}Abstract [Full paper, PDF, 7MB
]
ABSTRACT: Despite being one of the most commonly used normative concepts
in urban design, coherence still lacks a firm morphological definition. Without
an explicit specification of its spatial attributes, coherence remains a vague
and subjective notion of design implicitly referred to as one of the basic
properties of good urban form. As a contribution to the link between urban design
and morphology, this paper renders the normative concept objectively in terms of
a set of quantifiable morphological indicators. Spatial proximity and consistency
are suggested as the two key indicators for measuring the coherence of urban
fabric. Based on the computational theory of coherence, originally put forward by
Thagard, an analytical model is suggested to quantify the morphological coherence
of actual urban fabrics. In this framework, three planned neighbourhoods in
Rotterdam, the Netherlands are analysed to illustrate the changing nature of
morphological coherence through different fashions of urbanism initiated in
different periods of time.
Florence: the geometry of urban form
G. Cataldi {+}Abstract [Full paper, PDF, 22MB
]
ABSTRACT: Unlike Rome, a city that originated from the union of various
villages, Florence is a typical city of Roman founding, which reached the peak of
its development around the year 1300. At that time an ambitious plan for the city,
aimed at housing within the city wall a large number of inhabitants was put into
effect. It was rivalled at that time in Europe only by Paris. As in Rome, pre-
existing structures heavily influenced the subsequent development of Florence:
from a methodological perspective this would suggest that to ‘read’ the city, it
is necessary to identify its ‘substratum permanent structures’.
Street networks and street- blocks in the city centre of Tripoli
A. M. Remali and S. Porta {+}Abstract [Full paper, PDF, 5MB
]
ABSTRACT: The results of an analysis of the urban form of central Tripoli,
Libya are presented. Three cases from different morphological periods are compared:
the Old Town (pre- modern), the Italian Quarter (colonial) and the Garden Suburb
(early- Modernist). Two sets of descriptive indices that relate to street network
and street- block structure are applied to measure quantitatively the urban fabric
of the three selected cases and explore their distinct characteristics as well as
common traits. The Old Town combines good privacy at the very local level due to
the large number of culs- de- sac in the service street network: there is high
interconnectedness both within the area and between it and its immediate
surroundings. This appears to be related to the Old Town’s high street density.
Despite visible dissimilarities at the service street and plot level, the Old Town
and the Italian Quarter share the same higher level structure, which the Garden
Suburb does not. The Garden Suburb is a major departure from the morphological
characteristics of the two earlier periods, and, arguably, their Ancient Roman
precursors.
Viewpoints
Publishing an urban morphological classic C. Monteiro
Recent developments in the Caniggian School N. Marzot
[Viewpoints, PDF
]
Reports
Historic Urban Landscape Forum, London, UK, 21–22 March 2017 G. Palaiologo
Historical cities and contemporary design: Third ISUF Italia Conference, Rome, Italy, 23–24 February 2017 P. Carlotti
Report on the Serbian Network of Urban Morphology A. Niković
Report on the Polish Network of Urban Morphology A. A. Kantarek
[Reports, PDF
]
Book reviews
T. Hall (2016) The robust city M. Barke
C. Crosas (ed) (2015) Metropolis Barcelona. Catalogue Vol. 1 – El urbanismo metropolitano hoy / Metropolitan Urban Planning today; Catalogue Vol. 2 – Transformaciones metropolitanas / Metropolitan transformations; Atlas - Cartografías contemporâneas / Contemporary maps J. R. Santos
R. H. Leech (2014) The town house in medieval and early modern Bristol T. Scrase
T. Bergevoet and M. van Tuijl (2016) The flexible city: sustainable solutions for a Europe in transition R. Boudjadja
H. Ohno (2016) Fibercity: a vision for cities in the age of shrinkage J. S. Leite
[Book reviews, PDF
]
Book notes
[Book notes, PDF
]
Notes and notices
- Cutting into the substance of urban form
- First Regional Conference of the Cyprus Network of Urban Morphology
- ISUF 2018: Urban form and social context
- Conference on the Sustainability and Resilience of Cities
- Urban Design International
- Revista de Morfologia Urbana
- Eighteenth International Planning History Society Conference
- First International Conference on Urban Growth and the Circular Economy
- UrbanNous
- Journal of Space Syntax
- Eco-Architecture 2018