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The shaping of urban morphology

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 February 2009

George Gordon
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Extract

Alexander Pope unwittingly offered valuable solace and encouragement to students of urban morphology when he observed, in An Essay on Man, ‘A mighty maze! but not without a plan’. The search for guiding principles shaping morphology, for the formative, generative and adaptive processes operating in space and through time, is a major goal in the field of urban investigation. Every settlement consists of a number, or a mosaic, of distinct morphological units. These units can be classified on various dimensions such as period of development, building style or functional use. The units vary in size and complexity, or heterogeneity, of elements. On occasion, complexity was incorporated into the original design, as in the case of the Georgian New Town of Edinburgh. More commonly, complexity emerged as a result of subsequent adaptation, alteration and partial or total replacement of elements such as plots, blocks, frontages or townscapes. A fundamental, though rather neglected, concern of the morphologist is the identification of formative, generative and adaptive processes and the establishment of a relational model incorporating all of the interactive components, i.e. factors, processes, morphological elements and agents involved in the decision-making process.

Type
Research Article
Information
Urban History Yearbook , Volume 11 , May 1984 , pp. 1 - 10
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1984

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References

Notes

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