2012 Volume 16.2
Editorial comment
Thinking cross-culturally
Articles
Evolving suburban form: dispersion or recentralization?
P. Filion {+}Abstract [Full paper, PDF, 2MB]
ABSTRACT: Transformations in both the approach to suburban growth expressed in planning documents and the reality of suburban development are examined. The North American suburban model, characterized by near universal reliance on the automobile, abundant land consumption, rigorous functional specialization and a dispersal of employment, retail and services, was pieced together between the late 1940s and the early 1960s. While plans from this period concentrated on the infrastructure and regulatory fundamentals of this emerging model, subsequent plans expressed growing disenchantment with this form of development, culminating in the formulation of a new vision of the suburb that breaks with the early post-war model. Examination of a Toronto suburban transect, with layers of development dating from the late 1940s to the present, reveals a mismatch between the profound suburban transformations proposed in plans and actual suburban form. The paper concludes with an assessment of the relative importance of land-use inertia and change. The possibility of an intensified, recentralized suburb that is less automobile dependent is considered.
The early contribution of Saverio Muratori: between modernism and classicism
M. Maretto {+}Abstract [Full paper, PDF, 16MB]
ABSTRACT: During the 1930s and 1940s Muratori laid the theoretical and practical foundations for a morphological approach to urban design. The fundamentals of his contribution during these years are considered in this paper, notably the concept of ‘crisis’, the key role of ‘operative history’, the integration of theory and practice, and the use of morphology to translate analysis into synthesis and interpretation into design. Several of Muratori’s early designs are examined.
Interpreting urban micromorphology in China: case studies from Suzhou
F. Chen {+}Abstract [Full paper, PDF, 14MB]
ABSTRACT: In light of the Conzenian tradition of urban morphology, this paper explores the concept of micromorphology in China. Here the widespread absence until recently of true ground plans of cities showing accurately streets, plots and building block-plans is an obstacle to conventional plan analysis. Using such sources as local gazetteers, other local writings, historical photographs, and existing historical buildings, this paper undertakes a micromorphological analysis of a public building complex and two private house complexes in the Guanqian area, Suzhou. The relative persistence of various morphological elements is demonstrated. Links are made between morphology and political social economy. Micromorphology is shown to be potentially valuable for urban design, management and policy-making.
The study of urban form in South Korea
K.-J. Kim {+}Abstract [Full paper, PDF, 0.2MB]
ABSTRACT: The growth and character of urban morphological studies in South Korea are described, giving particular attention to the formal aspects of cities and towns in Korea’s long history, and examining the research approaches and findings. The influence of European morphological perspectives is considered. An attempt is made to encapsulate the state-of-the-art in Korean urban form studies. Owing to problems of access to information, the study of urban form in North Korea is not considered.
Viewpoints
From Alnwick to China: M. R. G. Conzen’s classic study in Chinese Z. Xu
Urban morphology in higher education V. Oliveira
[Viewpoints, PDF]
Reports
Fifteenth International Planning History Conference, São Paulo, 2012 I. Morley
Portuguese Network of Urban Morphology V. Oliveira
Second Conference of the Portuguese Network of Urban Morphology, Lisbon, 2012 R. Rego
[Reports, PDF]
Book reviews
E. Firley and J. Gimbal (2011) The urban towers handbook E. Howeler
T. Hall (2010) The life and death of the Australian backyard A. Wheeler
N. Baker (2010) Shrewsbury: an archaeological assessment of an English border town C. King
R. Brook and N. Dunn (2011) Urban maps: instruments of narrative and interpretation in the city M. Guaralda
V. Oliveira (2011) Avaliação em planeamento urbano T. Marat-Mendes
F. de Holanda (ed.) (2011) Arquitetura e urbanidade V. Oliveira
[Book reviews, PDF]
Book notes
[Book notes, PDF]
Notes and notices
- Latino urbanism
- Infrastructure and the rebuilt post-war city
- Twentieth International Seminar on Urban Form
- Julienne Hanson: a production of many dimensions
- ISUF 2014: Our common future in urban morphology