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This research investigates the evolution of public spaces from the 1940s to today, emphasizing the social and spatial transformations at Taksim Republic Square. Utilizing argumentative and exploratory methods, the study conducts a detailed process analysis using various sources, including historical documents, photographs, and maps. This study’s innovation is the development of a new methodology that examines the social and spatial structure of Taksim Republic Square in ten-year intervals. Typo-morphological analysis provided spatial insights, while photographic analysis offered social perspectives. This methodology enabled both socio-spatial layers and thematic examinations. The results demonstrate how global events have directly and indirectly influenced the urban space and social life of Taksim Republic Square. It is observed that public life perpetually recreates itself through experiences. This study applies to fields such as urban planning, urban design, urban morphology, social anthropology, and social geography. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urbanization combined with global climate change, exacerbates the urban thermal environment and hinders sustainable urban development. However, the complex relationships between land surface temperature (LST) and urban morphology are being further understood, particularly in relation to different urban development patterns, distinct topography, and 3D building morphology. Thus, this study conducted a comparative study in Chengdu and Chongqing, Southwest China. We explored the impact of comprehensive factors (including socio-economic factos, topography, land use composition, and building morphology) on LST by employing the methods of linear regression, geographical detector model, and the boosted regression trees. Our results suggest that (1) high LST was mainly observed in the central part of Chengdu but it presented multicenter aggregation trend in Chongqing; (2) Socio-economic factors were the dominant variables affecting LST in both cities; (3) land use composition and building morphology showed distinct contributions to LST among the two cities; and (4) 3D building management was more effective in Chengdu than in Chongqing. A better understanding of the impact of various influencing factors on LST will enable policy makers and planners to develop appropriate strategies for constructing climate-adaptive cities and mitigating urban heat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractUrban expansion models (UEMs) help unfold the mechanism, future pathways, and relevant repercussions of urban landscape dynamics. Although a plethora of UEMs have been developed, the field of open-access modeling platform for urban expansion simulation still presents gaps in terms of representing urban development events, regulating multilevel urban morphologies, and reflecting underlying regularities of physical urban growth. This study develops an open-access Multiengine Urban Expansion Simulation (MUSE) platform together with software that addresses some of these limitations. MUSE employs patch-based concepts and different patch generation engines to represent urban development events of distinctive types, enabling control over spatial morphology at landscape, class and patch levels. Moreover, MUSE incorporates two general regularities on urban development waves and urban diffusion and coalescence to govern physical urban expansion processes. Experiments in two cities examine MUSE’s ability in simulating realistic urban dynamics, and a series of synthetic experiments verify the operational behavior of the patch generation engines. These experiments show that MUSE can simulate a range of urban expansion types, including infill, edge growth and leapfrog expansion, and various morphologies, such as aggregated, sprawl, fragmented and compact. MUSE can empower practitioners to better project, analyze and understand complex urbanization dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based in interviews as well as analysis of planning documents and media coverage, this article scrutinizes the role of property in urban morphology by tracing two decades of attempts to redevelop Norra Sorgenfri, a partly deindustrialized area almost at the topographic centre of Malmö, Sweden. In this city, urban redevelopment projects are centrally placed within a hegemonic story of Malmö as shedding its industrial past to become a sustainability forerunner. This was the story that Norra Sorgenfri was inserted into, with initial visions underlining its potential as an exciting extension of the inner city. But in targeting this 45 ha piece of land, Malmö also planned to transform a landscape subdivided into a complex pattern of mostly private properties alongside some scattered lots of municipally owned land. Scrutinizing property in Norra Sorgenfri and how particular property owners have reacted to redevelopment efforts, we centre on the significance of this lack of municipal land. Rather than merely asserting that property matters, we thus strive to trace how property matters, to planners striving to realize visions for a future Malmö, to different land-owners in the area, to the unhoused seeking refuge on post-industrial land, and to the authorities tasked with removing them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multiple fabric assessment (MFA) is a computer‐aided procedure designed for identifying and characterizing urban fabric types (morphotypes) from a street‐based perspective. Nonetheless, the original MFA presents some limitations: it relies on surface‐based descriptors, conceived as proxy variables for the pedestrian perspective in urban form analysis, rather than direct sight‐based measurements. It also uses building footprint classes as proxies for building types. The spatial statistics on the street network concentrate on patterns of over‐ and under‐represented values, which often results in a limited number of morphotypes. Furthermore, the morphotypes are typically valid only for a specific study area. This article presents the latest methodological advancements in MFA overcoming these four limitations. Its implementation over the eight largest French metropolitan areas successfully distinguishes approximately 20 distinct place‐specific morphotypes, which are further aggregated into a comprehensive multi‐level nested taxonomy. The new MFA procedure allows a nationwide comparative analysis of contemporary urban forms, laying the groundwork for a comprehensive understanding of morphologically regionalized metropolitan areas. Through detailed algorithmic improvements and nationwide implementation, integrating traditional urban morphology with streetscape analysis, MFA provides insights into the analogies and differences of the urban fabric in contemporary metropolitan areas, enabling interoperability with other domains of urban research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban heat island (UHI) has posed a threat to sustainable development, and the identification of the spatial characteristics of UHI is a prerequisite for the mitigation of UHI effects. Taking Kunming City and Guiyang City in the karst region of Southwest China as two examples, this study utilized spatial econometric modeling and random forest regression to identify and compare the spatial distribution and impact of urban heat islands related to topographic and urban morphology. The results indicated that the UHI in Kunming and Guiyang mainly monocentrically and polycentrically distributed, respectively, and the urban heat island intensity (UHII) in Kunming was significantly higher than that in Guiyang. The spatial error model effectively reflected the influence of topography and urban form on UHII, and the random forest regression model objectively measured the contribution of different influencing factors to UHII. Enhanced vegetation index (EVI), population density (PD), percentage of impervious surface (PIS), ground sky view factor (GSVF), building density (BD) and percentage of water bodies (PW) had similar effects and contributions to the UHII in the two cities, while urban surface roughness (USR) contributed less than topographic slope (SLOPE) on UHII in Kunming, and the SLOPE contributed less than USR in Guiyang. In the karst ecologically fragile zone, the morphology of Kunming and Guiyang are mainly shaped by the topography, which can be characterized as monocentric and polycentric, respectively. And the UHI distribution and UHII were also closely related to topographic patterns. EVI, SLOPE and PW, all showed inhibitory effects on UHII, and EVI contributed the most. PD, PIS, USR and BD, exacerbate the UHII, with PD contributing the most. The above conclusions can provide a reference for policymakers and urban planners to optimize urban morphology and mitigate urban heat island. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the application of procedural design methods in urban morphology, drawing inspiration from the innovative work of the Architectural Workshop of Miskolc in Hungary during the late 20th century. This study presents a generative approach termed "Simulated Morphogenesis" (or the "Miskolc Method"), which models organic city growth by analysing historical urban tissues and applying recursive algorithms to simulate natural urban development. The method leverages advanced generative tools, such as Rhinoceros 3D and Grasshopper, to model the step-by-step growth of Central European cities, with a particular focus on Miskolc. By incorporating controlled randomness into the algorithmic processes, the method captures the complexity of organic urban growth while maintaining structured development. The Miskolc Method emphasizes the importance of continuity and context, allowing for the "healing" of urban fabric discontinuities or the generation of new urban structures. This article demonstrates how this approach, while rooted in geometrical analysis, offers a valuable foundation for preliminary urban planning. The findings are relevant for understanding the morphogenesis of cities and provide a flexible framework applicable to various urban contexts globally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The archaeology of early urbanism is a growing and dynamic field of research, which has benefited in recent years from numerous advances at both a theoretical and a methodological level. Scholars are increasingly acknowledging that premodern urbanization was a much more diverse phenomenon than traditionally thought, with alternative forms of urbanism now identified in numerous parts of the world. In this article, we review recent developments, focusing on the following main themes: (a) what cities are (including questions of definitions); (b) what cities do (with an emphasis on the concentration of people, institutions, and activities in space); (c) methodological advances (from LiDAR to bioarchaeology); (d) the rise and fall of cities (through a focus on persistence); and (e) challenges and opportunities for urban archaeology moving forward. Our approach places people—with their activities and networks—at the center of analysis, as epitomized by the quotation from Shakespeare used as the subtitle of our article. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although neighborhoods are a widely used analytical concept in urban geography, they are often proxied using grids or statistical sectors in empirical research. The rationales underlying these proxies are often separated from the theoretical considerations of what makes a neighborhood a neighborhood, casting shadows over their relevance and applicability. In this article, we identify two specific challenges separating empirical operationalizations from theoretical considerations in neighborhood delineations: (1) not incorporating key built environment elements and (2) monodimensional approaches. We develop a method that addresses this double challenge by (1) creating morphological basic spatial units (BSUs) and (2) aggregating them into neighborhoods using multilayer community detection (MLCD) drawing on datasets used in both formal and functional regionalization approaches. We illustrate this method for the case of Leuven, Belgium, by (1) using street blocks as BSUs and (2) focusing on proximity, land use, and social interactions. Through a comparative analysis, we show that our results align with theoretical considerations and perform as well as, and perhaps better, than statistical sectors and grids as neighborhood representations. We therefore argue that this flexible method can bridge formal and functional regionalization approaches making the case for its adoption in neighborhood delineation exercises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rapid population growth globally is resulting in urban densification exponentially. As cities become denser, the environmental quality of urban canyons reduces, resulting in an increase in associated energy use in buildings. Currently, cities are responsible for 70% of the world’s energy consumption. One of the efficient solutions to address this issue is allowing more solar access into interiors and thus making the most of daylight and solar heat gain. Accordingly, this paper presents a novel approach to integrate daylight optimization in both urban environments and buildings’ interiors via the development and application of a custom algorithm based evolutionary computation. This ultimately allows more daylight penetration into urban canyons [vertical daylight illuminance (VDI)] and, subsequently, improves indoor visual comfort [useful horizontal illuminance level (HIL)]. This can also reduce the associated lighting and heating (during winter) energy use of buildings. Furthermore, investigating the correlation between indoor and outdoor illuminance levels aims to bridge the gap between daylight requirements at the urban planning and building scale. A multi-objective evolutionary algorithm-based assessment using computational simulation of design variables is conducted. This determines the extent to which each urban morphology can affect daylight access in both indoor and outdoor environments. Accordingly, the optimal range for different design factors is suggested.Highlights: Applying the best and worst designs alters indoor visual comfort by 88.09%. Applying the best and worst designs alters outdoor illuminance levels by 62.5%. Urban grid rotation has the highest impact on indoor visual comfort. Outdoor daylight availability is mainly affected by the floor area ratio. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the impact of spatial parameters on urban well-being by comparing the urban design and housing policies of Roosevelt Island in New York City and Bat Yam in the Tel Aviv metropolitan area, Israel. Despite their distinct political and cultural contexts, these cities exhibit similar urban design approaches that integrate physical well-being parameters—such as density, building height, open spaces, and walkability—alongside social well-being parameters including age distribution, income levels, and ethnic diversity. The research traces the evolution of affordable housing through various historical phases, including Urban Renewal, Community Development, and Neoliberal Urbanism, and explores how different residential ownership structures have influenced demographic shifts, gentrification, and neighborhood transformation over the past decades. Using a mixed-methods approach that combines historical analysis with spatial and demographic data, this study highlights the contrasting impacts of Roosevelt Island's affordable housing program and Bat Yam's state-led urban renewal policies. The results illustrate how distinct housing models affect community resilience, social stability, and overall urban well-being. By uncovering parallel narratives and extracting valuable insights, this analysis offers lessons for other cities navigating similar market-led pressures and policy shifts. The findings underscore the importance of understanding the interplay between spatial design, housing policies, and ownership structures in shaping the long-term sustainability and quality of life in urban neighborhoods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prior studies have failed to adequately address intangible characteristics and lacked a comprehensive quantification of cultural dimensions. Additionally, such works have not merged supervised and unsupervised classification methodologies. To address these gaps, this study employed multidimensional numerical techniques for precise spatial pattern recognition and urban morphology classification at the block scale. By examining building density, mean floor numbers, functional compositions, and street block mixed-use intensities, alongside historical and contemporary cultural assets within blocks—with assigned weights and entropy calculations from road networks, building vectors, and POI data—a hierarchical categorization of high, medium, and low groups was established. As a consequence, cluster analysis revealed seven distinctive morphology classifications within the studied area, each with unique spatial configurations and evolutionary tendencies. Key findings include the dominance of high-density, mixed-use blocks in the urban core, the persistence of historical morphologies in certain areas, and the emergence of new, high-rise clusters in recently developed zones. The investigation further elucidated the spatial configurations and evolutionary tendencies of each morphology category. These insights lay the groundwork for forthcoming studies to devise morphology-specific management strategies, thereby advancing towards a more scientifically grounded, rational, and precision-focused approach to urban morphology governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The significant increase in building energy consumption poses a major challenge to environmental sustainability. In this process, urban morphology plays a pivotal role in shaping building energy consumption. However, its impact may exhibit latent heterogeneity due to differences in temporal resolution and spatial scales. For urban energy planning and energy consumption modeling, it is crucial to pinpoint when and where urban morphology parameters matter, an overlooked aspect in prior research. This study quantitatively explores this heterogeneity, utilizing a detailed dataset from old residential buildings within a university campus. Spatial lag models were employed for cross-modeling across various temporal and spatial dimensions. The results show that annual and seasonal spatial regression models perform best within a 150 m buffer zone. However, not all significant indicators fall within this range, suggesting that blindly applying the same range to all indicators may lead to inaccurate conclusions. Moreover, significant urban morphology indicators vary in quantity, category, and directionality. The green space ratio exhibits correlations with energy consumption in annual, summer, and winter periods within buffer zones of 150 m, 50~100 m, and 100 m, respectively. It notably displays a negative correlation with annual energy consumption but a positive correlation with winter energy consumption. To address this heterogeneity, this study proposes a three-tiered framework—macro-level project decomposition, establishing a key indicator library, and energy consumption comparisons, facilitating more targeted urban energy model and energy management decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The street space of China's inner cities performs the function of organizing neighbourhood services. This study aims to understand the typological characteristics of street network structures from a spatial configuration perspective and their impact on neighbourhood facilities' layout. The study selected four Chinese inner cities and adopted a route structure approach comprising continuity, connectivity, and depth to distinguish seven street types. A correlation analysis between street configuration and Baidu maps' points of interest revealed different street types' ability to support service facilities and how street-type combinations affect the block group unit's overall cohesion. Finally, it proposed an ideal street network model to provide reference for neighbourhood design practice and presented adaptive suggestions for a value cognition and management system. This study established a direct connection between cognition in the field of urban morphology and practice in the field of urban design, thus providing new perspectives on neighbourhood community design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The gap between morphological knowledge and urban planning is a major problem. The absent or insufficient morphological components of most planning instruments, like municipal plans, seem to reduce planning ability to define adequate rules for urban form transformation. This paper suggests that an integrated methodology for Morphological Analysis and Prescription (MAP), which benefits from the convergence of key complementary methods—morphological regionalization, typological process, and configurational analysis—can be a powerful tool to support planning practice, enabling a structural and comprehensive understanding of urban form dynamics. The Amial area, in Oporto, Portugal, is the setting for comparing the morphological analysis and proposals of MAP and the Oporto municipal master plan (Plano Diretor Municipal), and empirically examining the robustness of MAP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite a massive investment in subsidized housing, informal settlement remains a significant aspect of urban development in Chilean cities. This paper first surveys the urban morphology of contemporary settlements in four Chilean cities to maps the extent and location of neighbourhoods that have developed informally or semi-formally. The broad pattern is that the more informal of settlements have been practically eliminated from the capital of Santiago, yet mixed informality flourishes and is expanding on the peripheries of regional cities. Four cases are then mapped and analysed to show the morphogenesis—the ways buildings and street networks are incrementally designed and produced. A range of morphogenic patterns are identified including highly irregular morphologies on escarpment conditions, semi-regular street grids, and informal encrustations within formal housing projects. It is argued that informal production will remain significant and that a better understanding of informal settlement morphology is crucial to the design and planning for the future of Chilean cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Engineering (17264073) is the property of Republic of Iraq Ministry of Higher Education & Scientific Research (MOHESR) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The urbanization and expansion of cities have raised sustainability concerns and impacted the overall quality of life. Numerous studies have explored sustainable cities with climate-adapted urban and architectural designs, particularly focusing on optimizing thermal comfort within different urban morphologies. This publication presents a meticulous systematic review analyzing how urban form influences microclimatic conditions through advanced computer simulations. The PRISMA methodology condenses key indicators to facilitate informed decision making. A robust dataset from reputable databases such as ProQuest, Web of Science, and Scopus was analyzed, revealing discernible climate patterns, with hot arid (Bwh) and humid subtropical (Csa) climates being the most studied. The Thermal Comfort Index predominantly relies on the PET metric, with ENVI-met software as a popular simulation tool. Uncontrolled urban sprawl, surface impermeability, and lack of greenery exacerbate the urban heat island effect, leading to multifaceted environmental, social, and energy-related implications. The study underscores the importance of exploring topics like urban forms and morphology while advocating for increased attention to specific climatic conditions and urban scales. The growing prevalence of computational simulations for climate analysis emerges as a pivotal area of interest for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Olympic Games have been associated with many urban transformation projects throughout their history, often focusing on city expansion. Recent sustainability concerns, however, constitute a pressing challenge, with the regeneration of central areas fulfilling a key role in existing urban agendas. In this paper, the legacy of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at two proposed centralities was analysed, namely, the Olympic Park, intended as a future neighbourhood to the west of the city, and Porto Maravilha (PM), an urban project aimed at revitalizing a central, historical area of the city. By comparing the Olympic Park and the first provided areas in PM, in terms of selecting urban design criteria through qualitative in loco assessments, this paper focused on analysing the impacts of urban forms and heritage on the consolidation of these two centralities, as well as encouraging social interaction and integration into the city. The analysis results indicated that urban design attributes such as human-scaled, mixed-use, context-based urban spaces could interfere with social interaction and the usability of spaces. Moreover, the repurposing of heritage buildings contributed to urban cohesion for legacy transformation. Hence, novel insights into urban design and heritage could become important for future editions of the Olympics so that host cities may fulfil their sustainability agendas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Centre-city neighbourhoods is where residents expect a diversity of residents and an active social life, along with numerous amenities. This study investigates the relationship between the transforming morphology of Over-the-Rhine – a historic centre-city neighbourhood in Cincinnati, Ohio – and its urban social life. Detailed observations and morphological analyses of four new residential projects reveal that typologies that on the face appear urban, in fact promote a suburban lifestyle that prioritizes independence and seclusion and focus on private domestic life, in an urban context. We conclude with a set of strategies to increase the interaction between the private and the public realm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban vitality is a core feature of sustainable cities and neighborhoods. Acknowledging the significant role of the spatial and physical attributes of built urban landscapes in influencing urban vitality, scholars and planners in the field of urban studies have meticulously examined the relationship between urban morphology and variations in urban vitality. While most previous studies have primarily focused on a narrow range of factors when analyzing urban form, often neglecting its multifaceted nature, this study utilizes urban morphometrics using Python's Momepy library to offer a comprehensive typology. It integrates diverse urban components from individual buildings and streets to entire neighborhoods into a unified, holistic framework, providing a more integrated understanding of urban form's influence on urban vitality. Our spatial econometric models identified higher building floor areas, taller and narrower streetside buildings, diversely aged buildings, and higher building coverings on lots as favorable urban form settings for urban vitality. Measuring urban morphology with advanced methods and identifying their relationship to urban vitality provides insightful implications for urban planners and designers for creating vibrant cities and neighborhoods. Practical Applications: This study utilizes advanced methods to assess the design and layout of cities and neighborhoods and analyzes their effects on urban vitality. The Momepy Python package is used in this study to capture urban form in terms of size, density, layout, diversity, and connectedness. This study measures how diverse urban morphologies affect the variation of urban vitality captured by mobile phone data. This study introduces an integrated approach that identifies spatial relationships between buildings and street networks into a comprehensive framework. This holistic approach can suggest effective strategies for decision-making by urban planners and policymakers to create livable and sustainable cities and neighborhoods. Moreover, this study reveals how the effects of the urban morphology on urban vitality vary depending on the time of day and day of the week. The core findings suggest that urban planners and designers should consider spatial configurations of buildings and streets as well as residents' behavior over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Economic Science / Jingji Kexue is the property of Economic Science Editorial Office and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Bangalore Petta, also referred to as Bangalore Pete or City Market area has garnered considerable attention from urban researchers across numerous dimensions. The name "Pete" has been a recurring identifier across diverse cultures and languages, yet its origin remains enigmatic. These dimensions encompass the spectrum from morphology to perception and from visual to sensory, allowing for the exploration of diverse characteristics within this historical part of the city. Examining these settlements through various lenses is necessary to understand the significance of multiple dimensions of the city and Cartography, though a predominant tool for assessment, seldom explored in this context. Delving into the study of one of Bangalore's oldest vernacular settlements through Cartography can unearth the visual and geographical aspects that reveals the historical layers, linguistic roots, and cultural stories woven into the fabric of the area. This method allows the tracing of the evolution of place names and uncover the narratives that have shaped the region's identity over time, offering a deeper understanding of the etymology that defines its character. Through maps, insights can be gained into how the landscape has been interpreted, inhabited, and transformed, enriching our appreciation of the area's rich and multifaceted history. Utilizing mapping tools and through analysis of these maps, the study provided visual representations of the name's dispersal, including its shifts in morphology taking into consideration the sociocultural contexts, trade routes, and historical events that have contributed to the diffusion of the name. Comparative analysis of linguistic structures reveals the relationships between different iterations of the name, "Pette", once a prominent commercial center which has evolved significantly over time. Its transformation reflects the influence of surrounding developments and shifts in urbanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rapid urbanization has altered the natural surface properties and spatial patterns, increasing the risk of urban waterlogging. Assessing the probability of urban waterlogging risk is crucial for preventing and mitigating the environmental risks associated with urban waterlogging. This study aims to evaluate the impact of different urban spatial morphologies on the probability of urban waterlogging risk. The proposed assessment framework was demonstrated in Guangzhou, a high-density city in China. Firstly, a spatial weight naive Bayes model was employed to map the probability of waterlogging risk in Guangzhou. Secondly, the World Urban Database and Access Portal Tools (WUDAPT)-based method was used to create a local climate zone (LCZ) map of Guangzhou. Then, the range of waterlogging risk and the proportion of risk levels were analyzed across different LCZs. Finally, the Theil index was used to measure the disparity in waterlogging risk exposure among urban residents. The results indicate that 16.29% of the area in Guangzhou is at risk of waterlogging. Specifically, 13.06% of the area in LCZ 2 is classified as high risk, followed by LCZ 1, LCZ 8, and LCZ 10, with area proportions of 11.42%, 8.37%, and 6.26%, respectively. Liwan District has the highest flood exposure level at 0.975, followed by Haizhu, Yuexiu, and Baiyun. The overall disparity in waterlogging exposure in Guangzhou is 0.30, with the difference between administrative districts (0.13) being smaller than the difference within the administrative districts (0.17). These findings provide valuable insights for future flood risk mitigation and help in adopting effective risk reduction strategies at urban planning level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the transformation of the urban fabric by analyzing changes in both structural and numerical parameters of spatial organization, with a particular emphasis on the hierarchical relationships between streets, blocks, and buildings. The research utilizes Bursa, the former Ottoman capital in Turkey, as a case study to explore these dynamics. The elements of streets, blocks, and buildings are posited as fundamental components in conceptualizing cities as layered palimpsests, where successive historical layers coexist within the urban fabric. The research establishes a conceptual parallel between the methodologies and analytical tools of urban morphology, particularly through the shared notion of the palimpsest. In the case of Bursa, the architectural remains and urban form of the Early, Classical, and Late Ottoman periods and of the Republican period are superimposed. In particular, the late Ottoman reform era, the Tanzimat period of the 19th century, brought great change. Historical maps from this era serve as primary sources for comprehending the evolving character and spatial configuration of the city. This research presents a novel methodological contribution by extending the analytical framework of urban morphology to integrate both qualitative and quantitative data. It employs Geographic Information Systems (GISs) and statistical methods to quantify changes in the urban fabric, assessing both pre-modernization and post-modernization phases. Historical maps from the 19th century are utilized as primary sources to trace and compare transformations within the urban fabric, with clustering techniques further aiding this analysis. The findings provide a deeper understanding of the dynamic processes that shape the historic structure of cities, offering a dual approach to urban transformation that harmonizes historical continuity with modern development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional urban design often overlooks the synchronisation of human and ecological connectivities, typically favouring corridors for ecological continuity. Our study challenges this convention by introducing a computational design approach, meta-connectivity, leveraging the deep generative models performing cross-domain translation to integrate human–wildlife landscape connectivity in urban morphology amidst the planetary urbanisation. Utilising chained Pix2Pix models, our research illustrates a novel meta-connectivity design reasoning framework, combining landscape connectivity modelling with conditional reasoning based on deep generative models. This framework enables the adjustment of both human and wildlife landscape connectivities based on their correlative patterns in one single design process, guiding the rematerialisation of urban landscapes without the need for explicit prior ecological or urban data. Our empirical study in East London demonstrated the framework's efficacy in suggesting wildlife connectivity adjustments based on human connectivity metrics. The results demonstrate the feasibility of creating an innovative urban form in which the land cover guided by the connectivity gradients replaces the corridors based on simple geometries. This research thus presents a methodology shift in urban design, proposing a symbiotic approach to integrating disparate yet interrelated landscape connectivities within urban contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past few decades, several analytical approaches have been developed to understand urban form and to address the complexity of human settlements as well as various socio-economic and environmental challenges. Each approach is characterized by specific disciplinary and geographical trends, often emerging from distinct schools of thought within urban morphology. Typically, these approaches are associated with specific research centers or individual researchers and have frequently been applied in isolation, with some exceptions. The teaching of urban morphology in higher education institutions across Europe faces the challenge of training future graduates to effectively address contemporary urban issues from often isolated perspectives rooted in the aforementioned schools of thought, either reflecting specific national educational trends or adopting a globalized approach that overlooks local specificities. Furthermore, the relationship between professional practice in urban and planning fields and higher education institutions is a notable concern. While the importance of broad knowledge and multidisciplinary skills for urban professionals is recognized, the connection between academia, research and practice is minimal. The increasing demand for evidence-based approaches in urban design highlights the need for solutions grounded in sound knowledge. To address the relationship between academic research and its integration into professional practice, innovation in teaching practices is crucial, aligning academia with the evolving needs of planning, architecture, and urban design professions. This involves focusing on developing learners' fundamental and transversal skills and providing tools, methods, and research findings applicable in professional settings. This paper is based on two research projects that sought to bridge the gaps between different morphological approaches in teaching and between academic research and practical application. The projects, Emerging Perspectives on Urban Morphology (EPUM) and the Knowledge Alliance for Evidence-Based Urban Practices (KAEBUP), brought together partners from various South and Central European countries to address these gaps. EPUM focused on integrating different morphological approaches within the context of teaching, while KAEBUP aimed to connect theoretical knowledge with practical actions concerning the built environment. The situative pedagogical perspective, rooted in communities of practice and supported by a blended learning approach, is central to this endeavor. This perspective provides a collaborative framework for educators, students, and professionals in urban morphology to co-create knowledge through integrated learning, teaching, and research activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Making cities health-promoting places is an evolving theme. Numerous studies confirm the health-promoting qualities of contact with nature and problems resulting from the deprivation of access to public green spaces. Easy access to safe and inclusive public green spaces is still one of the long-lasting problems of urbanized areas around the globe. It is one of the sustainable development goals, SDGs, proposed by the UN: 11. Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable. Point 11.7 By 2030, provide universal access to safe, inclusive and accessible, green and public spaces, in particular for women and children, older persons and persons with disabilities. The major question is how to implement this goal in practice and design cities to provide easy access to safe and inclusive public green spaces. One of the important concepts for sustainable urban development is the urban block, Macrolot, coined by Christian de Portzamparc, which led to the new urban morphology of eco-neighborhoods in France. It combines the traditional, walkable urban grid with the Le Corbusier vision for a healthy modernist city offering daylight, fresh air, and greenery for everyone. Among the advantages of this particular urban morphology are the increased presence of green spaces and possibilities for placemaking. Studying the effects of the urban form of the Macrolot is of great significance for sustainable urban development. In this study, five neighborhoods—three eco-neighborhoods from France designed according to the open urban block, Macrolot urban morphology, ZAC Massena, ZAC Trapeze, and ZAC Clichy-Batignolles, and two award-winning developments from Poland, Riverview and Ostoja Wilanów—were chosen as case studies. The application of the Macrolot concept to sustainable urban planning and design and the possibilities for operationalization of the SDG—11. Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable—are discussed. This study offers valuable evidence to inform urban planning and design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The urban energy infrastructure is facing a rising number of challenges due to climate change and rapid urbanization. In particular, the link between urban morphology and energy systems has become increasingly crucial as cities continue to expand and become more densely populated. Achieving climate neutrality adds another layer of complexity, highlighting the need to address this relationship to develop effective strategies for sustainable urban energy infrastructure. The occurrence of extreme climate events can also trigger cascading failures in the system components, leading to long-lasting blackouts. This review paper thoroughly explores the challenges of incorporating urban morphology into energy system models through a comprehensive literature review and proposes a new framework to enhance the resilience of interconnected systems. The review emphasizes the need for integrated models to provide deeper insights into urban energy systems design and operation and addresses the cascading failures, interconnectivity, and compound impacts of climate change and urbanization on energy systems. It also explores emerging challenges and opportunities, including the requirement for high-quality data, utilization of big data, and integration of advanced technologies like artificial intelligence and machine learning in urban energy systems. The proposed framework integrates urban morphology classification, mesoscale and microscale climate data, and a design and operation process to consider the influence of urban morphology, climate variability, and extreme events. Given the prevalence of extreme climate events and the need for climate-resilient strategies, the study underscores the significance of improving energy system models to accommodate future climate variations while recognizing the interconnectivity within urban infrastructure.

Abstract Urbanization combined with global climate change, exacerbates the urban thermal environment and hinders sustainable urban development. However, the complex relationships between land surface temperature (LST) and urban morphology are being further understood, particularly in relation to different urban development patterns, distinct topography, and 3D building morphology. Thus, this study conducted a comparative study in Chengdu and Chongqing, Southwest China. We explored the impact of comprehensive factors (including socio-economic factos, topography, land use composition, and building morphology) on LST by employing the methods of linear regression, geographical detector model, and the boosted regression trees. Our results suggest that (1) high LST was mainly observed in the central part of Chengdu but it presented multicenter aggregation trend in Chongqing; (2) Socio-economic factors were the dominant variables affecting LST in both cities; (3) land use composition and building morphology showed distinct contributions to LST among the two cities; and (4) 3D building management was more effective in Chengdu than in Chongqing. A better understanding of the impact of various influencing factors on LST will enable policy makers and planners to develop appropriate strategies for constructing climate-adaptive cities and mitigating urban heat.

This article explores the application of procedural design methods in urban morphology, drawing inspiration from the innovative work of the Architectural Workshop of Miskolc in Hungary during the late 20th century. This study presents a generative approach termed “Simulated Morphogenesis” (or the “Miskolc Method”), which models organic city growth by analysing historical urban tissues and applying recursive algorithms to simulate natural urban development. The method leverages advanced generative tools, such as Rhinoceros 3D and Grasshopper, to model the step-by-step growth of Central European cities, with a particular focus on Miskolc. By incorporating controlled randomness into the algorithmic processes, the method captures the complexity of organic urban growth while maintaining structured development. The Miskolc Method emphasizes the importance of continuity and context, allowing for the “healing” of urban fabric discontinuities or the generation of new urban structures. This article demonstrates how this approach, while rooted in geometrical analysis, offers a valuable foundation for preliminary urban planning. The findings are relevant for understanding the morphogenesis of cities and provide a flexible framework applicable to various urban contexts globally.

This paper investigates the background and basis for O. Mathias Ungers’ exploration of the morphology of the city and its implications on the architectural project, beginning with seminal but unrealized proposals that resulted from typological and morphological studies, followed by a discussion of theoretical and academic investigations in Germany and in the U.S., and finally by the analysis of three executed proposals in Trier as the synthesis to these explorations.

Abstract The Olympic Games have been associated with many urban transformation projects throughout their history, often focusing on city expansion. Recent sustainability concerns, however, constitute a pressing challenge, with the regeneration of central areas fulfilling a key role in existing urban agendas. In this paper, the legacy of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at two proposed centralities was analysed, namely, the Olympic Park, intended as a future neighbourhood to the west of the city, and Porto Maravilha (PM), an urban project aimed at revitalizing a central, historical area of the city. By comparing the Olympic Park and the first provided areas in PM, in terms of selecting urban design criteria through qualitative in loco assessments, this paper focused on analysing the impacts of urban forms and heritage on the consolidation of these two centralities, as well as encouraging social interaction and integration into the city. The analysis results indicated that urban design attributes such as human-scaled, mixed-use, context-based urban spaces could interfere with social interaction and the usability of spaces. Moreover, the repurposing of heritage buildings contributed to urban cohesion for legacy transformation. Hence, novel insights into urban design and heritage could become important for future editions of the Olympics so that host cities may fulfil their sustainability agendas.

The aim of this paper is to analyze the influence of two types of urban morphology existing in the area of Bucharest on the local microclimate, using Landsat satellite data, GIS techniques and numerical modelling. The two types of urban design analyzed are differentiated by the period in which they were constructed, one being built in the communist era and the other in the current period. The phases of the study are: i) geospatial analysis of urban morphology focusing on the urban design features of each period; ii) spatial analysis of the land surface temperature in relation with urban geometry, using Landsat 9 satellite images; iii) simulation of microclimate using ENVI-met software to highlight the local thermal environment. Satellite data analysis highlighted higher values for the land surface temperature in neighborhoods built in the current period compared to the areas built in the communist era. The results of the simulation highlight the distinctions in the thermal environment between the two categories examined, lower values of air and surface temperatures for the neighborhoods built in the communist era.

The literature considers urban green spaces as a key to promoting physical activity and health. Despite the increasingly recognized walking exercise promotion benefits of urban green spaces, the relationship between walking exercise preferences and green space layout remains unclear. We extracted preferred routes for walking exercise and measured the route heat using a one-year shared data of walking exercise from a mobile outdoor assistant app in the old city of Fuzhou, China. We then evaluated green space layout features within a 500-m buffer zone along the preferred routes in dimensions of scale, form, and function. The relationship between the route heat and green space layout features was analyzed using a series of poisson regression models, with the influence of urban morphology and the built environment allocation being controlled. Results showed that there existed a significant association between preferred routes for walking exercise and the combination of green space layout, urban morphology, and the built environment allocation; the route heat had positive associations with NDVI and comprehensive park area density, and showed negative associations with patch shape index and patch density. This study illustrates the necessity for targeted intervention strategies to promote the development of walkable and healthy urban areas.

The traffic planning network (TPN) represents future urban development and holds particular significance for the growth of cities. Although urban morphology (UM) has been applied to traffic networks, there exists a lack of multiscale quantitative research on TPN. From the UM perspective, this paper develops a quantitative framework to achieve the extraction and analysis of multimorphological features of TPNs on spatiotemporal scales. Subsequently, we investigated the morphological evolution of TPNs in Nanjing, China, from the 1980s to the 2020s. The research reveals the following findings: (1) In terms of spatiotemporal scales, the Nanjing TPN exhibits a multicentric agglomeration pattern on a smaller scale, evolving from discrete points to urban belts; on a larger scale, the urban framework transitions from a cross-shaped axis to a circular radial form. The evolution of Nanjing's form zones shows a southward shift of the Core zone and a transition from agglomeration to expansion and then gradual stabilization in the periphery of the Core zone. (2) The quantitative framework we proposed effectively extracts morphological characteristics within TPNs, visualizing the focal points and trends in urban traffic planning. (3) These morphological characteristics create Nanjing's heart-shaped layout, also reflecting the evolution of planning concepts from concentric urban groups to urban–rural integration. Our study enriches research on traffic planning and UM and offers valuable insights for traffic planning in Chinese cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The increase in urban population growth has contributed to the expansion of unplanned settlements, especially in developing countries. Triggered by the lack of government oversight, the expansion of these settlements is characterized by unique economic, social, physical, and functional attributes. This study aims at exploring the physical features of unplanned settlements in District 4th of Herat city, western Afghanistan. Employing a mixed-research method, we integrated spatial analysis using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) into detailed field observations to get a better understanding of the characteristics of the formation of these informal settlements. Our findings shed light on a number of key physical features including irregular street layouts, inadequate drainage systems, and substandard construction materials, irregular buildings in term of layout, number of floors, and building density. The features of unplanned urban morphology contribute to socio-economic loss and environmental degradation due to the absence of critical infrastructures including water infrastructures and the presence of unplanned streets in under-resourced unplanned settlements. In fact, the absence of government’s efforts in monitoring the development of unplanned settlements hinders the provision of essential services and infrastructures in the informal settlement communities. Our assertion is that the findings of this research will help policy makers in Afghanistan to reconsider their policies and decisions on urban development and growth, particularly in the poorer and under-served unplanned settlements in major cities in Afghanistan.

Abstract The relationship between green and grey urban infrastructure, local meteorological conditions, and traffic-related air pollution is complex and dynamic. This case study examined the effect of evolving morphologies around a city square park in Dublin and explores the twin impacts of local urban development (grey) and maturing parks (green) on particulate matter (PM) pollution. A fixed air quality monitoring campaign and computational fluid dynamic modelling (ENVI-met) were used to assess current (baseline) and future scenarios. The baseline results presented the distribution of PM in the study area, with bimodal (PM2.5) and unimodal (PM10) diurnal profiles. The optimal vegetation height for air quality within the park also differed by wind direction with 21 m vegetation optimal for parallel winds (10.45% reduction) and 7 m vegetation optimal for perpendicular winds (30.36% reduction). Increased building heights led to higher PM2.5 concentrations on both footpaths ranging from 25.3 to 37.0% under perpendicular winds, whilst increasing the height of leeward buildings increased PM2.5 concentrations by up to 30.9% under parallel winds. The findings from this study provide evidence of the importance of more in-depth analysis of green and grey urban infrastructure in the urban planning decision-making process to avoid deteriorating air quality conditions around city square parks.

Türkiye has experienced many destructive earthquakes in its history. Düzce, located on the North Anatolian Fault line in the north-west of Türkiye, was shaken by two major earthquakes on August 17 and November 12, 1999. These earthquakes caused great loss of life and material damage in the city. The earthquake that occurred in Düzce on November 23, 2022 caused minor material damage. In this study, the city of Düzce will be analyzed in the context of spatial development and city development plans in the period from 1999 to 2023, and urban resilience assessment will be made through the city macro form. The aim of the study is to compare the effects of the zoning plans implemented after the 1999 earthquakes on the city after the 2022 earthquake and to measure urban resilience. Urban resilience analysis was prepared in ArcGIS software by evaluating the building stock, land potential, earthquakes, storey heights, population densities, open green area capacity, transportation network standards, proximity to fault lines, and soil structure in the area where Düzce city core was established. As a result, it was revealed that the urban macro form of Düzce shows low and medium level resilience. The results of the study reveal the critical importance of these measures for the city of Düzce. In line with the analyses, it is recommended to develop and implement policies that increase the resilience of the city.

Street networks are ubiquitous components of cities, guiding their development and enabling movement from place to place; street networks are also the critical components of many urban analytical methods. However, their graph representation is often designed primarily for transportation purposes. This representation is less suitable for other use cases where transportation networks need to be simplified as a mandatory pre-processing step, e.g., in the case of morphological analysis, visual navigation, or drone flight routing. While the urgent demand for automated pre-processing methods comes from various fields, it is still an unsolved challenge. In this article, we tackle this challenge by proposing a cheap computational heuristic for the identification of ``face artifacts'', i.e., geometries that are enclosed by transportation edges but do not represent urban blocks. The heuristic is based on combining the frequency distributions of shape compactness metrics and area measurements of street network face polygons. We test our method on 131 globally sampled large cities and show that it successfully identifies face artifacts in 89\% of analyzed cities. Our heuristic of detecting artifacts caused by data being collected for another purpose is the first step towards an automated street network simplification workflow. Moreover, the proposed face artifact index uncovers differences in structural rules guiding the development of cities in different world regions.

This article provides an analysis of the urban morphology of Salvador, Bahia (Brazil), focusing on the spatial segregation issues that shape the city. The study examines the physical structure and spatial organization of Salvador, addressing the influence of these factors on the socioeconomic segregation of the city. Also, the configuration of sociospatial segregation is analyzed to study its influence on the relationships among distinct social strata. Based on this premise, we seek to perform a spatial analysis using the software Space Syntax as a tool. Results show how the various configuration patterns and the characterization of socioeconomic sectors reveal an interpretation of the urban morphology of segregation in Salvador.

The radioactive pollutant could migrate to the downstream urban area under the action of atmospheric dispersion due to the turbulent mixing under actual pollution accidents. A scenario in which radioactive contaminants from the upstream (for example, a nearshore nuclear power plant accident) migrates to the downstream urban blocks have been considered in this study. Numerical simulations using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) are then conducted to investigate the effects of the urban morphology (building packing density and layout) on the atmospheric dispersion of radioactive pollutants in this scenario. The building packing density and structure can significantly affect urban areas' mean flow pattern and the turbulent kinetic energy (TKE). The flow pattern and the TKE distribution influence the radioactive pollution dispersion. It is found that the radioactive pollution at the urban canyons is significantly affected by the vertical transport at the canyon. A comparison of the distributions of radioactive and traditional non-radioactive pollutants is also provided.

The increase in urban population growth has contributed to the expansion of unplanned settlements, especially in developing countries. Triggered by the lack of government oversight, the expansion of these settlements is characterized by unique economic, social, physical, and functional attributes. This study aims at exploring the physical features of unplanned settlements in District 4th of Herat city, western Afghanistan. Employing a mixed-research method, we integrated spatial analysis using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) into detailed field observations to get a better understanding of the characteristics of the formation of these informal settlements. Our findings shed light on a number of key physical features including irregular street layouts, inadequate drainage systems, and substandard construction materials, irregular buildings in term of layout, number of floors, and building density. The features of unplanned urban morphology contribute to socio-economic loss and environmental degradation due to the absence of critical infrastructures including water infrastructures and the presence of unplanned streets in under-resourced unplanned settlements. In fact, the absence of government's efforts in monitoring the development of unplanned settlements hinders the provision of essential services and infrastructures in the informal settlement communities. Our assertion is that the findings of this research will help policy makers in Afghanistan to reconsider their policies and decisions on urban development and growth, particularly in the poorer and under-served unplanned settlements in major cities in Afghanistan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between green and grey urban infrastructure, local meteorological conditions, and traffic-related air pollution is complex and dynamic. This case study examined the effect of evolving morphologies around a city square park in Dublin and explores the twin impacts of local urban development (grey) and maturing parks (green) on particulate matter (PM) pollution. A fixed air quality monitoring campaign and computational fluid dynamic modelling (ENVI-met) were used to assess current (baseline) and future scenarios. The baseline results presented the distribution of PM in the study area, with bimodal (PM2.5) and unimodal (PM10) diurnal profiles. The optimal vegetation height for air quality within the park also differed by wind direction with 21 m vegetation optimal for parallel winds (10.45% reduction) and 7 m vegetation optimal for perpendicular winds (30.36% reduction). Increased building heights led to higher PM2.5 concentrations on both footpaths ranging from 25.3 to 37.0% under perpendicular winds, whilst increasing the height of leeward buildings increased PM2.5 concentrations by up to 30.9% under parallel winds. The findings from this study provide evidence of the importance of more in-depth analysis of green and grey urban infrastructure in the urban planning decision-making process to avoid deteriorating air quality conditions around city square parks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social inequity is a global problem that often acutely materialises in cities, where people with lower incomes have reduced access to open spaces. This article examines how walkable access to open spaces mediated by urban morphology and topography differs for people with contrasting income profiles. Taking Lima as a case study, the spatial analysis adapted GIS tools to consider the steep slopes of informal settlements. The combined mapping and measuring of open space catchments and urban fabric permeabilities shows significant spatial inequities between low- and high-income residents that could not have been captured through traditional spatial analytical methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Beijing is a typical traditional city in China, originating from the uniform and conventional grid plan, but transformed diversely, either on purpose or spontaneously. This research took the diversification process of grid blocks as an angle to understand the transformation process of Beijing's urban morphology. It took 194 grid blocks within the 3rd Ring Road of Beijing as research objects. First, the paper proposed a whole view of Beijing's grid blocks by 1) visualizing their construction process, 2) classifying 5 morphological clusters by 7 indicators (Block size, Block shape regularity, Intensity, Coverage, Network density, Plot shape regularity, Standard deviation of plot size), and 3) investigating their distribution. Second, the diversification process of grid blocks was clarified from two layers: the block-boundary layer and the inner-space layer. Finally, the mechanism of block form diversification was clarified by exploring the connections between elements in each layer, and the influence of urban development on block form transformation. The study re-defined the diversification process in a more quantitative way from both time and spatial dimension. It concluded that the diversification is influenced by changes in urban planning principles and locations, and emerged thorough the long-term transformation and re-subdivision. The interaction between the boundary and the inner space stimulates the diversification. And based on these, it concluded with a discussion of limitations and potentials on grid blocks' construction and renovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]