2007 Volume 11.1
Editorial comment
The problem of Euro-American myopia
Articles
German geographical urban morphology in an international and interdisciplinary framework
H. Heineberg {+}Abstract [Full paper, PDF, 0.2MB]
ABSTRACT: This paper reviews the development and main aspects of research
in German geographical urban morphology in an international and interdisciplinary
framework. German urban morphology has a long history. It was
a progenitor of the Conzenian tradition in Britain. During recent decades,
however, it has lost the prominent position it held within German human
geography in the early years of the twentieth century. It has nevertheless
continued to yield a sizeable amount of research, including on cultural-genetic
city types at continental and sub-continental scales and on urban change and
conservation. Within the framework of geographical urban morphology a
number of applied and theoretical topics merit particular attention: among
these are the reuse of derelict land, the revitalization of harbour areas,
interdisciplinary approaches to redevelopment, holistic perspectives on the
built environment, transformation and reconstruction in eastern Germany and
urban shrinkage. Fundamental aspects of urban morphology as a field of
knowledge include increased participation in the international community of
urban morphologists, a renewed impetus to the revitalization of theory, and
more contributions on ecological aspects of urban form.
Townscape assessment: the development of a practical tool for monitoring and assessing visual quality in the built environment
A. Reeve, B. Goodey and R. Shipley {+}Abstract [Full paper, PDF, 1.4MB]
ABSTRACT: ‘Townscape’ as an approach to understanding one aspect of quality
in the built environment has had mixed fortunes over the last few decades.
Nonetheless, it remains a useful category within which the question of how
places work at an aesthetic level can be considered. The problem has been,
however, the absence of a comprehensive and relatively objective system for
recording and representing the findings from townscape evaluation in the field.
This paper presents the evolution of one such approach, and illustrates how it
has been applied as part of a more general impact assessment research project
to determine the effectiveness of the Townscape Heritage Initiative (THI)
regeneration programme in the UK. The paper concludes with a discussion of
the utility of the method for future built environment monitoring and evaluation
programmes.
An interpretation of the urban fabric: the structure of pre-Islamic Aleppo
G.A. Neglia {+}Abstract [Full paper, PDF, 16MB]
ABSTRACT: Deciphering the palimpsest structure of a city is an effective means
of discovering the processes that underlie its physical character. Aleppo in the
south-eastern part of the Mediterranean basin, was built incrementally
following principles that endured over a long period. Its stone-based building
technology has produced such permanent urban forms that its urban landscape
is a palimpsest of an urban development from an initially spontaneous
settlement, adapted to regional, and later, imperial urban standards
(Hellenistic and Roman-Byzantine) and finally becoming part of a local
dialectical process that led the city to develop an individual urban form from
Umayyad times onwards. In Aleppo, it is impossible to understand the
structure of the urban fabric of the medieval Islamic and Ottoman city without
taking into account the role played by the substratum of the Hellenistic-Roman-
Byzantine city in its conformation.
Viewpoints
The relation between urban form and density M. Berghauser Pont and P. Haupt
Stepping outside the comfortable confines of the West M.P. Sobti
[Viewpoints, PDF]
Reports
Urban Europe in comparative perspective A. Simms
Annual Meeting of CISPUT G. Gallarati
Nordic and international urban morphology E. Camacho-Hübner
Townscape and heritage conservation S. Coady-Schaebitz
[Reports, PDF]
Book reviews
S. Komossa et al. (2005) Atlas of the Dutch urban block M. Newman
A.R. Cuthbert (2006) The form of cities P. Gaubatz
K. Dupré (2004) Caribbean urban modernization J.D. Coleman
J.A. Jakle and K.A. Sculle (2004) Lots of parking N.A. Salingaros
[Book reviews, PDF]
Book notes
[Book notes, PDF]
Notes and notices
- Elections to ISUF Council
- ISUF membership survey
- The best urban neighbourhood in Europe
- Density inside out
- A suburban world?
- Visual planning and urbanism in the mid-twentieth century
- Ville Recherche Diffusion
- Transmitting architecture
