The shape and size of urban blocks
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21247795 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Ermal Shpuza (0000-0001-7556-268X, Kennesaw State University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2023 |
| Volume | 50 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 24-43 |
| Publication date | 2023-01-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Environment and Planning B Urban Analytics and City Science (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2399-8083 • E-ISSN: 2399-8091 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/23998083221098744 |
| OpenAlex | W4280611359 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 48 |
Two measures of shape compactness and fragmentation are coupled together into a plot that is defined as a two-dimensionalmatrix for classifying boundary shapes. Block shapes in a large sample of cities result in a swallowtail distribution in the matrix, which exposes two fundamental ways of transforming the basic compact block: by dissection, corresponding to large blocks with internal dendritic streets, and by stretching and bending, corresponding to serpentine blocks in hilly terrains and edge blocks along highways, railroads, and canals. The density of cases in each matrix zone reveals the realization of actual blocks out of the probable shape combinations as a manifestation of the social logic of urban form. The observed affinity between the shape and size of non-basic blocks in cities is used to formulate a model that explains them according to the constraints of arranging plots along the streets combined with the requirements for the intelligibility of navigation and the minimization of travel distance. Considering blocks as intra-street cells, the proposed block classification reveals important links between topological and geometric aspects of the street networks thus contributing to urban modeling, morphological classification, and comparative studies
Block size · Cartography · City block · Combinatorics · Compact space · Geography · Geometric shape · Geometry · Mathematical analysis · Mathematical optimization · Minification · Pure mathematics · Terrain · Urban Morphology · Urban planning · Computer Science · Engineering · Land Use and Ecosystem Services · Mathematics · Urban Design and Spatial Analysis · Urban Green Space and Health
The Social Logic of Space
On growth and form
Evolution of Drainage Systems and Slopes in Badlands at Perth Amboy, New Jersey
Alnwick, Northumberland
Natural movement
Configurational Modelling of Urban Movement Networks
From Isovists to Visibility Graphs
The Evolving Metropolis
Elementary processes governing the evolution of road networks
Exploring Isovist Fields
Locational analysis in human geography
On the origin of spaces
Relative size measures of urban form based on allometric subtraction
Measuring urban form
The relation between block size and building shape
From paths to blocks
Towards an understanding of morphogenesis in metropolitan street-networks
Who Belongs in the Family
The evolution of block size and form in North American and Australian city centres
Ambiguity in the definition of built form
Pedestrian accessibility in grid layouts
On the discovery of urban typologies
Measuring sustainability of urban blocks
Ten compactness properties of circles
Space and exclusion
| Highly cited | No |
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