Continuity and Discontinuity of Urban Form—The Issue of Risk

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to make a contribution to the representation, manifestation and evolution of urban forms as we currently understand them. We further hope to succeed as a theoretical and practical support for, in particular, future research in the broad scope of urban planning. By this we mean the study and determination of the particularities of the urban organism in the real plan of its evolution, in other words of the character and identity which are attributes inextricably linked to the urban form. Beginning with urban topology and the topological transformations given by movement, projection and deformation, the work proceeds to urban morphogenesis, which is a result of the dynamics of urban forms and the generator of their complexity. Discontinuities in urban systems are caused by inherent risks and vulnerability. These risks create the context that will be dealt with in this chapter on “continuity and discontinuity”. Discontinuities can be static or dynamic, the latter relating the urban form to the context. Risks are a relating element between form and context, relating continuity and discontinuity in the evolution of the urban organism. Risks are considered in detail, whether natural or anthropic, with a special view on those in the urban environment. One of the original contributions of the author in this context is the development of formulas regarding risk in the context of the static state of urban organisms and in their metabolic form, thus relating the risk of individual elements, depending on the discontinuities that affect vulnerability.