Abstract
This study focuses on the emergence and development of historico-geographical approach that is systematized by M.R.G. Conzen in the mid-twentieth century through his studies of English cities. The background of historico-geographical approach was discussed in a detailed way. And the ideas of M.R.G. Conzen was examined in many early and recent studies. This study aims to identify the philosophical background of historico-geographical approach throughout its historical development and seeks to answer whether it would be appropriate to adopt the basic concepts and principles of investigation to the Turkish cities, with a focus on the city of Mersin. The research on the urban form of Mersin was uncovered before in elsewhere, but they were concentrated on the specific concepts and processes of historico-geographical approach. This study aims to reveal the comprehensive framework to investigate a city from a Conzenian view. The study on Mersin revealed that the urban growth pattern of the city brought about amalgamation of inner and middle fringe belts, and occurrence of an ‘umbrella fringe belt’, while dialectical interaction of morphological agents resulted in emergence of morphogenetic types in the interplay of building and plot patterns.
Highlights
The character of any settlement is stimulated by the interplay of basic components of urban form - plots, buildings and streets (Conzen, 1969 [1960]; Whitehand, 2001; Barke, 2015; Oliveira, 2016; Kropf, 2017)
Urban morphology deals with the change in urban form in this development, and may be defined as “the study of urban form” in its broadest meaning (Larkham and Jones, 1991; Larkham, 2002)
A further, more comprehensive definition of urban morphology is developed by Whitehand (2001), where he highlights the cycles in urban growth, the internal processes of change in different parts of the city
Summary
The character of any settlement is stimulated by the interplay of basic components of urban form - plots, buildings and streets (Conzen, 1969 [1960]; Whitehand, 2001; Barke, 2015; Oliveira, 2016; Kropf, 2017). The British line of development became widely known as the Conzenian school (Moudon, 1997; Whitehand, 2001) or the historico-geographical approach (Kropf, 2009; Oliveira, 2016). This present study focuses on the emergence and development of the historico-geographical approach that was systematized by M.R.G. Conzen in the mid-twentieth century through his studies of English cities (Conzen, 1962, 1966, 1969; Whitehand, 1981; Whitehand and Larkham, 1992; Whitehand, 2001). After a short discussion of the principles, methods and concepts of the historico-geographical approach, its application to the study of change in urban form in the city of Mersin, Turkey is explored
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