Suburban camouflage in urban neighbourhoods: new building typologies and their impact on social life of residential streets

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ABSTRACT 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.