Formation Of Urban Structure Research Articles

From blocks to cities: Morphology structure rooted in 3D patterns and forming clusters at the block level

This article proposes a 35D form index system to quantitatively describe the 3D form of urban blocks. Utilizing the T-distributed stochastic neighbor (TSNE) embedding algorithm for cluster analysis, the visually complex and disordered urban 3D texture is translated into distinct form clusters, enabling the recognition of the overall urban form structure from the block perspective. The research methodology includes experiments conducted in the central area of Nanjing and comparative analysis in three neighboring cities: Shanghai, Hangzhou, and Suzhou. Results demonstrate the efficacy of form parameters and cluster analysis in achieving sound recognition. The four cities differ remarkably in the number and distribution structure of clusters. Shanghai has the fewest types of clusters with a compact distribution, Suzhou has the most types with a dispersed distribution, and Hangzhou and Nanjing exhibit similar characteristics, located between Shanghai and Suzhou. Correlation analysis reveals a negative relationship between the number of cluster types and the level of urban socioeconomic development in similar areas. This research implies that governments and urban planners can exploit neighborhood morphological types to devise customized spatial management and renewal strategies. The overall urban structure can be improved by strategically minimizing the quantity and distribution of neighborhood morphological types, fostering socioeconomic development.

Harmonization of Natural and Urban Structures in The Danube Region

The deteriorating state of the environment over the last half century has resulted in the current climate and environmental crisis, which is conditioned by the unbearable exploitation of the natural environment. One of the activities that plays a key role in this situation is urbanization with a constant occupation of the landscape, increasing emissions from traffic and buildings. A well-thought-out and consistent strategy for the harmonization of natural and urban structures can mitigate the negative climate impacts in the residential environment. The harmony of natural and artificial elements has a positive impact not only on the environmental but also the aesthetic quality of the urban environment. It can significantly help to strengthen the character of the cities. It was the landscape that significantly influenced their location and characteristic image. The research focuses on the evaluation of the quality of the urban environment with emphasis on the interaction of urban and landscape structures. The presented research is aimed to the connection of the city with the river and the surrounding landscape. It analyses and evaluates the impact of characteristic natural elements on the formation of urban structures during their development to the present day. It traces significant "traces" of the landscape in the urban structure of selected cities and their evolution. The research is focused to significant Slovak settlement on the Danube.

Evolution of Urban Patterns: Urban Morphology as an Open Reproducible Data Science

The recent growth of geographic data science (GDS) fuelled by increasingly available open data and open source tools has influenced urban sciences across a multitude of fields. Yet there is limited application in urban morphology—a science of urban form. Although quantitative approaches to morphological research are finding momentum, existing tools for such analyses have limited scope and are predominantly implemented as plug‐ins for standalone geographic information system software. This inherently restricts transparency and reproducibility of research. Simultaneously, the Python ecosystem for GDS is maturing to the point of fully supporting highly specialized morphological analysis. In this paper, we use the open source Python ecosystem in a workflow to illustrate its capabilities in a case study assessing the evolution of urban patterns over six historical periods on a sample of 42 locations. Results show a trajectory of change in the scale and structure of urban form from pre‐industrial development to contemporary neighborhoods, with a peak of highest deviation during the post‐World War II era of modernism, confirming previous findings. The wholly reproducible method is encapsulated in computational notebooks, illustrating how modern GDS can be applied to urban morphology research to promote open, collaborative, and transparent science, independent of proprietary or otherwise limited software.

Criminal directionality and the structure of urban form

Spatial criminology has three interrelated elements: place, distance, and direction. Though directionality has had theoretical support for many years, very few empirical verifications of this component of crime have emerged. In this article, we investigate the strength of directionality by comparing a simulated randomized dataset and a large incident-based dataset of repeat offenders. We find strong evidence for a strong presence of directionality in criminal spatial decision-making. This aspect of the spatiality of crime must be considered in any attempts to understand the aetiology of crime.

Changes of Compositional Features of Church Villages in Rural Landscape

The villages with churches form the significant part in the urban framework of Lithuania and the inseparable component of cultural landscape. Beginning with the end of the 18th century the villages with churches had fully functioned together with country’s cities, towns, and village settlements. Their functional development and the formation of the urban structure are closely related with the expansion of the Christianity in Lithuania. The formation of the compositional links between the villages with churches and the rural landscape was mainly influenced by their urban structure determined by the canons of the Catholic Church. The network of the villages with churches had determined the cultural distinctiveness of Lithuanian rural landscape till the middle of the 20th century. Considering that, the preservation of the identity and distinctiveness of Lithuanian countryside requires the analysis of the villages with churches and their role in country’s landscape. The article is devoted to the analysis of the changes of the compositional features of the villages with churches in the spatial structure of the rural landscapes and the factors determining these changes. In order to understand better the compositional features of the spatial structure of the villages with churches in the ethnocultural landscape, the assessment of the aesthetic potential of the layout and spatial structure of the villages with churches is also presented in the article.

スペースシンタックス理論に基づく市街地オープンスペースの特性評価

The purpose of this research is to analyze the configuration of open space in Japanese urban area by applying the space syntax theory, and to investigate the relationship between the structure of urban form and social conditions. 1) Configurations of open space can be quantitatively characterized by the space syntax theory. 2) Integration value correlates closely with pedestrians distribution. 3) Distribution of the building-use does not correlate to the integration value but it is a correlate of the pedestrian distribution. 4) The space syntax theory can estimate pedestrian flows and the building-use of future plans. It is concluded that analysis based on the space syntax theory is useful to support urban planning, because the theory can be applied to recognize the present situation and to evaluate the alternatives comparatively.

A STUDY ON THE FORMATION OF URBAN CORE DISTRICTS AND THEIR RELATION TO TRANSPORTATION FACILITIES

The function of urban transportation facilities which have large impact on the formation of urban structure, has to take into consideration much more in urban transportation planning. On the bases of above mentioned background, this study analyses the relationships between the function of urban core districts and the impacts of transportation facilities on them.The urban core districts are defined and classified to several types by their function which includes commercial, business, and so on. Then, each type of urban core districts is extracted in four Japanese urban areas. They are analyzed by their type and size, in relation to the improved level of urban transportation facilities. As a result, it is made clear that the different type of transportation services is required in each type and size of urban core districts.