Urban Forms, Agents, and Processes of Change

Abstract

Urban morphology describes and explains the physical form of cities. Adopting a dynamic perspective, it explains how different agents change that physical form over time and how diverse processes are involved in this transformation. Urban morphology may also offer insights on prescription for the design of new urban forms and for the transformation or conservation of existing forms. This chapter focuses on two dominant approaches in urban morphology, the historico-geographical and the process-typological. While briefly presenting the origins and main developments of each of these approaches, it goes one step further debating how these two can be combined with other approaches presented in the book to offer better description, explanation, and prescription of the physical form of cities.