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Morphological logic in historical settlements: Space syntax analyses of residential districts at Mohenjo-Daro, Kahun and Ur

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Abstract

The degree of ‘planning’ in historical sites has been always dominated by measures of geometry and has, therefore, always oscillated between geometric, as ‘planned’, and organic, as ‘unplanned’. In this article, the spatial formation of four residential districts in three contemporaneous historical settlements, Mohenjo-Daro, Kahun and Ur, is examined to show that their patterns were governed not only by geometrical possibilities, but rather by certain needs of access and visibility. The article considers the application of Space Syntax methods to provide an evidence for the correspondences between the geometrical properties and certain considerations in each society, coming to the conclusion that the organic patterns of the site of Ur do not necessarily refer to lack of planning, but were possibly intended to meet certain defensive, social or climatic considerations.

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Notes

  1. The site is now threatened by groundwater salinity and improper restoration. Pakistani archeologists warned that the site may disappear by 2030.

  2. A mound-like structure containing Buddhist relics.

  3. Both of them are analyzed in the study.

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  1. Department of Architectural Engineering, Sinai University, El Arish City, 45518, El Masaeed, Egypt

    Nelly Shafik Ramzy

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  1. Nelly Shafik Ramzy
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Ramzy, N. Morphological logic in historical settlements: Space syntax analyses of residential districts at Mohenjo-Daro, Kahun and Ur. Urban Des Int 21, 41–54 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1057/udi.2015.11

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