Thinking About Morphological Regions

Abstract

Various approaches have been developed within the field of urban morphology. In the end of the 1950s, MRG Conzen started to develop seminal work that would later be expanded by JWR Whitehand, establishing an historico-geographical approach (Oliveira, 2018). For Conzen, the climax of urban morphological analysis was the concept of morphological region. A region is a spatial grouping of form ensembles based on the principle of geographical and historical similarities. The concept suggests a sound basis for urban landscape management. Utilization of the concept has increased from the second half of twentieth century onwards. Despite the amount of research on the concept, the derivation process of morphological regions has remained elusive. The focus of this research is on how morphological regions can be established in a systematic way. First, it aims at clarifying former applications of the concept in different continents. Second, fourteen criteria have been identified for discussion. These are as follows: main expansion phase of the town (in relation to the natural context), subdivision of main expansion phases, geometrical arrangement of streets, dimensions of street blocks, plot layout, block plan types, plot coverage ratio, position of buildings - on the basis of ground plan; floor area ratio, ratio of building height to street width - based on the relationship between ground plan and building fabric; architectural style, building materials, building height - based on building fabric; and, finally, land and building utilization.