This paper deals with on the making of urban settlements, focusing on the temporal development of the grid of their paths. The idea is that what actually constitutes the very essence of an urban settlement is, beyond any appearance, the complex of the linear elements that connect each other all the places, the buildings and the activities inside; and the way such elements successively grow and add so as to modify and extend the grid seems to be induced by a general principle of optimization, aimed at urbanizing new areas and at capillarily connecting them to the existing settlement. On such basis, the analysis of the grid configuration does hence appear a suitable tool for exploring the urban dynamics, in order to find out, under the veil of countless morphologic differences, recurring features and aspects that can be assumed as key elements in a persuasive comprehension of urban development and transformation. The findings of the research over a significant case study seem to confirm the making of a settlement as a spatial process, based in the continuous development of its grid; and they also suggest that even the diffused notions of sprawl and periphery, which are commonly assumed as mistakes, deformities and urban pathologies, can be interpreted as the material appearance of elements of a system of spatial relations in its ongoing evolution.

The urban growth: development, sprawl and spatial configuration

CUTINI, VALERIO;
2012-01-01

Abstract

This paper deals with on the making of urban settlements, focusing on the temporal development of the grid of their paths. The idea is that what actually constitutes the very essence of an urban settlement is, beyond any appearance, the complex of the linear elements that connect each other all the places, the buildings and the activities inside; and the way such elements successively grow and add so as to modify and extend the grid seems to be induced by a general principle of optimization, aimed at urbanizing new areas and at capillarily connecting them to the existing settlement. On such basis, the analysis of the grid configuration does hence appear a suitable tool for exploring the urban dynamics, in order to find out, under the veil of countless morphologic differences, recurring features and aspects that can be assumed as key elements in a persuasive comprehension of urban development and transformation. The findings of the research over a significant case study seem to confirm the making of a settlement as a spatial process, based in the continuous development of its grid; and they also suggest that even the diffused notions of sprawl and periphery, which are commonly assumed as mistakes, deformities and urban pathologies, can be interpreted as the material appearance of elements of a system of spatial relations in its ongoing evolution.
2012
Cutini, Valerio; Rabino, G.
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11568/153748
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