Toward Practical Criteria for Analyzing and Designing Urban Blocks

Abstract

The streets, blocks, lots, and buildings are the main elements of cities' texture. Surrounded by streets and surrounding the buildings, urban blocks invariably interact with these components dialectically, in that it can connect the network of streets and buildings, hence its significance in urban design. However, affected by unsound formal and spatial changes of urban forms in modern and postmodern eras, space coherence reduction led to a loss of blocks' identity. Therefore, we can barely find a comprehensive functional tool structured on a solid understanding to design this very component of the urban morphology. In this regard, this study seeks to define a practical tool for analyzing and designing this crucial element developing an operational, yet expandable, checklist for urban blocks including various factors, from concepts to indices. All these factors are classified under three main concepts: spatial balance, spatial continuity and integration, and durability. In fact, as a primitive step, this research can enable urban designers to understand urban blocks more effectively and use the framework to assess the current situation and design the future.

Leveraging ALOS-2 PALSAR-2 for Mapping Built-Up Areas and Assessing Their Vertical Component

“…In Chicago, the city's mapping system identifies about 20,800 unique city blocks surrounded typically by four streets in a rectangular pattern 2 . A city block is primarily a plot of land defined all around by a multitude of planned and unplanned road and streets and defined by an edge and an interior where the edge is directly connected with the street and is understood as the public realm and the interior is a private zone [30]. The city block is the fundamental element of physical structure of urban areas.…”

Outdoor Thermal Comfort Integrated with Energy Consumption for Urban Block Design Optimization: A Study of the Hot-Summer Mediterranean City of Irbid, Jordan

“…The size and shape of urban blocks effectively contribute to the formation of the character of the environment [22]. Moreover, the block sides respond to the internal and external loads of the blocks, as well as the buildings and the street structure, respectively [23]. It is much easier to implement strategic adjustments at the urban block level [24].…”

Study on correlation between objective and subjective safety with the urban form in Chicago

“…The most important concepts related to urban morphology can be divided into three categories: Form (size, dimensions, shape, position), Function, and Meaning. It should be said that each of these categories can mutually affect each other (Shakibamanesh and Ebrahimi, 2020).…”