Space and community - the spatial foundations of urban neighborhoods: an evaluation of three theories of urban form and social structure and their relevance to the issue of neighborhoods

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Abstract

Most people believe that the neighborhood area in which they live is important to the quality of their life. The wave of neighborhood organizing that started in the 1960s showed that people will sometimes fight to protect their neighborhoods from external threats. More recently, proponents of the new urbanism are reviving the idea that local community may be enhanced by the spatial design of neighborhoods. Three approaches to spatial and morphological analysis of urban space are assessed. The first two approaches, 'imaging the environment' and 'non-correspondence theory' describe the arrangement of society in space. They describe locational decisions regarding home and workplace, as well as the dynamic patterns of movement, encounter, and avoidance that recur in space. The third, 'morphological or morphogenetic theory' explores the arrangement of space by society. It describes the processes by which land is transformed, built, and maintained to create settlements.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)107-125
Number of pages19
JournalBerkeley Planning Journal
Volume10
StatePublished - 1 Dec 1995

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Geography, Planning and Development

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