Urban structure

Urban Design Guidelines for Victoria, published by The State of Victoria Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning in 2017, defines urban structure as: ‘The overall topography and land division pattern of an urban area including street pattern, the shapes and sizes of blocks and lots. Urban structure also includes the location and types of activity centres, public transport corridors, public space, community facilities, and urban infrastructure. Whether at the scale of a city, town, neighbourhood, precinct or large development site, it is the interrelationship between all of the elements of urban structure, rather than their individual characteristics, that together make a place.’

Spatial development glossary, European Conference of Ministers responsible for Spatial/Regional Planning (CEMAT), Territory and landscape, No 2, published by Council of Europe Publishing in 2007, defines urban structure as: ‘…characterised by the main elements and functions existing inside the urban area, such as the morphology of the city (compact or dispersed, single nucleus or multiple nuclei), the distribution of urban areas according to age (medieval, post-war, etc.), to main functions (commercial, housing, industrial, recreation, etc.), to social distribution and organisation (poor and derelict areas, gentrified areas, middle-class areas, areas with a high proportion of immigrants, etc.), the main characteristics of transport and communication axes (road system, public transportation system).’

See also: Settlement structure.

[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings

• Façade.
• Redefining density, making the best use of London’s land to build more and better homes.
• Settlement structure.
• Streetscape.
• Urban context.
• Urban creep.
• Urban fabric.
• Urban grain.
• Urban sprawl.
• Urbanisation.