Alterations in scale : patterns of change in main street networks across time and space

Porta, Sergio and Romice, Ombretta and Maxwell, J Alexander and Russell, Peter and Baird, Darren (2014) Alterations in scale : patterns of change in main street networks across time and space. Urban Studies, 51 (16). pp. 3383-3400. ISSN 0042-0980 (https://doi.org/10.1177/0042098013519833)

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Abstract

This paper presents a morphological analysis of the spatial patterns in 100 diverse main street networks from varying historical, geographical, social, and economic systems by coupling mapping with a unique visual algorithm. Each of the 100 case studies was selected according to the period in the history of urban design when their street networks originated, ranging from antiquity to present day. The data gathered in this study provides empirical evidence that suggests alterations in the scale and pattern of urban street networks have occurred coinciding with the advent of professional modern and postmodern urban design theories. This finding makes the case for further empirical research into other spatial patterns within urban form that, if discovered, could aid in future urban design efforts capable of reconciling the difference in timescales between the time required for urban places to evolve and the time these places are inhabited.

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