Dimensions of Urbanism: Urban Blocks

At the intersection of architecture, urban design and master planning, the urban block forms the most useful increment of urban growth and simultaneously urban repair. The urban block is flexible and resilient, one of the oldest and most important elements of city building. I n a city plan the urban block is a semi-private domain that defines the quality, shape and character of urban public space on all sides. For this reason, the dialogue between the design of the private realm and the public realm is of critical importance to the future of cities, and the design of the urban block sets the rules, boundaries, and parameters for this exchange. The urban block creates a formal and spatial system which is complex and dynamic. The urban block is architectural in scale and solution, and is one of the twenty-first century’s great design challenges.Understanding urban blocks is a key to unlocking the puzzle of the responsible design, development, construction, and operation of cities.

https://doi.org/10.35483/ACSA.AMP.105.35

Volume Editors
Luis Francisco Rico-Gutierrez & Martha Thorne

ISBN
978-1-944214-07-4