Urban Form and Urban Morphology

The study of urban form, and the urban form itself, are of significance for urban planning and associated professions across the world, but cross-cultural explorations of research and practice are surprisingly rare. Generally, complex concepts and terminology have hindered the transfer of ideas from academic to practice users and from one language area to another, and practitioners rarely write for publication. This chapter reviews the development of approaches to conceptualising and studying urban form, which have grown across traditional disciplines and in specific Western countries; but a key element here is the focus on how these ideas have been transferred to the very different culture and planning system of China. The application to China has been facilitated by effective personal exchanges and collaborative working, though this remains at a relatively localised scale.